Jazz — All Formats  

A very well-titled album – as it definitely features Zoot Sims and Al Cohn stretching out – pushing their groove a bit more than on some of their tightly-composed mid 50s sessions for RCA! The lineup is still slightly large – an octet that features Zoot and Al on tenor, plus the latter on some baritone sax too – plus Harry Edison on trumpet, Bob Brookmeyer on trombone, Freddie Green on guitar, and Hank Jones on piano – working with a relaxed, easygoing vibe that swings in a gentle style that really opens up the solos. Titles include "Stretching Out", "Now Will You Be Good", "King Porter", and "Bee Kay". All this, and the album has a cover of a very sexy model – stretching out!

Alive, and plenty lively – one of our favorite albums ever to feature the team of Al Cohn and Zoot Sims – and one that has them really stretching out a lot more than usual! The album's got a format that's quite different than the tightly-reigned sound of Sims and Cohn on other dates – as all the four tracks here run for longer than nine minutes – really allowing lots of room for solo space – and some great interplay between the reedmen too! Phil Woods joins the twin tenors on alto for two tracks – and the rest of the group features Mose Allison on piano, Nabil Totah on bass, and Paul Motian on drums. Titles include "Lover Come Back To Me", "It Had To Be You", and "Wee Dot".

A swinging east coast set featuring the reeds of Zoot Sims, Al Cohn, and Tony Scott. Trigger Alpert is actually the leader on these sides, in spite of the way the album is billed, and he plays bass in a piano-less rhythm section alongside Ed Shaughnessy on drums. The front line also includes Joe Wilder and Urbie Green, making for an horn heavy ensemble that blows nicely over Dick Hyman, Tony Scott and Marty Paich arrangements of standards and a handful of originals that include "Looking At You", "I Don't Want To Be Alone Again", "Trigger Happy", "Tranquilizer", "Where's That Rainbow?", "Treat Me Rough", "Triger Fantasy" and "Love Me Tomorrow".

Tremendous horn interplay from the team of Al Cohn and Zoot Sims – and a record that may well be one of the best illustrations of their famous magic together in the 50s! The record's got a way of focusing energy, yet letting each player state themselves clearly and cleanly – almost a perfect small group variation of the larger jazz modes of a generation before – carried out here by Cohn and Sims with a great balance of tone and timing, modernism and swing! There's an excellent rhythm group on the date – Mose Allison on piano, Teddy Kotick on bass, and Nick Stabulus on drums – who almost bring in a slightly soulful undercurrent, which works especially well on Sims' solo moments. Tracks include "Two Funky People", "Just You Just Me", "The Wailing Boat", "You're A Lucky Guy", "Brandy & Beer", and "Chasing The Blues".

Tremendous horn interplay from the team of Al Cohn and Zoot Sims – and a record that may well be one of the best illustrations of their famous magic together in the 50s! The record's got a way of focusing energy, yet letting each player state themselves clearly and cleanly – almost a perfect small group variation of the larger jazz modes of a generation before – carried out here by Cohn and Sims with a great balance of tone and timing, modernism and swing! There's an excellent rhythm group on the date – Mose Allison on piano, Teddy Kotick on bass, and Nick Stabulus on drums – who almost bring in a slightly soulful undercurrent, which works especially well on Sims' solo moments. Tracks include "Two Funky People", "Just You Just Me", "The Wailing Boat", "You're A Lucky Guy", "Brandy & Beer", and "Chasing The Blues".

One of the best albums that Al Cohn and Zoot Sims ever cut together – and that's saying a lot, given the strength of their collaborations during the 50s and 60s! The set's got a nice small group feeling, and is a bit more open and relaxed than some of their RCA material – still in the sharp, thoughtful mode that marked both Cohn and Sims' sessions – but also a bit more earthy, too – possibly because they've got Mose Allison in the combo on piano. The album includes the incredible spare sax-only track "Improvisation For Unaccompanied Saxophones", which is an extremely haunting track that sounds unlike anything the pair had ever done together – and other titles have the full quintet playing, tunes that include "The Opener", "The Note" and "You N Me".

An album that compiles early Miles Davis sides from two different Prestige sessions of the early 50s. One features Miles with a sextet that includes Sonny Rollins, Bennie Green, John Lewis, Percy Heath, and Roy Haynes – on the tracks "Morpheus", "Down", "Blue Room", and "Whispering". The other session features a septet, with Lewis, Kenny Clarke, Al Cohn, Zoot Sims, Leonard Gaskin, and Sonny Truitt. Titles include "Tasty Pudding", "Floppy", "Willie The Wailer", and "For Adults Only".

