So, I’m trying to review this 2 disc set by the prototypical Texas tenor Illinois Jacquet, but I just can’t get past the third song, as I’ve played “Flying Home” and ”Rock-A-Bye Basie” over and over for the past hour until I’ve finally memorized Jacquet’s solos. OK, I’ve got them down; now I can continue…
A “Texas Tenor” is defined by a big, fat and full sound, breathy and able to swing even a Kenny G tune. Illinois Jacquet is arguably the first of the kind, with guys like Budd Johnson, Arnett Cobb and King Curtis following in the wake. This glorious 2 disc set covers the highlights of the apotheosis of Jacquet’s illustrious career, starting with the trend setting “Flying Home” solo from his stint with Lionel Hampton, through his years with Count Basie and his solo career with his definitive signature tune “Robbin’s Nest” with yet another unforgettable solo.
Through the anthology, Jacquet becomes the quintessential tenor sax player for the swing era, the nascent bebop era and then adapting to the R&B era of the late 40s and early 50s. No matter the style, Jacquet blows smoke rings, either milking each note and space for all that it is worth as on “I Don’t Stand A Ghost of a Chance” growling like a tiger on “Blues In The Night” or searing through torrid rhythms as on “Savoy Blip” and “Riffin’ With Jacquet.” His frenetic solo during “Blues Pt 2” (with Nat “King” Cole and Les Paul) preceded the free jazz years of Albert Ayler by an entire generation and is still a marvel to behold.
Sidemen here range from swing era cats Freddy Green, Flip Phillips, Ben Webster, Roy Eldridge, Gene Krupa and Trummy Young to proto-boppers Fats Navarro, Dizzy Gillespie, Herb Ellis and Ray Brown. Jacquet adapts to the grooves being supplied by the high hat days of the swing era to the incessant ride cymbal of the bebop era to the heavy hitting snare of R&B and owns every one of the styles like an Italian suit.
Jacquet came from the generation of musicians where every solo was a composition in and of itself, well thought out, incessantly swinging and filled with warm tones and moods. If it couldn’t be said in two choruses, it wasn’t worth saying. Is there a lesson there for today’s artists?