A companion volume to Straight Life, Art and Laurie Pepper’s 1979 book is to be published this month. “Why I Stuck with a Junkie Jazzman” is the sub-title of Laurie Taylor's book Art, a warts-and-all account of her marriage to the troubled but hugely gifted alto saxophonist.

“People think I was some kind of little wifey-saint who rescued him. And Art encouraged them in that. But he knew how truly crazy I could be. We rescued each other,” Laurie Pepper has commented. 

Laurie Pepper maintains her husband’s memory in different ways, and last year her label Widow's Taste founded in the 1980s produced one of the best reissues of the year with Unreleased Art Vol. VIII Live at the Winery September 6, 1976.

Art: Why I Stuck with a Junkie Jazzman is published on 16 May

_{Laurie and Art Pepper above. Photo: Herb Nolan}