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.

During a 30-year period the very complementary tenors Zoot Sims and Al Cohn teamed up on an irregular but always consistently satisfying basis. This club date from Stockholm, one of their final joint recordings, features the pair backed by pianist Claes Croona, bassist Palle Danielsson and drummer Petur Ostlund. Both Zoot and Cohn sound quite inspired and they really push each other on "Exactly like You," "After You've Gone" (which features Sims on soprano) and even a surprisingly heated version of "The Girl from Ipanema." Al Cohn's tone had deepened during the years and, although they sounded nearly identical in the 1950s, it is quite easy to tell the two tenors apart during this encounter. The CD (available through the Swedish Sonet label) is highly recommended for fans of the saxophonists and for bop collectors in general.

Zoot Sims Quintet - Zoot! (1956) {Riverside OJCCD-228-2 rel 1992}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 182 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 96 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 19 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1956, 1992 Riverside / Fantasy | OJCCD-228-2
Jazz / Bop / Cool / Saxophone

Simple and elegant genius from Zoot Sims – an overlooked quartet session recorded with George Handy on piano, Wilbur Ware on bass, and Osie Johnson on drums. Handy was the famous arranger for the Boyd Rayburn group in the 40s, and here he arranges the whole set – and also contributes a number of original tunes – making for a very fresh session that gets Zoot far past the usual bag of well-worn standards. And with Ware on bass, there's an extra depth to the set in the rhythm department that opens things up nicely – not dramatically, but enough to allow for some more emphatic playing on the part of Sims!

Zoot Sims - Waiting Game (1966) {2015 Japan Impulse! Classics 50 Series UCCI-9272}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 265 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 104 Mb
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© 1966, 2015 Impulse! / Verve / Universal Music Japan | UCCI-9272 | LP AS-9131
Jazz / Bop / Cool / Bebop / Saxophone

A rare gem from Zoot Sims – very different than any of his other albums! The session features Zoot blowing over large backings arranged and conducted by Gary McFarland, a bit in the older Verve "with strings" mode, but also sparkling with a lot of the newer elements that McFarland was bringing to his work at the time. The approach is both light and lush at the same time – and Zoot's got a tone and approach that we've never heard on any other record, making the whole album an incredible treat that we'd rank up there with Stan Getz's experiments of the same type from the 60s. Titles include "I Wish I Knew", "Does The Sun Really Shine On The Moon", "Once We Loved", "Old Folks", "September Song", "Stella By Starlight", and "Once I Could Have Loved".

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.]