Search - Illinois Jacquet :: Jumpin' at Apollo

It's music like this that injected so much spirit into early

Wayne Dawson | New Zealand | 09/22/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Illinois Jacquet was to the 1940's what Sonny Rollins and Herbie Hancock would be to the 50's and 60's: a precocious young cat with bags full of talent who sprang from Lional Hampton's big band, after putting Hamp on the map with Flying Home, to Count Basie's, where he delivered another knockout blow with The King! Only to realise that with his crowd pulling ability he was better off forming his own unit, and what a unit it was! Hand picked and honed down, he did what Louis Jordan described his own little band as doing; `made the blues jump!'



Taking trumpeter Joe Newman with him from the Basie ranks and keeping older brother Russell Jacquet close by (also on trumpet), Illinois included baritone sax to fatten the bottom end (Leo Parker on bari and Illinois on tenor sounded mighty together). Despite some musical chair shuffling, Sir Charles Thompson usually remained on piano and drums were shared by Shadow Wilson and Denzil Best. The results as encapsulated on this splendid disk reveal jazz undergoing some very creative fermentation where blues, swing, bop and jump all boogie with maddening rhythm! Just to cap it all off we're treated to the blues shouting vocals of Wynonie Harris on several tracks towards the end of the program. With so many stylistic threads running through this music, it's homogenous, confident and powerful delivery is amazing.



Illinois sounded out of this world during the 40's and it's great to see he was still blowing his Conn tenor, rasping with bar stepping swing one moment leaping to reed splitting wailing up top, or just laying everyone out with unforgettable bluesy balladry.



The recordings have come up a treat, retaining plenty of warmth without the x-ray harshness. It's music like this that injected so much spirit into early rock `n' roll!









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