Zoot Sims - Zoot Suite

High Note 7170

When it comes to posthumous productivity, Zoot Sims holds a position near the front of the pack. Saxophonist Dexter Gordon springs immediately to mind as a saxophonist capable of surpassing him in this area, but there are precious few others. Previously unreleased music has been trickling into circulation for years, but unlike many other senior saxophonists, Sims did some of his finest work during his twilight period. Paired with a pedestrian title, this latest dispatch from the tape troves, recorded sometime in 1973, finds him fronting one of his finest late life bands at an undisclosed Caribbean engagement.

Pretty much any date teaming Sims with pianist Jimmy Rowles is worth the price to procure. The pair made some genuine classics for Pablo, among them Warm Tenor and Mr. Lucky made in the company of bassist George Mraz and drummer Mousey Alexander who also handle rhythm duties here. This set isn’t on par with those albums for several reasons. First there’s the dinged up recording quality, duly noted in a disclaimer on the tray card and by no means unlistenable, but still quite cramped and particularly unkind to Mraz. Even amplified in the customary early-70s fashion, his strings place quite low in the mix and it’s usually only in solos that his bass lines break free of rubbery murkiness. Alexander belies shyness of his sobriquet, his work on the cans gaining an even coarser edge through the aged fidelity. The athletic energy behind his sticks serves well on the vivacious drum breaks that accent and accelerate “Tickle Toe” and “Rocking in Rhythm,” the latter also a feature for Sims’ soprano.

The sociable audience sits in close proximity to the mics, bringing in the sounds of carousing and glassware but Sims and his colleagues sound unimpeded by the intrusions as they through more standards. Two baubles from the Fats Waller jewelry box, “Jitterbug Waltz” and “Honeysuckle Rose” illustrate the band’s “school” spanning interests. Sims swings hard on each while Rowles rolls in some nimble stride patterns. Not to be constrained to a stylistic corner, Mraz quotes the theme to “Bebop” on “Rose” eliciting encouragement from Sims and leading into another galvanizing solo from Alexander. The whole concert has a congenial after hours flavor to it, but misses the designation of must-hear thanks to that consistently imperturbable mood. Zoot completists, of whom there are surprisingly many, will probably snap it up, but others with less ardor for the saxophonist would do well to check out the aforementioned studio offerings by the band first.

~ Derek Taylor