ABSTRACT
American jazz tenor saxophonist, born John Haley Sims in Inglewood, California. He played professionally as a teen, and at age 18 was performing with Benny Goodman. From 1947 to 1949 he was with Woody Herman. Later he was in Stan Kenton’s band and with various ensembles headed by Gerry Mulligan. He continued playing and recording in the U.S. and Europe, taking up the soprano saxophone along with the familiar tenor. Down Home (Bethlehem BCP #6051) was a quartet album recorded in 1960 featuring some elegant examples of Sims’s mellow extemporization, as in “Avalon” and “Goodnight, Sweetheart.” He died in New York.
