Album of the Week: The Red Door (... Remember Zoot Sims)

Alright world, you win. I've been oppressed by hate mail, desperate pleadings, and mental screams, all yearning for the same exact thing. Put your angst to rest. This week's album is "The Red Door (... Remembering Zoot Sims) as performed by Scott Hamilton on tenor and Bucky Pizzarelli on guitar.

As an exciting aside, I should let you folks know that I've actually had the privilege of hearing Scott Hamilton live. I caught him at London's prestigious Pizza Express Jazz Club in January of 2007. So I know what I'm talking about.

What's really interesting about Scott Hamilton is that, unlike nearly every other sax player post WWII, he has largely rejected the styles promulgated by greats such as Charlie Parker and John Coltrane. Meaning, Hamilton does not play bebop. For those of you who didn't take History of Jazz with Juan Tony Gúzman, let me quickly explain.

When you think of swing music, you think of Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, etc. From a musical standpoint, swing is pretty straightforward. It doesn't place great focus on virtuosity. It's dance music, and the purpose of the music was to entertain. After WWII, people like Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie started playing extraordinarily fast solos over a complicated framework of chords. This style came to be known as bebop, and it basically signaled in the "modern" era of jazz music. Instead of music to entertain, bebop was "art music" which was made primarily for listening rather than dancing.

So it's quite odd that Scott Hamilton eschews the mainstream of jazz and basically plays a style that many people feel is outdated. I mean, swing is probably the most "accessible" of jazz styles, but it has not been at the mainstream of jazz since the Great Depression. In fact, this album is dedicated to the memory of Zoot Sims, a prominent swing era tenor player. And Bucky Pizzarelli is actually an old timer contemporary of Zoot Sims. So basically, this album is kind of like those retro-ish t-shirts that sell for $40 at Urban Outfitters. It's old, but it's new.

This album consists solely of tenor sax, guitar, and the occasional burst of vocal encouragement. That's one of the reasons I'm a big fan. It's so simple. There isn't anything to clutter up the melodies. And damn, Scott Hamilton really does weave some pretty incredible melodic solos here. That's one of the great beauties of swing soloing, they tend to focus on creating a beautiful melody instead of blowing your mind with waves of sixteenth notes. The word that comes to mind from this album is "loom." Partially because "loom" is a funny word, but mostly because Pizzarelli cranks out some really interesting chordal changes (a loom, if you will) upon which Scott Hamilton "weaves" some incredibly interesting solos.

And you know, these two guys are not chumps. They might not be playing as fast as Charlie Parker, or doing crazy stuff like John Coltrane, but this is music making at its finest. I think my favorite track is "Jitterbug Waltz," which I've been a big fan of for a long time. I think it should be a constitutional requirement that everyone listens to a jazz waltz every morning. They're just good ideas. And this version of "Jitterbug Waltz" might just take the cake. I love how Pizzarelli does this sort of stride pattern with his guitar strumming. I mean, it happens throughout the disc, but it stands out here with the 3/4 waltz especially.

Another good track is "It Had To Be You." Makes Harry Connick, Jr. look like a hack. Meg Ryan, eat your heart out. (Who can guess that movie reference?)

Hamilton plays with this fantastic breathy style throughout, quite reminiscent of Lester Young. Some of his swirling little bits also remind me a lot of Coleman Hawkins. And of course, Pizzarelli chomps away like Freddie Green would want him too. But it's not quite so simple. You usually associate interaction in jazz with a trio, or quartet. Bill Evans comes to mind for me, with his Village Vanguard sessions. But there is a very real and tangible interaction here between the two performers, and there's something about that nakedness of sound that makes it incredibly poignant. Two performers, and nothing to hide behind.

See folks, this is the beauty of jazz. There's no limitations. You can do anything.

"Hey Bucky, you're real old, and I play music that no one else takes seriously. How about we get together and play some of this old music that everyone thinks is a big laugh and not worthy of title of "art," and try to make it cool?"

"Well, gee, alrighty there Scotty, but goll darn it, you've got to be off your rocker if you think some poor sap is going to buy this fossil of an album. I mean, damn, what sort of poor graduate student is going to drop money on this?"

I picked up this album at Half Price Books (brand new, I'll add) for something like $7. A very productive day at HPB, I must say, look for another album review from this haul after Thanksgiving. But anyways, it's definitely worth the regular price. Highly recommended.

And I saw him play, so I know what I'm talking about.