Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Zoot Sims: With Bucky Pizzarelli

Zoot Sims: With Bucky Pizzarelli

By Andrew Velez
May 14, 2009
View read count

This

Zoot Sims

saxophone, tenor
1925 - 1985

" data-original-title="" title="">Zoot Sims-

" data-original-title="" title="">Bucky Pizzarelli set of duets is now 33 years old but there's nary a sign of cobwebs here on a session in which the mutual pleasure of these two pros is happily apparent. If it contained only their bossa-flavored take on Michel Legrand's "Watch What Happens," it would be well worth the price. As it begins, just a deft sprinkling of Pizzarelli's notes opens a path through which flows a generous outpouring of Sims' shimmering warmth. But before we get to that gem, a breathless joint response to Cole Porter's magnificently obsessive question, "What Is This Thing Called Love?" opens the set. Even as he is consistently intensely melodic, Sims injects sprightly bursts and toots over his always ravishing tone.

Sims was a veteran of big bands during and after World War II, touring with bands including

Benny Goodman

clarinet
1909 - 1986

" data-original-title="" title="">Benny Goodman,

Artie Shaw

clarinet
1910 - 2004

" data-original-title="" title="">Artie Shaw,

Stan Kenton

piano
1911 - 1979

" data-original-title="" title="">Stan Kenton and playing in smaller groups including with

Gerry Mulligan

saxophone, baritone
1927 - 1996

" data-original-title="" title="">Gerry Mulligan. On this session, a gentler tone is evident in Sims' playing, which seems especially syntonic on the Legrand tune. Pizzarelli's seven-stringer serves as a delicately muscular complement, almost as a mirroring echo supporting Sims' rhythmic strength. That same mutual delight is palpable on "Mynah Blues," with a series of exchanges which are at once unhurried and endlessly inventive. The set ends with a chairs-on-the-tables-intimate barroom closer, "Willow Weep For Me," melodically mellow to the max.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

What Is This Thing Called Love?; Tooz Blues; Not So Deep; Take Ten; Mynah Blooze; Watch What Happens; There Will Never Be Another You; Willow Weep For Me.

Personnel

Zoot Sims

saxophone, tenor

Zoot Sims: tenor saxophone; Bucky Pizzarelli: guitar.

Album information

Title: With Bucky Pizzarelli | Year Released: 2009 | Record Label: Classic Jazz Records

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Samba Meets Boogie Woogie
< Previous

Shadow Machine
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.