Zoot Sims

Throughout his professional life, Zoot Sims came to personify the ideal of the swinging jazz musician, one who never delivered a single misplaced note. He projected an air of constant inspiration, and although his approach remained largely consistent after the early 1950s, his creative spark and sheer enthusiasm stayed undiminished.

Vaudeville roots ran through Sims’s family, and as a youngster he took up drums and clarinet. His older brother, Ray Sims, matured into a skilled trombonist whose phrasing echoed Bill Harris. At thirteen Sims made the permanent switch to tenor saxophone, drawing his earliest influence from Lester Young before forging his own cool-toned voice. By fifteen he was already working professionally, securing his first significant engagement with Bobby Sherwood’s Orchestra. In 1943 he joined Benny Goodman’s big band for the initial time, becoming one of Goodman’s preferred tenor saxophonists over the following three decades. He cut his first sides with Joe Bushkin in 1944, at which point his mature style was already firmly in place.

Following military service, Sims rejoined Goodman between 1946 and 1947. His first widespread recognition arrived as a member of Woody Herman’s celebrated “Four Brothers” saxophone section in the Second Herd, where he remained from 1947 to 1949. Subsequent brief associations included stints with Buddy Rich’s short-lived big band, Artie Shaw, Goodman again in 1950, Chubby Jackson, and Elliot Lawrence. He toured and recorded with Stan Kenton in 1953 and with Gerry Mulligan from 1954 to 1956. During the early 1960s he served as a featured soloist in Mulligan’s Concert Jazz Band and traveled to the Soviet Union with Benny Goodman in 1962. Operating chiefly as a freelancer, Sims frequently headed his own small groups or co-led ensembles alongside longtime friend Al Cohn, whose tenor sound and conception closely paralleled his own. In the 1970s he began incorporating soprano saxophone into his arsenal with notable success. Over the decades he thrived in an extraordinary range of settings. Sims documented his work prolifically, leading dates for Prestige, Metronome, Vogue, Dawn, Storyville, Argo, ABC-Paramount, Riverside, United Artists, Pacific Jazz, Bethlehem, Colpix, Impulse, Groove Merchant, Famous Door, Choice, Sonet, and an acclaimed series of albums for Pablo.