The Quarantined Jazz Voyager

The pandemic has me comfortably relaxing in my listening room selecting my next choice which is the 1956 album Playboys by trumpeter Chet Baker and saxophonist Art Pepper. The album was their third collaboration between Pepper and Baker, following the successes of The Route and Chet Baker Big Band, all three recorded in 1956.

Playboys was reissued in 1961 under the name Picture of Heath after the fifth track (itself a reference to Jimmy Heath, composer of all but two of the tracks). The tracks themselves were presented in a slightly different order, starting with the new title track.

Hugh Hefner reportedly objected to the original album cover (clearly inspired by Playboy magazine with its near-identical wordmark and pinup photo) and threatened to sue. For Picture of Heath, the original cover was replaced with a photo of the artists in the recording studio.

The 1990 Blue Note/Pacific Jazz CD reissue of Playboys used the pin-up cover, but the same label’s 1998 CD reissue returned to the Picture of Health cover.

1. For Minors Only ~ 4:00
2. Minor~Yours (Art Pepper) ~ 6:44
3. Resonant Emotions ~ 5:41
4. Tynan Tyme (Pepper) ~ 5:32
5. Picture of Heath ~ 6:44
6. For Miles and Miles ~ 6:25
7. C.T.A. ~ 5:12

1998 CD Release

1. Picture of Heath
2. For Miles and Miles
3. C.T.A.
4. For Minors Only
5. Minor Yours
6. Resonant Emotions
7. Tynan Tyme

• Chet Baker ~ trumpet
• Art Pepper ~ alto saxophone
• Phil Urso ~ tenor saxophone
• Carl Perkins ~ piano
• Curtis Counce ~ bass
• Larance Marable ~ drums

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