Jean-Baptiste Illinois Jacquet (October 31, 1922–July 22, 2004) was a jazz tenor saxophonist most famous for his solo on "Flying Home". He is better known simply as Illinois Jacquet. Although he was a pioneer of the honking tenor sax that became a regular feature of jazz playing and a hallmark of early rock and roll, he was a skilled and melodic improviser, both on up-tempo tunes and ballads. He doubled on the bassoon, one of only a few jazz musicians to use this instrument.
Jacquet was born to a Sioux mother and a Creole father in Broussard, Louisiana and moved to Houston, Texas, as an infant. His father, Gilbert Jacquet, was a part-time band leader. As a child he performed in his father's band, primarily on the alto saxophone. His older brother Russell Jacquet played trumpet and his brother Linton played drums.
At 15, Jacquet began playing with the Milton Larkin Orchestra, a Houston-area dance band. In 1939, he moved to Los Angeles, California, where he met Nat King Cole. Jacquet would sit in with the trio on occasion. In 1940, Cole introduced Jacquet to Lionel Hampton who had returned to California and was putting together a big band. Hampton wanted to hire Jacquet, but asked the young Jacquet to switch to tenor sax.
In 1942, at age 19, Jacquet soloed on the Hampton Orchestra's recording of "Flying Home", one of the very first times a honking tenor sax was heard on record. The record became a hit; a jazz classic as well as what can be considered one of the first rock and roll records. The song immediately became the climax for the live shows and Jacquet became exhausted from having to "bring down the house" every night. The solo was built to weave in and out of the arrangement and continued to be played by every saxophone player who followed Jacquet in the band, notably Arnett Cobb and Dexter Gordon, who achieved almost as much fame as Jacquet in playing it. It is one of the very few jazz solos to have been memorized and played very much the same way by everyone who played the song.
He quit the Hampton band in 1943 and joined Cab Calloway's Orchestra. Jacquet appeared with Cab Calloway's band in Lena Horne's movie Stormy Weather.
In 1944 he returned to California and started a small band with his brother Russell and a young Charles Mingus. It was at this time that he appeared in the Academy Award-nominated short film Jammin' the Blues with Lester Young. He also appeared at the first Jazz at the Philharmonic concert.
In 1946 he moved to New York City and joined the Count Basie orchestra, replacing Lester Young. Jacquet continued to perform (mostly in Europe) in small groups through the 1960s and 1970s. Jacquet led the Illinois Jacquet Big Band from 1981 until his death. Jacquet became the first jazz musician to be an artist-in-residence at Harvard University in 1983. He played "C-Jam Blues" with President Bill Clinton on the White House lawn during Clinton's inaugural ball in 1993.
His solos of the early and mid-1940s and his performances at the Jazz at the Philharmonic concert series, greatly influenced rhythm and blues and rock and roll saxophone style, but also continue to be heard in jazz. His honking and screeching emphasized the lower and higher registers of the tenor saxophone. Despite a superficial rawness, the style is still heard in skilled jazz players like Arnett Cobb, who also became famous for playing "Flying Home" with Hampton, as well as Sonny Rollins, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and Jimmy Forrest.
CD 1
1. Flying Home- Pt 1
2. Flying Home- Pt. 2
3. Uptown Boogie
4. Throw It out of Your Mind Baby
5. Memories of You
6. Bottoms Up
7. Merle's Mood
8. What's This
9. Ghost of a Chance
10. Ladies Lullaby
11. Illinois Stomp
12. Don't Blame Me
13. Jumpin' Jacquet
14. Blue Mood
15. Jacquet in the Box
16. Jacquet and No Vest (Savoy Blip)
CD2
17. Illinois Goes to Chicago (Doggin' with Doggett)
18. Minor Romp (Jacquet and Coat)
19. Berry's Blues (Jacquet Blues)
20. Jumpin' at Apollo
21. Jacquet Bounce
22. She's Funny That Way
23. 12 Minutes to Go
24. For Europeans Only
25. Big Dog
26. You Left Me All Alone
27. Jivin' with Jack the Bellboy
28. Blow, Illinois, Blow
29. Illinois Blows the Blues
30. South Street Special
31. Diggin' the Count
32. Robbin's Nest
CD 3
33. Music Hall Beat
34. Jumpin' at the Woodside
35. Goofin' Off
36. Riffin' with Jacquet
37. Don't Push Daddy
38. Sahara Heat
39. It's Wild
40. DeStination Moon
41. For Truly
42. I Surrender Dear
43. Jet Propulsion
44. King Jacquet
45. Try Me One More Time
46. Embryo
47. Riffin' at 24TH Street
48. Mutton Leg
CD 4
49. Symphony in Sid
50. Jacquet for Jack the Bellboy (Cloudy Day)
51. Big Foot
52. Black Velvet
53. B-Yot
54. Adam's Alley
55. Blue Satin
56. Stay Away
57. My Old Gal
58. Slow Down Baby
59. Hot Rod
60. You Gotta Change
61. Hippity Hop
62. Later for the Happenin'
63. Moe
64. On the Sunny Side of the Street
65. Speedliner
