Tenor saxophonist Scott Hamilton has, over the course of some 30 recordings for Concord Jazz, proven himself a key proponent of Lester Young-style swing. So it's no surprise to have Hamilton--with John "Bucky" Pizzarelli--... more »present this intimate tribute to Zoot Sims, who was widely acknowledged as a lifelong devotee of the Lester Young languid, breathy tenor sax style. Though Hamilton is a relative youngster, Pizzazrelli is a swing vet, a 70-something player who spent decades playing television music before cracking out in the 1970s with Benny Goodman and Zoot Sims, among others. As a pair, Pizzarelli and Hamilton play with all Zoot's heartfelt, slow-dawning emotion, from the wispy romance of "It Had to Be You" to Pizzarelli's hard-hitting, double-time strum solo on "Just You, Just Me." Listened to in an open room, this is relatively quiet music on the surface. But up close, it's beat-rich, with hopping rhythms handled by Pizzarelli's seventh string (allowing him to play bass lines). Moreover, it's delightfully precise in presenting Hamilton's tenor sax as a fluid thing of beauty. With Hamilton and Pizzarelli's newest and the recent Blue Note reissue of Jazz Alive!, a 1959 Sims super-session with Phil Woods, Al Cohn, and Mose Allison, Zoot is ready for a renaissance. --Andrew Bartlett« less
Tenor saxophonist Scott Hamilton has, over the course of some 30 recordings for Concord Jazz, proven himself a key proponent of Lester Young-style swing. So it's no surprise to have Hamilton--with John "Bucky" Pizzarelli--present this intimate tribute to Zoot Sims, who was widely acknowledged as a lifelong devotee of the Lester Young languid, breathy tenor sax style. Though Hamilton is a relative youngster, Pizzazrelli is a swing vet, a 70-something player who spent decades playing television music before cracking out in the 1970s with Benny Goodman and Zoot Sims, among others. As a pair, Pizzarelli and Hamilton play with all Zoot's heartfelt, slow-dawning emotion, from the wispy romance of "It Had to Be You" to Pizzarelli's hard-hitting, double-time strum solo on "Just You, Just Me." Listened to in an open room, this is relatively quiet music on the surface. But up close, it's beat-rich, with hopping rhythms handled by Pizzarelli's seventh string (allowing him to play bass lines). Moreover, it's delightfully precise in presenting Hamilton's tenor sax as a fluid thing of beauty. With Hamilton and Pizzarelli's newest and the recent Blue Note reissue of Jazz Alive!, a 1959 Sims super-session with Phil Woods, Al Cohn, and Mose Allison, Zoot is ready for a renaissance. --Andrew Bartlett
"This album just goes to show that it doesn't take more musicians to make more music. I listen to this one over and over and it never gets old. It continually surprises me with new details. The duet setting truly allows these two to completely work out their musical ideas and work off each other in a truly intimate, natural way. Also, the recording quality is superb. There's a real lack of reverb, and it shocked me at first, but I got used to it and now prefer it because it's so transparent. I've heard Scott from the front row a few feet away, and this recording really captures his tone beautifully. The guitar always sparkles, never harsh. I think this is a real classic duet recording, and, to the guy who gave this 2 stars I can only say, man, turn off the t.v., sit down sometime when the coffee buzz has worn off and listen to the subtleties on this recording. Less is more."
The lost art of the duo
04/25/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"what makes the scott hamilton/bucky pizzarelli record great is the fact that it IS just two men sitting in a studio making great music. you can hear them listening to each other, pushing each other and enjoying each other. not every jazz(or other style) cd has to hit you over the head to swing hard."
Smooth jazz at its best
ederosia | Provo, Utah | 03/14/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"To me, this CD is an excellent example of West Coast Cool jazz. If you're into Cool jazz (Zoot Sims, Stan Getz), you will simply love this album. If you're not -- and there's nothing wrong with that -- then this album isn't for you. Thank goodness wonderful musicians are still making music in this sublime and interesting style."
Vintage Guitar magazine review:
ederosia | 02/09/1999
(4 out of 5 stars)
"The Red Door, Bucky Pizzarelli and Scott Hamilton's tribute to sax god Zoot Sims, is an amazingly sublime album. Sims was a true sultan of swing, a classic golden-age jazzer of the 1930s and 1940s whose horn helped define the sound of an era. In celebration of Zoot's music, tenor saxman Hamilton and swing guitarist Pizzarelli work together as a duet like siamese twins. Pizzarelli plays a six-string Gibson acoustic archtop and a seven-string electric, unrolling chord-melody solos and bopping single-note lines that swing like there's no tomorrow. Now 72, Bucky is a contemporary of Zoot, and is still one of the finest swing guitarmen going. The arrangements here are tight yet at the same time spontaneous, and the sound is both old and new. If you have any love for swing, this CD will take you on a joyful trip down memory lane. Pizzarelli's Nirvana features Bucky on his trademark seven-string Benedetto with backing from his son, John Pizzarelli. The sound is very electric, modern-style jazz featuring covers of Django's "Nuages," Benny Goodman's "Stompin' at the Savoy," "Honeysuckle Rose," and more."