Improvisation For Unaccompanied Saxophones
You 'N Me
The Al Cohn - Zoot Sims Quintet
With Mose Allison through the courtesy of Columbia Records - A Division of Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc.
EmArcy Series Mercury Records SR 60606
From the back cover: Free-swinging modern jazz by two celebrated alumni of Woody Herman's celebrated "Four Brothers" team, each individually known as a tenor sax stylist.
Recorded in New York City June 1 and 3, 1960. Personnel: Al Cohn, Zoot Sims, tenor saxophones (clarinets on Angel Eyes); Mose Allison, piano; Major Holley, bass; Osie Johnson, drums. Produced by Leonard Feather.
With this album EmArcy jazz followers are introduced to a new and highly combustible version of a combo that has an intermittent but productive life since it burst on the jazz scene a few year ago.
Al Cohen and Zoot Sims are the kind of team that can accurately be described as a natural. The careers of these two modern tenor saxophonists have run parallel in several respects; their musical attitudes have much in common; and most important of all, their manner of expression blends superbly.
Al Cohn, though respected both in jazz and in the broader general field of popular music as a composer-arranger and instrumentalist of impeccable academic and artistic standards, had comparatively little formal training and was completely self-taught on tenor. Born in Brooklyn November 24, 1925, he took piano and clarinet lessons as a youngster but acquired most of his knowledge empirically. He was still in his teens when he gained his first big band experience in the orchestra of Joe Marsala and Georgie Auld. After working with Auld off and on from '43-6 he spent some time in the Alvino Rey and Buddy Rich bands (everybody had a big band in those days), then in January of '48 began what was to be the best-remembered and most crucial stint of his formative years, as part of the memorable Second Herd led by Woody Herman, in which the three-tenors-and-baritone sound of the reed section commemorated at that time in the Jimmy Giuffre composition Four Brothers, was the most important characteristic.
During the 1950s Al oscillated with consistent success between the commercial and jazz worlds, writing many arrangements for major TV shows such as the Hit Parade, but maintaining is identity as a jazz soloist by working with Benny Goodman and various combos and bands on a temporary basis.
John Haley "Zoot" Sims is exactly 26 days older than Al. Born in Inglewood, California, he too studied clarinet in school but was self-taught on tenor. After working briefly with West Coast bands he came to the attention of New York listeners during a couple of visits with Goodman in the mid-1940s, and with a sextet led by Bill Harris at Cafe Society, Zoot joined the Herman band when Woody was reorganizing in California in the fall of 1947 and remained with him until '49. The '50s found him on a variety of gigs on the West Coast (he toured for a while with Stan Kenton in '53) and on the East Coast and in Europe with both Benny Goodman and Gerry Mulligan (he was heard on EmArcy while with Gerry).
Asked to name their preferences on tenor sax, Al and Zoot invariably name one another, but acknowledge the primary influence of Lester Young and express their continuing admiration for Sonny Snitt. Though to the casual listener the Young influence seems strong in both, protracted hearings make it evident that Al and Zoot have spread out in slightly different directions despite their common inspirations. Al's slightly fuller and rounder tone, Zoot's more attenuated sound and oblique approach can be discerned as their most distinctive traits.
Fans of Al and Zoot around New York City need hardly be told that many of their happiest months during the past couple of years have been spent at the Half Note, a relaxed and informal spot southwest of Greenwich Village. Bassist Major Holley, who was with them at "the Note" when these sides were taped, will be remembered by some fans as a former Oscar Peterson Trio member; during the '50s he was off the scene for quite a while living and working in England. Pianist Mose Allison, the Mississippi product with the Minton touch, has been in New York for four years, working with small combos, and was also with Al And Zoot at the Half Note at the time of this season. Osie Johnson, too busy nowadays to tie himself down to a night club job, is New York's most dependable and popular free-lance drummer. Shortly after the Al-Zoot date he went on staff with Dick Hyman's swinging little band on Arthur Godfrey's daily CBS program.
The Note
You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To
You' N Me
On The Alamo
The Opener
Angel Eyes
Awful Lonely
Love For Sale
Improvisation For Unaccompanied Saxophones
