Zoot Sims

• Genre: West Coast Jazz
• Hometown: Los Angeles

About

Besides having just about the coolest jazz name imaginable, John "Zoot" Sims never blew a false note. Part of the Lester Young-inspired West Coast school, Sims swung with constant abandon while managing to keep the trademark relaxed Cool approach. Sims hit the big time in the late '40s as one of Woody Herman's Four (sax) Brothers, and from there led his own groups and worked with just about every big band, Cool jazz artist and vocalist on the jazz landscape, including Benny Goodman, Miles Davis and Ella Fitzgerald. Finally in 1953, Gerry Mulligan tapped Sims as lead soloist in his own progressive take on the Big Band sound. After 1956, Sims led his own groups (often with the like-minded sax of Al Cohn) and continued to add his talents to many sessions until his death in 1985.

- Nick Dedina