Stone cooking hardbop – done with all the sharp edges of a New York session, even though the material was recorded live in Rio! The setting is an unusual one – a State Department tour of American jazz musicians – but a lineup that moves way past some of the overly-mainstream "ambassadors" out there – given that the players include Kenny Dorham on trumpet, Zoot Sims and Al Cohn on tenors, Curtis Fuller on trombone, Herbie Mann on flute, and even Ahmed Abdul-Malik on oud! Tracks are nice and long – very much in a jam session mode on the best numbers, but mixed with some well-played mellower moments too – and titles include "Wee Dot", "Red Door", "Autumn Leaves", and the haunting original "Ismaaa", which has a great Eastern feel, thanks to the oud!

Lots of Swingin Friends here – Al Cohn and Zoot Sims on tenor, Clark Terry and Snooky Young on trumpets, and Jimmy Knepper on trombone!

Don't let the "horns" in the title put you off – because the record's not a hokey "with horns" record by Miles, but a batch of all-star sessions that has him playing with some really tremendous contemporaries! The set compiles early Miles Davis sides from two different Prestige sessions of the early 50s – material originally issued as 10 inch LPs, but brought together here in a very cool full length package with a cover image by Mad Magazine's Don Martin! Side one features Miles with a sextet that includes Sonny Rollins, Bennie Green, John Lewis, Percy Heath, and Roy Haynes – on the tracks "Morpheus", "Down", "Blue Room", and "Whispering" – all taken in a boppish mode, but with slight modern touches. Side two features the compositions of Al Cohn – "Tasty Pudding", "Floppy", "Willie The Wailer", and "For Adults Only" – played by a septet that features Cohn, Zoot Sims, John Lewis, Kenny Clarke, Leonard Gaskin, and Sonny Truitt – a very nice match to the sound of side one, and a surprisingly unified record overall!

A blaring batch of tracks played by an all-star all-sax group that includes Herb Geller, Phil Woods, Gene Quill, Al Cohn, Zoot Sims, Seldon Powell, Hal McKusick, and Georgie Auld. Bob Prince arranged and conducted, and the approach is surprisingly modernist, with the saxes carrying the bulk of the rhythm and melody, as well as the solos. A surprisingly nice session for Warner from the time, and pretty tough to find. Titles include "Four Brothers" (of course!), "The Gypsy", "Night In Tunisia", "Jumpin With Symphony Sid", and "Axmobile".

Jazz from the heart of the cold war – not actually recorded in Moscow, but featuring a bunch of hip players on their return from a tour of the Soviet Union – a historic moment in which west met east, with some groovy jazz in the offing! Apart from the tenor of Zoot Sims and alto of Phil Woods, the record also features flute and alto from Jerry Dodgion, trombone from Willie Dennis, trumpets from Markie Markowitz and Jimmy Maxwell, and piano from Eddie Costa – and the set features arrangements from Al Cohn on tracks that hit the 5 minute range – tight at the top, with breakaway solos, as you might hear during some of the Cohn/Sims sides for RCA during the 50s! Titles include "Let's Dance", "Mission To Moscow", "The Sochi Boatman", and the obligatory "Russian Lullaby".

Tenors can't get any more conclaved than this – as the record brings together 4 players on the instrument in a great match from 2 of the best sides of 50s jazz! John Coltrane and Hank Mobley represent the more open, soulful side of the spectrum – and Al Cohn and Zoot Sims the tighter, more smartly arranged aspect. Together, the quartet of horns work in an open-ended blowing mode with rhythm by Red Garland, Paul Chambers, and Art Taylor – in a way that almost makes the set a "Coltrane plus" album for Prestige – one that has the structure of some of the best Trane/Garland sides for the label, but which blows in some other horns with different voicings. If you ever needed a record to demonstrate the subtler shadings of genius within 50s modern jazz, yet still convince you that it could also be relaxed and spontaneous, this record may well be the one. Titles include 2 standards – "Just You, Just Me" and "How Deep Is The Ocean" – plus 2 Mobley originals – "Tenor Conclave" and "Bob's Boys".

A great little 2LP set – and a near-definitive release of recordings made by Gerry Mulligan and Lee Konitz, along with players like Zoot Sims, Allan Eager, and Al Cohn during the early 50s in LA. Some of the sides are studio sets, others are recorded live, and all seem to have a freeness that's rare for both of the players at the time. The sets are a bit loose, but in a good way, one that has the normally controlled Mulligan and Konitz opening up more in a jam session mode, especially on the longer tracks. Titles include "Disc Jockey Jump", "Crazy Day", "Sextet I", "Revelation", "Four & One More", "Turnstile", and "All The Things You Are". Great notes, too!