Pepper Adams on his decision to play baritone saxophone.

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Pepper Adams discusses working as a session musician.

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Pepper Adams discusses his circle of friends in the New York music scene.

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Q: “Do you have much trouble going around to clubs and working with a set rhythm section that you’re coming in as a guest artist with for material?”

A: “Not generally speaking. Certainly not here at all. Here in Toronto with Bernie Zininski [ph] and Michelle Donato and Jerry Fuller, it's certainly no problem at all. In fact, we've scarcely so far, we’ve scarcely played the same tune twice. We've been using just completely different material every night and just going from one thing to another. Which is for me, it's great when I have a rhythm section that's capable of doing that. I found generally that when I get to a club and I'm playing with an unfamiliar rhythm section is first listen to them and see in which areas they seem most comfortable and try to stay within the context where they feel best because this will make the band overall sound better. And I've seen too many people make the mistake when they are appearing as a soloist. They're trying to do too much of pulling out 35 original tunes all with complete arrangements and demanding that the band play them. Unless you have a truly exceptional quality of musicianship, it's just not going to work. And I've seen some embarrassing results of this in the club of people just not willing to gear their approach to the capabilities of the accompanying artists. I think it works better if everybody feels comfortable, and then, at least you have a chance of sounding good.”