Zoot Woman

The band's fifth album features 11 tracks. Kicking off with the infectious single 'Solid Gold', followed by the introspective 'Ordinary Face', regret fuelled 'I Said It Again' and 60's soul inspired 'Haunt Me'. Adding to the arsenal of synth-pop, a contribution from Kylie Minogue who features on the epic ballad 'Still Feels Like The First Time'. The resulting sound contains some of the most uplifting pop melodies they've ever delivered, proving them to be genre-defying artists for the 21st century.

Like fellow Aussies the Sherbs, Zoot never escaped teen-star status. But as Zoot Locker proves, they were certainly adapt at churning out clever pop tracks. Because of their time period, Zoot used every trick in the psychedelic book; but most songs maintain the three-minute mark, resulting in shrewd and skewered singles much like the Move delivered. Innocent innocuousness such as "Monty & Me" about walking the dog or "One Times Two Times Three Times Four" seems unfairly buried in the past. Of course, Beatles nods abound, such as the Lennon-isms of "Hey Pinky." With this smoking version of "Eleanor Rigby" the quartet attempted to jettison their early "pink" image, jumping aboard the bizarre "heavy covers" bandwagon with Vanilla Fudge and Rare Earth. The Hollies are another pervasive influence ("Flying" shares rhyme schemes with "Dear Eloise" over a "Helter Skelter" riff) while "Mr Songwriter" echoes the Byrds by way of Dylan. "Freak" foreshadows "Highway Star" and many Sweet moments.

Al Cohn & Zoot Sims - From A to Z and Beyond (1956) {RCA-Jazz Heritage 512983L rel 1991}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 361 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 132 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 10 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1956, 1991 RCA / Bluebird / Jazz Heritage | 512983L
Jazz / Cool / Bop / Saxophone

The very complementary tenors Al Cohn and Zoot Sims (whose similar styles often made them sound almost identical) teamed up many times through the years; this reissue brings back their first joint recording. Joined by either Dave McKenna or Hank Jones on piano, bassist Milt Hinton, drummer Osie Johnson, and (on some selections) the forgotten trumpeter Dick Sherman, Al and Zoot avoid obvious material ("Somebody Loves Me" and "East of the Sun" are the only standards) in favor of swinging "modern" originals by Cohn, Sherman, Osie Johnson, Ralph Burns, Manny Albam, Ernie Wilkins, and Milty Gold. Zoot contributed "Tenor for Two Please, Jack," his answer to the song "Dinner for One Please, James." [Some releases add four alternate takes to the original 12-song program, giving one a good example of the occasional Cohn-Sims musical partnership.]

Zoot Sims - New Beat Bossa Nova, Vol 1 (1962) {2017 Japan SHM-CD Jazz Masters Collection 1200 Series WPCR-29226}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 217 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 73 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 83 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24bit remaster
© 1962, 2017 Colpix Records / Parlophone / Warner Music Japan | WPCR-29226 / LP Colpix SCP435
Jazz / Latin Jazz / Bossa Nova / Cool / Bop / Saxophone

Reissue with SHM-CD format and the latest 24bit remastering. Comes with a mini-description. A great chapter in 60s bossa jazz – Zoot Sims "answer" to Stan Getz's bossa work on Verve – recorded in a similar jazz-meets-bossa style, with some great guitar work by Jim Hall! Zoot's solos are a bit tighter and not as laidback as Stan's – giving a more jazz-based sound to the work that makes for a nice change – and most of the tunes feature larger backings from Manny Albam and Al Cohn – never too over-arranged, but with enough of a full swinging sound to set things right. Hall's guitar works surprisingly well in the setting – and titles include "Barquinho De Papel", "Ciume", "Recado Bossa Nova (parts 1 & 2)", and "Cano Canoe".

Zoot Sims - New Beat Bossa Nova, Vol 2 (1962) {2017 Japan SHM-CD Jazz Masters Collection 1200 Series WPCR-29227}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 238 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 76 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 80 Mb | 5% repair rar | 24bit remaster
© 1962, 2017 Colpix Records / Parlophone / Warner Music Japan | WPCR-29227 / LP Colpix CP437
Jazz / Latin Jazz / Bossa Nova / Cool / Bop / Saxophone

Reissue with SHM-CD format and the latest 24bit remastering. Comes with a mini-description. An overlooked chapter in American bossa jazz of the 60s – recordings that weren't nearly as well-circulated as the Stan Getz bossa nova albums on Verve, but which have an equally special sort of sparkle! The arrangements here are by Manny Albam and Al Cohn – who both bring an earlier sense of large jazz charts into play with the tighter rhythms of the bossa – at a level that makes things explode nicely with a sense of color, while still keeping the groove light overall!

Zoot Sims - That Old Feeling (2005) {4CD Set Quadromania–Membran 222478-444 rec 1944-1956}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 1.09 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 557 Mb
Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 10 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1944-56, 2005 Quadromania / Membran Music | 222478-444
Jazz / Bop / Bebop / Cool / Saxophone

New Design Jewel box. Case slightly wider than normal album case, but contains 4 CD! Using 24 Bit - 96 khz - High End Digital Mastering. The result is a warm and more analog sound than you've ever heard before on a CD. This 4 CD package offers nearly 4 hours of music and covers the period 1944 to 1956 in date order. Recording info is given accept where I specify.