John Haley "Zoot" Sims (October 29, 1925 – March 23, 1985) was an American jazz musician who played the saxophone. He primarily played the tenor saxophone but also played the alto and, later, the soprano saxophone. He became famous as part of the "Four Brothers" group of saxophonists in Woody Herman's big band. After leaving the band, he had a long career performing solo, often working with other saxophonists Gerry Mulligan and Al Cohn.

Biography

Sims was born in 1925 in Inglewood, California, United States, to Kate Haley and John Sims, who were performers in vaudeville. His father was a vaudeville hoofer, and Sims took pride in remembering many of the steps his father taught him. Growing up in a performing family, he learned to play drums and clarinet at an early age. His brother was the trombonist Ray Sims.

Sims began playing the tenor saxophone at the age of 13. He first learned to play by studying the music of Lester Young, Ben Webster, and Don Byas. By his late teens, after leaving high school, he was playing in big bands, starting with those of Kenny Baker and Bobby Sherwood. He joined Benny Goodman’s band for the first time in 1943 (he later joined again in 1946 and continued to perform with Goodman occasionally until the late 1970s). Sims replaced Ben Webster in Sid Catlett’s Quartet in 1944. In May 1944, Sims made his first recording for Commodore Records in a sextet led by pianist Joe Bushkin, who had recorded for the same label two months earlier as part of Lester Young’s Kansas City Six.

Sims served as a corporal in the United States Army Air Force from 1944 to 1946. After returning to music, he played in the bands of Artie Shaw, Stan Kenton, and Buddy Rich. He was one of Woody Herman’s "Four Brothers." From 1954 to 1956, he toured with his friend Gerry Mulligan’s sextet, and in the early 1960s, with Mulligan’s Concert Jazz Band. Sims played on some of Jack Kerouac’s recordings. From the late 1950s until his death, Sims was primarily a freelancer, though he worked often in the 1960s and early 1970s with a group co-led by Al Cohn. In the 1970s and 1980s, he also played and recorded regularly with other musicians, including Bucky Pizzarelli, Joe Venuti, and Jimmy Rowles. In 1975, he began recording for Norman Granz’s Pablo Records label. Sims appeared on more than 20 Pablo albums, mostly as a solo artist, but also as a backing musician for artists such as Count Basie, Sarah Vaughan, and Clark Terry. Between 1974 and 1983, Sims recorded six studio albums with pianist Jimmy Rowles in a quartet setting, which critic Scott Yanow wrote highlighted Sims at his best.

Sims earned the nickname "Zoot" early in his career while he was in the Kenny Baker band in California. When he joined Kenny Baker’s band as a fifteen-year-old tenor saxophonist, each music stand had a nonsense word written on it. The stand he used had the word "Zoot" on it, and that became his name. The English musician Zoot Money and the Muppets character Zoot were both named after Zoot Sims.

Sims played a 30-second solo on the song "Poetry Man," written by singer Phoebe Snow for her debut album in 1974. He also played on Laura Nyro’s song "Lonely Women" from her album Eli and the Thirteenth Confession.

Sims’ last studio recording was a November 1984 trio session featuring bassist Red Mitchell, recorded in Sweden and released in 1985 by Sonet Records. He died of lung cancer on March 23, 1985, in New York City, and was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Nyack, New York.

Discography

• 1950: The Zoot Sims Quartet in Paris (Discovery, 1950)
• 1950–51: Swinging with Zoot (Prestige, 1951)
• 1950–51: Tenor Sax Favorites (Prestige, 1951)
• 1949–52: The Brothers with Stan Getz (Prestige, 1956)
• 1952: Contemporary Music as Zoot Sims All Stars (Prestige, 1953) – also released as Zoot Sims All Stars (Esquire)
• 1950–54: Zoot Sims Quintet with Stu Williamson (Prestige, 1954) – reissued as Good Old Zoot (New Jazz, 1962)[LP]
• 1950–54: Zootcase (Prestige, 1975)[2LP]
• 1954?: Zoot Simms In Hollywood (New Jazz, 1954)
• 1954: Happy Minors with Red Mitchell, Bob Brookmeyer (Bethlehem, 1955)
• 1955: Playing as Hall Daniels' Septet (Jump, 1955) – reissued as Nash–Ville (Zim, 1977) with Dick Nash
• 1956: The Modern Art of Jazz by Zoot Sims (Dawn, 1956)
• 1956: From A to…Z with Al Cohn (RCA Victor, 1957)
• 1956: Tonite's Music Today with Bob Brookmeyer (Storyville, 1956)
• 1956: Whooeeee with Bob Brookmeyer (Storyville, 1956)
• 1956: Zoot Sims Avec Henri Renaud Et Son Orchestre Et Jon Eardley with Henri Renaud Et Son Orchestre and Jon Eardley (Ducretet–Thomson, 1956)
• 1956: Zoot (Argo Records, 1957)
• 1956: Zoot! (Riverside, 1957)
• 1956: Tenor Conclave with John Coltrane, Al Cohn, Hank Mobley, Red Garland, Paul Chambers and Art Taylor (Prestige, 1957)
• 1956: Goes to Jazzville (Dawn, 1957)
• 1956: Live at Falcon Lair with Joe Castro Trio (Pablo, 2004)
• 1956: Zoot Sims Plays Alto, Tenor, and Baritone (ABC-Paramount, 1957)
• 1956–57: Bohemia After Dark (Jazz Hour, 1994)
• 1957: The Four Brothers… Together Again! with Herbie Steward et al. (Vik, 1957)
• 1957: Zoot Sims Plays Four Altos (ABC-Paramount, 1957)
• 1957: Al and Zoot with Al Cohn (Coral, 1957)
• 1957: Locking Horns with Joe Newman (Rama, 1957)
• 1957–58: Happy Over Hoagy with Al Cohn Septet (Jass, 1987) – complete session plus 1961 live date with Mose Allison was released as The Hoagy Carmichael Sessions And More (Lone Hill Jazz, 1987)
• 1958: The Zoot Sims Quartet (Prestige, 1958)
• 1958: Zoot Sims Plays Jazz (Prestige, 1958)
• 1959: Zoot Sims Plays Jazz (Prestige, 1959)
• 1959: Zoot Sims Plays Jazz (Prestige, 1959)
• 1960: Zoot Sims Plays Jazz (Prestige, 1960)
• 1960: Zoot Sims Plays Jazz (Prestige, 1960)
• 1961: Zoot Sims Plays Jazz (Prestige, 1961)
• 1961: Zoot Sims Plays Jazz (Prestige, 1961)
• 1962