Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Zoot Sims: “Zoot's Theme”



This is Zoot Sims on tenor saxophone, Roger Kellaway on the piano, Chuck Berghofer on bass, and Larry Bunker on the drums performing “Zoot’s Theme.”

John Haley "Zoot" Sims (1925 – 1985) was an American jazz tenor and soprano saxophonist. He grew up in a vaudeville family and learned to play the drums and clarinet as a child.

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".

Sims acquired the nickname — Zoot — early in his career while he was in the Kenny Baker band in California.

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