When Zoot Sims visited Paris in June 1950, he was not yet 25 years old. A member of the Benny Goodman sextet, he was at this time enjoying the experience of playing alongside trumpeter Roy Eldridge. Both Zoot and Roy were invited to record for Vogue, and for the trumpeter’s first session on June 9th he invited Zoot to be in on the party. Then, on June 14th, Roy was back in the Vogue studios, this time fronting a quartet consisting of Gerry Wiggins, Pierrel Michelot and Kenny Clarke. On June 26th, came Zoot’s turn, and he was lucky enough to be able to opt for the same rhythm section. Pianist Wiggins, then in Paris as accompanist to Lena Horne, would subsequently have the opportunity to record a few sides under his own name. As for bassist Pierre Michelot and drummer Kenny Clarke, they were quite simply the two best rhythm men on French soil. The fruits of this session are bursting with swing, hardly surprising when one considers that the youngster was the most swinging of the famous "brothers", that trio of young tenor-players who had made such an immense impression on the jazz world from the saxophone section ofthe Woody Herman orchestra. This redoutable team had helped create a completely new section-sound, their common hero Lester Young, whose smooth, velvet tone and relaxed rhythmic freedom were their principal inspiration. However, just like his "brothers", Zoot had by no means remained indifferent to the sounds of bebop, although his efforts in this direction were insufficient, it would seem, for French fans, who indicated adistinct preference for James Moody But today, with the benefit of hindsight, we are better able to appreciate the superb improvisations Zoot develops throughout this first session for Vogue, issued here in its entirely, initially rejected takes included...
Claude Carrière (from the booklet)
Zoot Sims
Quartet - Sextet
Tracks
1 Night and Day (Porter) 2:57
2 Night and Day [alt. take 2] (Porter) 2:57
3 Night and Day [alt. take 3] (Porter) 2:58
4 Sligin' Hash (Sims) 3:19
5 Sligin' Hash [alt. take] (Sims) 3:30
6 Tenorly (Sims) 2:47
7 Tenorly [alt. take 2] (Sims) 2:50
8 Tenorly [alt. take 3] (Sims) 2:47
9 Zoot and Zoot (Sims) 3:21
10 I Understand (Wayne, Gannon) 3:39
11 I Understand [alt. take] (Wayne, Gannon) 3:33
12 Don't Worry About Me (Koehler, Bloom) 3:07
13 Crystal (Sims) 3:13
14 Toot's Suite (Holman) 5:52
15 The Late Tiny Kahn (Kahn) 4:27
16 Call it Anything (Sims) 3:17
18 Once in a While (Edwards, Green) 3;32
19 Great Drums (Kahn) 2:42
*
Personnel
[# 1-13]
Zoot Sims - ts
Gerry Wiggins - p
Pierre Michelot - b
Kenny Clarke - dr
Recorded in Paris ; June 26, 1950
[# 14-19]
Zoot Sims - ts
Frank Rosolino - tb
Jimmy Gourley - g
Henri Renaud - p
Don Bagley - b
Jean-Louis Viale - dr
Recorded in Paris ; September 18, 1953