Zoot Sims

Zoot Sims
Sims at the 52nd Street Jazz Fair in 1976
Background information
Birth name John Haley Sims
Born (1925-10-29)October 29, 1925
Inglewood, California, U.S.
Died March 23, 1985(1985-03-23) (aged 59)
New York City
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Musician
  • composer
Instruments Saxophone
Years active 1944–85
Labels
Associated acts

John Haley "Zoot" Sims (October 29, 1925 – March 23, 1985) was an American jazz saxophonist, playing mainly tenor but also alto (and, later, soprano) saxophone.[1] He first gained attention in the "Four Brothers" sax section of Woody Herman's big band, afterward enjoying a long solo career, often in partnership with fellow saxmen Gerry Mulligan and Al Cohn, and the trombonist Bob Brookmeyer.

Biography

Sims was born in 1925 in Inglewood, California to vaudeville performers Kate Haley and John Sims.[2] His father was a vaudeville hoofer, and Sims prided himself on remembering many of the steps his father taught him. Growing up in a performing family, he learned to play drums and clarinet at an early age. His brother was the trombonist Ray Sims.[3]

Following in the footsteps of Lester Young, Sims developed into an innovative tenor saxophonist. Throughout his career, he played with big bands, starting with those of Kenny Baker and Bobby Sherwood after dropping out of high school after one year. He played with Benny Goodman's band in 1943 and replaced his idol Ben Webster in Sid Catlett's Quartet in 1944.[4][5]

Sims served as a corporal in the United States Army Air Force from 1944 to 1946,[5] then returned to music in the bands of Artie Shaw, Stan Kenton, and Buddy Rich. He was one of Woody Herman's "Four Brothers". He frequently led his own combos and toured with his friend Gerry Mulligan's sextet, and later with Mulligan's Concert Jazz Band. Sims rejoined Goodman in 1962 for a tour of the Soviet Union.[5]

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". The group was a favorite at New York City's Half Note Club. Always fond of the higher register of the tenor sax, he also played alto and late in his career added soprano saxophone to his performances, while recording a series of albums for the Pablo Records label of the impresario Norman Granz. He also played on some of Jack Kerouac's recordings.[6]

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 on The Muppet Show.

Sims played a 30-second solo on the song "Poetry Man", written by singer Phoebe Snow on her debut eponymous album in 1975.. He also played on Laura Nyro's "Lonely Women," on her album "Eli and the Thirteenth Confession."

Zoot Sims died of cancer on March 23, 1985 in New York City,[4] and is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, in Nyack, New York.

Discography

Sims at Keystone Korner, San Francisco, California, 1983

1949-1956

1957-1959

1960-1969

1970-1975

1976-1979

  • 1976: Zoot Sims With Bucky Pizzarelli (Classic Jazz) with Bucky Pizzarelli - also released as Summon
  • 1976: Soprano Sax (Pablo) with Ray Bryant and George Mraz
  • 1976: Hawthorne Nights (Pablo)
  • 1977: If I'm Lucky (Pablo) with Jimmy Rowles
  • 1978: For Lady Day (Pablo)
  • 1978: Just Friends (Pablo) with Sweets Edison
  • 1978: Zoot Sims in Copenhagen (Storyville)
  • 1979: The Sweetest Sounds (Sonet Gramofon) with Rune Gustafsson
  • 1979: The Swinger (Pablo)
  • 1979: Warm Tenor (Pablo) with Jimmy Rowles

1980-2003

  • 1981: I Wish I Were Twins (Pablo) with Jimmy Rowles
  • 1981 [1995]: Art 'n' Zoot (Pablo) with Art Pepper
  • 1982: Blues for Two (Pablo) with Joe Pass
  • 1982: The Innocent Years (Pablo) with Richard Wyands and Frank Tate
  • 1983: Suddenly It's Spring (Pablo) with Akira Tana
  • 1984; Quietly There: Zoot Sims Plays Johnny Mandel (Fantasy)
  • 1985: The Best of Zoot Sims (Pablo)
  • 2002: Joe & Zoot & More (Chiaroscuro) with Joe Venuti and Bucky Pizzarelli - expanded reissue of Joe & Zoot
  • 2003: Somebody Loves Me (Lester Recording Catalog) reissue, some of this was released at the time as Nirvana)

As sideman

With Pepper Adams

With Trigger Alpert

With Chet Baker

With Count Basie

With Louie Bellson

With Clifford Brown

  • 1954: Jazz Immortal (Pacific Jazz)

With Ray Charles

With the Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band

With Al Cohn

With Chris Connor

With Miles Davis

  • 1953: Plays Al Cohn Compositions (Miles Davis and Horns CD) (Prestige)

With Kenny Dorham

  • 1961: Hot Stuff From Brazil (West Wind) released in 1990

With Jon Eardley

  • 1956: The Jon Eardley Seven (Prestige), reissued in 1965 as Zoot Sims Koo Koo (Status)

With Booker Ervin

With Bill Evans

With Art Farmer

With Curtis Fuller

With Benny Goodman

With Bobby Hackett

With Coleman Hawkins

With Woody Herman

  • 1959: New Big Herd At The Monterey Jazz Festival (released 1960 Atlantic)

With Chubby Jackson

  • 1950: All Star Big Band (Prestige)

With Quincy Jones

With Stan Kenton

With Jack Kerouac

With Irene Kral

With Elliot Lawrence

  • 1957: Big Band Modern (Jazztone)

With Michel Legrand

  • 1982: After The Rain (Pablo)

With Stan Levey and Red Mitchell

  • 1954-1955: West Coast Rhythm (Affinity) released 1982

With The Manhattan Transfer

With Gary McFarland

With Ted McNabb

  • 1959: Big Band Swing (Epic)

With Carmen McRae

With the Metronome All-Stars

With Charles Mingus

With Red Mitchell

  • 1955: Happy Minors (Bethlehem)

With Jack Montrose

With Gerry Mulligan

With Oliver Nelson

With Anita O'Day

With Bob Prince

  • 1959: Saxes Inc. (Warner Bros)

With Buddy Rich and Lionel Hampton

With Shorty Rogers

With Jimmy Rushing

  • 1971: The You And Me That Used To Be (RCA)

With Lalo Schifrin and Bob Brookmeyer

With Johnny Smith

With Phoebe Snow

With Sonny Stitt

With Clark Terry

  • 1979: Mother! Mother! (Pablo)

With Sarah Vaughan

With Joe Venuti

  • 1974: The Joe Venuti Blue Four (Chiaroscuro)

With Joe Williams

  • 1963: At Newport '63 (RCA Victor)
  • 1989: Having The Blues Under European Sky (Lester Recording Catalog) recorded live in the 1970s

References

  1. ↑ "Zoot Sims". All About Jazz. Retrieved August 8, 2013.
  2. ↑ Archived October 26, 2005, at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ↑ Levinson, Peter J. (2005). September in the Rain: The Life of Nelson Riddle. Taylor Trade Publishing. p. 140.
  4. 1 2 Folkart, Burt A. "Saxophonist John Haley (Zoot) Sims Dies at 59". Los Angeles Times, March 24, 1985. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 Lankford, Ronald D., Jr. Zoot Sims Biography. musicianguide.com. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
  6. ↑ Smith, Sid (May 5, 2008). "Jack Kerouac with Al Cohn and Zoot Sims: Blues And Haikus". All About Jazz. Retrieved 2017-09-15.
  7. ↑ "Zoot Sims Avec Henri Renaud Et Son Orchestre Et Jon Eardley - Zoot Sims Avec Henri Renaud Et Son Orchestre Et Jon Eardley". Discogs. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
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