Zoot Sims and Jimmy Rowles

Another of those understated Pablo records. Granz' ability to match artists was beyond reknown at this point, yet he still managed to come up with new and interesting combinations.

Here we get two fellows who had reached some critical fame earlier in their careers but somehow never managed to capture the public eye. Both remained understated and under appreciated all their lives.

This may have been the session where it dawned on me that some of these records were worth having. I was enthralled with Stan Getz' records and had recently discovered Peacocks with him and Rowles. I had never heard Rowles before but was suitably impressed. I didn't realize that later I would find Zoot Sims far more interesting than Stan Getz. I bought the record, I dug it and I filed it away.

Somewhat later when I was digging Zoot's special brand of cool, I pulled this out. Today I do not see it as anything groundbreaking like I might have back then, but I do know it's importance in my jazz education. And it's still a swell record.

And Neil Hefti's Legs has got to be one of the greatest examples of an evergreen that I know.

Zoot Sims meets Jimmy Rowles
If I'm Lucky

1. (I Wonder) Where Our Love Has Gone
2. Legs
3. If I'm Lucky
4. Shadow Waltz
5. You're My Everything
6. It's All Right With Me
7. Gypsy Sweetheat
8. I Hear A Rhapsody

Zoot Sims - tenor sax
Jimmy Rowles - piano
George Mraz - bass
Mousie Alexander - drums

produced by Norman Granz
recorded 27 and 28 October 1977 Pablo 2310 803