Zoot Sims

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Zoot Sims

John Haley "Zoot" Sims (October 29, 1925 - March 23, 1985) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and soprano saxophonist.

He was born in Inglewood, California.[[1]] Growing up in a vaudeville family, Sims learned to play both drums and clarinet at an early age. His father was a vaudeville hoofer, and Sims prided himself on remembering many of the steps his father taught him.

Following in the footsteps of Lester Young, Sims developed into an innovative tenor saxophonist. Throughout his career, he played with renowned bands, including Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Stan Kenton, and Buddy Rich. Sims was also one of Woody Herman's "Four Brothers", and he was known among his peers as one of the strongest swingers in the field. He frequently led his own combos and sometimes toured with his friend Gerry Mulligan's sextet, and later with Mulligan's Concert Jazz Band.

In the 1950s and '60s, Sims had a long, successful partnership as co-leader of a quintet with Al Cohn, which recorded under the name "Al and Zoot". That group was a favorite at the New York club "The Half Note." Always fond of the higher register of the tenor sax, Zoot also liked to play alto and late in his career added the soprano saxophone to his performances, while recording a series of albums for the Pablo Records label of impressario Norman Granz.

Sims acquired the nickname — Zoot — early in his career while he was in the Kenny Baker band in California. The name was later appropriated for a sax-playing Muppet.

Zoot Sims died in New York on March 23, 1985.

Discography (partial)

That Old Feeling is a double-issue CD of two 1956 albums;

    • (???) includes "Bohemia After Dark" Sims' first recorded alto solo.

and

The double-CD Al Cohn with Zoot Sims Complete Original Quintet/Sextet Studio Recordings contains:

The album Somebody Loves Me is a re-issue of tracks cut in the mid-70s for the Groove Merchant label, featuring Sims on tenor and soprano with Bucky Pizzarelli (guitar), Milt Hinton (bass), and Buddy Rich (drums). Some of this was released at the time as the album Nirvana.

External links