Description

180-gram vinyl
Mastered by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab from the original analog master tape
Pressed at Quality Record Pressings
Housed in a Stoughton Printing tip-on jacket

Here is an album of Duke Ellington compositions arranged and conducted by Benny Carter, with Zoot Sims as principal soloist. Add those names to the list of musicians in the adjoining display and you get a total greater than the sum of its parts. Among the many albums Sims made for Pablo, the Ellington project was particularly close to his heart. The Ellington band of 1940 and 41 was a formative influence on the young tenor man setting out on his career.

The great tenor saxophonist Ben Websters solos profoundly affected him. It is true that his tone was closer to Lester Youngs, but Websters conception was always a major component of Simss style, and toward the end of his life Zoots sound took on more of Websters heft and darkness. Fittingly, he and Websters favorite pianist, Jimmy Rowles, do Bojangles to a rare turn, and Sims gives an achingly beautiful reading of Dukes Your Love Has Faded.

Mastered by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab from the original analog master tape, and pressed at Quality Record Pressings for optimal sound quality, this Analogue Productions 180-gram reissue is an exceptional audiophile disc. Housed in a gatefold Stoughton Printing tip-on jacket.