Straight Life - Art Pepper [273]
Chris is a man of many parts. On another occasion Art got stopped for a traffic violation. The police searched the car. They found something. Art was jailed, arraigned, and sent home with a court date. Our lawyer was out of town. Chris told Art to go to court, and, if "things" didn't work out, he said, "Ask for a postponement." Chris said, "I'll meet you there." Art went to court and found Chris dressed in a suit and tie and carrying a briefcase. Chris got Art's case number from the bailiff and read the paperwork.
Chris told me, "It said something about `paraphernalia.' I read further and it said, 'a straw containing cocaine residue.' I went to the D.A.'s office. She was a gorgeous woman-tall, blonde, with the face of an angel. I said, `Don't make me make you look ridiculous.' She said, 'What do you mean?' I asked her, 'Have you read this thing on Pepper?' She said, 'No, not really.' She was very nice. I told her what she had was a case that was built on a straw. She laughed. She read the paperwork. She said, 'There's got to be more to it than this.' I said, 'Mr. Pepper's a famous musician. He's got obligations. He's got two big tours coming up. Don't make him wait around for something this stupid.' She read the report again. She said, 'You're right. Okay. It's off the docket.' I hurried back into the courtroom, grabbed Art's arm and said, 'Let's go.' Art said, 'What's happening?' I said, 'I'll tell you later, man. Let's just go! )1
Chris told me, "I never actually said I was a lawyer."
We did have a couple of tours coming up, and Chris came along for the ride. After STRAIGHT LIFE, we were able to get a booking agent and in May of 1980, we went to Boston, D.C., Atlanta, Houston, and some other places that I can't remember. The band was Milcho Leviev, Bob Magnusson on bass, and Carl Burnett. In June, Chris came with us on our first real European tour. Art and I had been to London and Birmingham for a few days for a festival a year earlier; Art had been a last-minute replacement for Phil Woods. This time we went for about a month with Milcho, Tony Dumas, and Carl. We did two weeks at Ronnie Scott's in London where Art recorded a fine album for Mole jazz under Milcho's name. (For that date Art wrote and recorded a slow blues we named for Chris, "Blues For the Fisherman." It was saluted by a British critic as "The twelve bars of the decade.") The band did festivals and clubs all over the Continent. Chris's function seemed to be to show us how much fun we could have. He managed to meet and introduce us to the most interesting people, and he found and took us all out to the best and most interesting restaurants.
Chris got busted three days after we returned home from Europe. The charge was "conspiracy to distribute narcotics." He was held on 1.5 million dollars bail. When the bail was reduced he was able to get out while he fought his case, but he spent the last year of Art's life (and seven years after that) in prison-where we visited him as often as we could. He swore he was innocent, and Art never reproached him with failing to give him a taste.
During the rest of 1980, and during '81 and '82, we toured almost nonstop. We covered the U.S., Canada, Japan, Europe, and Australia. Art loved the look of Europe. The baroque-er the better. And he shared with me a deep appreciation of decay. A journalist once asked him what was his favorite city. He named Paris. And when the journalist asked why, Art said, "Because you can get anything you want there." He got a little bit of heroin there. Just a little. He sniffed it, wrote a song, and then took me for a walk on the Champs Elysees at 5 AM. Of course the next night when he had to perform in Holland after an all-day trip spent sniffing that same stuff, it wasn't so romantic. I was pouring coffee down his throat and throwing cold water on his face right