Jazz
Tracks 1-9: Jack Nimitz - Bill Harris Group: Today
Recorded: March 1957, Belltone Studios, New York City
Jack Nimitz - baritone saxophone
Bill Harris - trombone
Kenny Burrell, Jimmy Raney, Chuck Wayne - guitar
Oscar Pettiford, Russ Saunders - bass
Don Lamond, Ted Sommer - drums
Gene Orloff, Harry Lukofsky, Dick Whetmore - violins
Seymour Barab, George Koutzen, George Ricci, Alan Schulman, Lucien Schmidt, Harvey Sharipo - cellos
Tracks 10-17: Jack Nimitz - Adam Schroeder Quintet: Yesterday
Recorded: January 14, 2007, Entourage Studios, Hollywood
Jack Nimitz - baritone saxophone (right channel)
Adam Schroeder - baritone saxophone (left channel)
John Campbell - piano
Dave Carpenter - bass
Joe La Barbera - drums
In just one CD an exceptional double program spanning the past and the present of a great musician. The Jack Nimitz-Bill Harris Group is playing the first part of the CD in an unreleased session arranged by Bob Zief and originally produced by Creed Taylor for the ABC-Paramount label and cut in New York in 1957. The second act was recorded in Hollywood in 2007 featuring the baritone sax mastery of Nimitz (in the right channel) and Adam Schroeder (in the left channel) in front of a rock-solid veteran quintet.
Jack Nimitz
Active Decades: '50s, '60s, '70s, '80s and '90s
Born: Mar 05, 1928 in Chicago, IL
Genre: Jazz
Styles: Bop, Progressive Big Band, Mainstream Jazz
Although he has had a long and productive career, Jack Nimitz has long been underrated, not getting a chance to lead his own record session until a 1995 set for Fresh Sound, when he was already 65. He started on the clarinet when he was 12, switching to alto two years later, and gigging locally at 15. In 1949, Nimitz started specializing on the baritone and soon was playing with such territory bands as those led by Bob Astor, Johnny Bothwell, and Daryl Harpa. From 1952-1953, he was back in Washington, D.C., before touring with Woody Herman (October 1953 to September 1955) and a few months with Stan Kenton (1955-1956). He was a regular in the house band at the Savoy and then spent an additional year with Kenton (1958-1959). Settling in Los Angeles, Nimitz became a busy studio musician and also played with Bill Berry, Benny Carter, Gerald Wilson, Supersax (since its beginning in 1972), Bill Perkins' Big Band, Bud Shank, Frank Strazzeri's Woodwinds West, the Lighthouse All-Stars, and any other high-quality jazz group that needed a talented baritonist.
---Scott Yanow, All Music Guide |
