Zoot Sims was (is still, I guess) Bill Clinton's favorite saxophonist. This 1975 small-group recording with Basie on piano and organ, Louie Bellson on drums, and John Heard on bass is a pure delight. Zoot burns white-hot with his unique sound (founded on Lester Young and Coleman Hawkins), and Basie is perfect as always, playing way much more piano than you typically hear from him. Wow!

This is the only time I've heard Sims and Basie together, and boy is it a treat! Several of the tunes are hard-swinging toe-tappers, and for that kind of music this is a dream band. And "I Surrender, Dear," with Basie on organ, is sweet, sentimental, and masterfully performed.

If you've only heard Basie's minimal piano playing with his big band (possibly the all-time swingingest group), you'll be surprised to hear his considerable chops on this recording. Still, though he strides like James P. and swings in the mode of his mentor, Fats Waller, there's a kind of restraint in Basie's playing. Even when he's dazzling you with ideas and his sparkling sense of musical humor, Basie never overplays or shows off.

This is quickly becoming one of my desert island discs.