In the 1940s and early 1950s, Art Pepper played with the Stan Kenton Orchestra. Then, in the mid-1950s, he began recording albums in small groups, sometimes as a guest artist, other times as a leader, as on his albums “Modern Art” and “The Way It Was!”, both from 1956. On the latter album, he is backed by the famous rhythm section of the Miles Davis Quintet (Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums). The Artistry of Pepper presents the saxophonist in a variety of contexts. It was released in 1962 after Pepper went to prison to serve the longest sentence of his life (related to a drug case). Wrongfully indicted as an accomplice in a large drug trafficking operation, he was sentenced to a long term and taken to San Quentin Prison.