John Haley “Zoot” Sims was among jazz’s elite.
There wasn’t anybody who he didn’t record with or who didn’t want to record with him and everyone within jazz knew him as a legend. Yet for whatever reason his name strangely isn’t as synonymous as other sax greats.
His did his first session work in 1944 at the age of 19 after Benny Goodman discovered him, three years later he would join Woody Herman’s Second Herd.
At 25 he lead this particular quartet with Gerry Wiggins, Pierre Michelot and Kenny Clarke and laid down what would become one of my favorites works of his.
Recorded in Paris, France on June 16, 1950 “I Understand” seems to sum up what all his fans caught onto hearing his style of playing early on.
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