I was lucky enough to grow up having my dad and zoot best friends playing in Herman's band and he lived in West Nyack New York and I hung out with his daughter and first wife when I was a kid what a great man lovely guy
TheJazzzCritic approves of this filmclip. Perfect in every way. Lots of swing & great inprov. Zoot is at the top of his game. Bunker & Berghofer are solid & tight. Bunker & Zoot compliment each other when they trade eights. Kellaway does his thing... notice how he breaks away from his usual "All In The Family" stride he is so known for. All four cats deserved much more props than they were ever given. Perfect combo. Hard act to follow.
SMOKIN! This is the real deal. Nightclub Jazz. Great legends on a small stage. Gin and martinis and thick smoke. Man I can watch this clip a million times. Larry Bunker is the epitome of what a Jazz drummer should be. Always BURNING! Thanks for posting. Donte's was one of the best joints to hear real Jazz in L.A.
Larry Bunker never got the recognition he deserved. He was one of the absolute best. His work with Bill Evans in the 60's is superb, and he was a fantastic brush player, as well.
I always admired Zoot. He had that sound that groove. Correct me if I am wrong? I read some where he was painting houses some where in California? Some one said man get off that ladder painter get back to playing that great tenor sax. And of course Zoot got back to playing as great as ever. Man they don't make tenor sax men like this any more One of a kind
I don't know why no one has identified this t;une, even on a published video of this night. It's called "The Opener," and it was composed by Bill Potts as a duet for Al and Zoot, with Al playing the higher melody notes - missing on this. It's NOT "Indiana," and it's NOT "Jada." I could tell you what tune it IS based on, but it would be better for you to try to figure it out. In other words, use your ears. Yes, this is running a half-tone higher than the actual pitch, hence the faster tempo.
This was filmed at Donte's, a jazz club in North Hollywood, now, regretfully gone.... Roger Kellaway (piano), Chuck Berghofer (bass), Larry Bunker (drums) - I'm guessing this was in the late 60s....
The "You 'N Me" recorded by Al and Zoot was composed by Al. The tune in this video ("The Opener") was written by Bill Potts, and was on an album entitled "You "N Me."
Have not heard anything about him in a long time. I think he was the best tenor soloist Buddy ever had in ANY of his bands. The records he made with Buddy are just incredible. I heard that Buddy brought him over from the James band when he organized his big band in '66. On the record "The New One", his solo on "New Blues" is absolute prefection. ~
BTW,someone mentioned Bill Potts,so I dug out an LP on the VIK label (VIK LX-1114) recorded May 10,1957 by The Freddy Merkle Group "JAZZ UNDER THE DOME" featuring original comps/arrngmnts of Bill Potts. Side 1,track 4 is titled "PERNOD 806" & is the same tune/arrngmnt Zoot is playing here in this film. The lineup on the LP is Freddy Merkle (d), Bill Potts (p), Al Seilbert (t.s.), Earl Swope (tbn) & John Beal (b). The cut was described as "a preacher in a hurry", but not nearly as fast as this.
Larry always took advantage of the powerful contrast that straight 16th note rhythms make inside a bop tune. My only complaint about his playing is that I can't hear enough dynamic range when he uses sticks. But he hit the big time and stayed there for a long time, so I'm assuming that playing style was on purpose. Love his brush work with the 2nd Bill Evans Trio. The thing I like most about his style is that he was clearly listening to the soloists when comping. Every time.
@OttoLink10 Thanks for commenting on this - I've had this video downloaded onto my ipod cuz its awesome and Im glad to know it actually has a name! I was actually about to try and decipher the changes when I read your comment. So then I found the record online"You'n'me" by the Al Cohn - Zoot Sims Quartet, like you said it was written by Bill Potts. Then I went ahead and tried the changes and learned the bass line. Its just a rhythm changes in E flat with the A section chords twice as long! Thx!
Zoot was fantastic like Stan Getz,Al Cohn,Gerry Mulligan,Art Pepper,Scott Hamilton,Harry Allen, Warren Vache and many others.It's a pity that young people normaly don't listen to guys like this,
This clip is sped up one 1/2 step. The song is usually played in the standard key of Eb. ( F on the tenor sax) On my grand piano they are in E Natural concert. When you look at Zoot's fingers, he plays a high F front Bis key, on the tonic which is concert Eb. That would explain why every thing seems so bright and crisp. What cracked me up was the lady smoking,,,I remember those times, I would be blowing a tenor solo, and some jerk was blowing smoke right in my face!
Well Vova47, when i read your comments i think it time for you to seek out medical guidance, especially for your ears. All the tenors i posted here are great musicians in their own way. Respect that!
