Today would have been the 87th Birthday of John Haley Sims better known as "Zoot", a nickname that he acquired when he was a teenager and he kept for the rest of his life. Zoot Sims was one of the finest exponents of the tenor saxophone. he played and recorded on the alto and soprano horns but it's his tenor that stands out. He was one of the original "four brothers" in Woody Herman's legendary Second Herd and after that,Zoot struck out on his own. He usually worked with a quartet or in tandem with his other "brother", Al Cohn. Tonight's feature is one of Zoot's finest albums recorded in 1960 and called "Down Home". As this album has no ballads I'll include a couple from a session recorded around the same time with the same instrumentation. Zoot appears here with the great Dave McKenna on piano, George Tucker on bass and Dannie Richmond on drums. The rhythm section on the ballads is Henri Renaud on piano, Bob Whitlock on bass and Jean-Louis Viale on drums.There is nothing quite like the warmth and swing of Zoot's tenor. Happy Birthday Mr. Sims.

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