Lost Tapes (Baden-Baden 1958) - Plak

ENGLISH

What you get with Zoot Sims in Baden-Baden, recorded on 23 June 1958, is a single jam session in which each number features a different line-up and instrumentation: Sims and Koller on tenor sax get in the frame with 'All The Things You Are', before switching to clarinet for Hammerschmid's composition 'Minor Meeting For Two Clarinets' – a reference to Lester Young's love of the instrument. Then, simply sublime, Zoot Sims' rendition of 'Tangerine'. Koller's reply is 'Fallin' In Love' – elegant and nimble, played like a young Stan Getz on his way to Brazil.

'Blue Night' (featuring a six-piece horn section) is one of the highlights of the concert, a number which beguilingly alternates between big band and ensemble jazz. One can almost feel the musicians cautiously shedding their big band backgrounds, before once again being eased elegantly back into the ensemble. The same goes for 'Open Door', in which Kenny Clarke's heartbeat urges the ensemble gently but inexorably onwards with every bar, and the alto of Zoot Sims briefl y opens the door to allow the sound of the day – bebop – to fl ood the studio. 'Blue Night' presents both traditions and new departures in one: Lester Young is omnipresent and one can feel the imprint of Woody Herman, Stan Kenton and – yes! – even Benny Goodman. And yet every piece and every solo focuses on individuality and personal expression.