Search - Zoot Sims Quartet, Knobby Totah, Johnny Williams :: Zoot

Why cry ? Just swing !

Jazzcat | Genoa, Italy Italy | 08/30/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Five starZ for this early Zoot !! This album is from 1956, Zoot swings lightly over George Handy's compositions which are extremely beautiful (G. Handy pianist/arranger of the forties). The overall feeling is joyful this is happy jazz, but not fool's jazz like many people thinks when the music is not harsh, hard or dissonant. This Jazz is deep, funny and it swings! It's all in the opener "Why cry?" which is truly exilarating !! The rest of the program is equally uplifting even when ballad's time comes! The line up is the common rhythmn combo plus two lead voices, the Zoot's saxes (alto and tenor) and Nick Travis's trumpet. An album which is rightly famous! Exceptional. I love it. Today is my first day on the job after the summer's vacations. This music is helping me a lot! Why cry? Just swing!"

Absolutely Delightful Swingin' Cool Jazz From The 1950's

Donnie The B | USA | 08/13/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album is a complete delight. George Handy's arrangements give the tunes a structure that is somtimes lacking in Zoot's records. The ensemble playing from the two horns just flat works great. If you dig small group cool jazz, you'll love the sound here.



Zoot Sims was such a great improviser that producers occasionally would ask Zoot to get a group into the studio and just blow! That has a charm as well, and produced some of the most memorable sax solos ever recorded, but these well thought-out arrangements make this album a totally listenable experience from start to finish. And the charts certainly don't inhibit Zoot's creativity. He swings hard as usual. And he never plays an inappropriate phrase!



Nick Travis on trumpet (another Woody Herman alum) keeps up with Zoot quite well in the improvisation department, although his chops weren't the best here. He splatters some notes here and there. But Miles did too! George Handy contributes some nice fills and solos on piano while Ossie Johnson on drums and Wilbur Ware on bass make you wonder why they aren't better known. Zoot's soaring alto work is featured on a couple of the cuts, while his better known tenor is used on the balance.



This album was originally a Riverside label release, recorded in late 1956. Fantasy/Original Jazz Classics reissued the album on LP in the early 1980's and on CD some years later. The sound is good on any of these. If you're new to Zoot Sims, one of the very best jazz saxophonists of all time, this would be a great place to start or continue your appreciation of his talent. There's no waste here - an easy 5 star rating!"