‘Lost’ parliamentary dossiers aside… some years ago, I attempted to not only licence the entire Tony Hall-produced Tempo catalogue, but all the tapes recorded by Zoot Sims at Ronnie Scott's original Gerrard Street club over three historic nights in November 1961. I was informed by a disinterested Universal that as they couldn't locate any of them (nor any relevant paperwork) they were presumed lost. So, as far as I know, all subsequent releases have been dubbed direct from clean discs. What little remains of the Sims cache constitutes one of the most important events in Ronnie's career – playing host to one of his all-time heroes in the club with the Guv'ner's name above the entrance. It was doubly important for this also marked the very first time that a both the UK and US musicians unions sanctioned an American star to appear in a British club. While it was a given that Sims would live up to his reputation as one of the greatest ever tenor sax stars, everyone else involved in this historic event stepped up to the plate, especially Scott who knew that he had to give of his best – and he did. Check Stan Tracey's ‘The Haunted Jazz Club’ and Jimmy Deuchar's ‘Suddenly Last Tuesday’ for confirmation. Throughout Zoot was accompanied masterfully by Stan Tracey, Kenny Napper and Jackie Dougan, which also formed part of Ronnie's Quintet featuring Jimmy Deuchar. Also in attendance was Harold McNair's quartet. Kicking off with an extended ‘Love For Sale’, Sims was his immaculate self effortlessly working his way through familiar standards that included ‘Gone With The Wind’, ‘Somebody Loves Me’, ‘Stompin’ At The Savoy’, ‘Autumn Leaves’ and ‘Blues In E Flat (Blue Hodge)’ He also joined Ronnie's Quintet for Deuchar's full throttle dash ‘Desperation’. What makes this that much more enjoyable is both the underlying tension evident as everyone involved performs as if their standing in the community depended upon them delivering the goods and the sheer joie de vivre evident in everyone's contributions. This is top draw playing and so I urge you to grab this while you can and if you are not satisfied, I'll give you your money back (on receipt of your bank details and pin number).