065 | Zoot Sims | In a Sentimental Mood | Sonet SNTF 932 | 1985
Just a small trio format for this album, Zoot Sims joined by Red Mitchell on bass and Rune Gustafsson on guitar, the album recorded just outside Stockholm at the Sonet headquarters on 21 November, 1984. One of the ‘Four Brothers’ sax section of Woody Herman’s Big Band, Sims went on to enjoy a fruitful career as a major league saxophone player on both tenor and alto and later the soprano sax. Coming from a musical family, Sims came to music at an early age, citing as early influences Lester Young, Ben Webster and Don Byas amongst others. From his first recordings in 1950, Zoot Sims released dozens of albums over a long career, In a Sentimental Mood being his final recording, the album released in the same year as his death in 1985. With just guitar and bass accompaniment, Sims has the freedom to play a laid back set, emphasised perfectly by Duke Ellington’s title song. Sims may have been feeling sentimental when he recorded these six selections, but the playing is far from the saccharin sweetness the title suggests, with much space awarded to the rhythm section, who are free to improvise throughout. ‘Gone With the Wind’, the lengthy album opener, is a masterful arrangement of the song named for the famous novel and film. Other highlights include ‘Autumn Leaves’ and ‘Sweet Lorraine’, with the one Sims original ‘Castle Blues’, a fine and cool bluesy workout from a player who died far too young at 59, a sax man still in his prime, struck down by cancer in the spring of the same year of release.
Playlist:
Cherokee – Clifford Brown (New Star on the Horizon)
Gone With the Wind – Zoot Sims (In a Sentimental Mood)
Balcony Jogger – Jon Bentley (Go Ahead)
Molly’s Mild – Elton Dean, Steve Miller & Pip Pyle (Home Brewed)
Subconscious Lee – Lee Konitz (Subconscious-Lee)
In a Sentimental Mood – Zoot Sims (In a Sentimental Mood)
Summer Night – Shelly Manne (The West Coast Sound)
Bassoon Blues – Illinois Jacquet (The Message)
Tis Autumn – Zoot Sims (In a Sentimental Mood)
Candy – Lou Donaldson (Gravy Train)
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373 | Jethro Tull | This Was | Chrysalis ILPS 9085 | 1968
I suppose back in 1968 the future of Jethro Tull might’ve gone either way, a vehicle for singer/flautist Ian Anderson or for guitarist Mick Abrahams, both of whom brought something special to the table in terms of their songwriting and musicianship, though time has told us it would go squarely with the former, whilst the latter not only took a back seat, but also found himself out of the band before the next album. There’s a reason we all remember the name Mick Abrahams, it’s not for Blodwyn Pig. This Was is essentially a blues album with a difference. Prior to the recording of the band’s debut album, Jethro Tull was pretty much a bog standard blues combo, twelve bars and a gob organ, with routine appearances at the Marquee Club. Look no further than ‘Some Day the Sun Won’t Shine for You’, ‘It’s Breaking Me Up’ or ‘Cat Squirrel’ for Abrahams’ assertive blues chops. I dare say no one saw ‘Life’s a Long Song’ or ‘Living in the Past’ coming at this point. Once the flute came out though, Anderson’s vision would take over, emphasised clearly here on such songs as ‘My Sunday Feeling’ and ‘Song for Jeffrey’, two songs that perhaps indicated the future trajectory of the band. The other two members of the band, Glenn Cornick and Clive Bunker, would occupy more than minor roles in the band, in the case of the Bunker, a generous drum solo during the instrumental showcase ‘Dharma for One’ plus a writing credit. Despite the decades that have passed since the release of This Was, the band members still don’t look quite as old as they are depicted on the cover shot, though to be fair, two are no longer with us.
Playlist:
Do You Believe in Magic – Lovin’ Spoonful (Do You Believe in Magic)
Love Really Changed Me – Spooky Tooth (It’s All About)
My Sunday Feeling – Jethro Tull (This Was)
Dusk – Genesis (Trespass)
Maybe Your Baby – Stevie Wonder (Talking Book)
No Woman No Cry – Bob Marley (Natty Dread)
A Song For Jeffrey – Jethro Tull (This Was)
Green Monkey – America (Hat Trick)
Every Woman – Dave Mason (It’s Like You Never Left)
I Love Everybody – Johnny Winter (Second Winter )
Dharma for One – Jethro Tull (This Was)
Lady Ace – Manfred Mann Chapter Three (Manfred Mann Chapter Three Volume Two)
Need Your Love So Bad – Fleetwood Mac (Greatest Hits)
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