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Biography
Refimprove|date=September 2010Infobox musical artist| name = Illinois Jacquet| image = Illinoisjacquet.jpg| caption =| background = non_vocal_instrumentalist| birth_name = Jean-Baptiste Illinois Jacquet| alias =| birth_date = Birth date|1922|10|31| birth_place = Broussard, Louisiana|Broussard , Louisiana United States | death_date = death date and age|2004|7|22|1922|10|31| death_place = Queens, New York|Queens , New York United States | instrument = Tenor saxophone Bassoon Alto saxophone | genre = swing music|Swing Bebop Jump blues | occupation = Musician , Bandleader , Composer | years_active = 19412004| label = Apollo Records (1944)|Apollo , Savoy Records|Savoy , Aladdin Records (US)|Aladdin , RCA Records|RCA , Verve Records|Verve , Mercury Records , Roulette Records|Roulette , Epic Records|Epic , Argo Records|Argo , Prestige Records|Prestige , Black Lion Records|Black Lion , Black & Blue Records , Atlantic Records|Atlantic .| associated_acts = Flip Phillips Dexter Gordon Cab Calloway | website =| notable_instruments = Jean-Baptiste Illinois Jacquet (October 31, 1922 - July 22, 2004) was an United States|American jazz tenor saxophonist , best remembered for his solo on " Flying Home ", critically recognized as the first R& B saxophone solo.cite web|url=Allmusic|class=artist|id=p6798/biography|pure_url=yes|title=Illinois Jacquet|last=Yanow|first=Scott|year=2010|work=All Music biography|publisher=Rovi Corporation|accessdate=11 September 2010
Although he was a pioneer of the honking tenor saxophone that became a regular feature of jazz playing and a hallmark of early rock and roll , Jacquet 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 the instrument.
Biography
Jacquet was born to a Sioux mother and a Louisiana Creole people|Creole father in Broussard, Louisiana|Broussard , Louisiana and moved to Houston, Texas , as an infant, and was raised there as one of six siblings. His father, Gilbert Jacquet, was a part-time bandleader. 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 Drum kit|drums .cite web|url= http://www.swingmusic.net/Illinois_Jacquet_Big_Band_And_Jazz_Legend_Biography.html|title=Illinois Jacquet Jazz At The Philharmonic crowd favorite in the 1940s and 1950s|date=2004 - 2007|publisher=Swingmusic.net|accessdate=11 September 2010
At 15, Jacquet began playing with the Milt Larkin|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 saxophone .
In 1942, at age 19, Jacquet Solo (music)|solo ed 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. 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 (1943 film)|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 Awards|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|Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and Jimmy Forrest .
Jacquet died in his home in Queens, New York of a myocardial infarction|heart attack on Thursday July 22, 2004. He was 81 years of age.
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/applecapitalgroup/2012/02/11/illinois-jacquet--an-american-jazz-legend Blog Talk Radio interview about Illinois Jacquet by Tim Jacquet
http://blog.applecapitalgroup.com/? p=2258 Illinois Jacquet - An American Jazz Legend Career Article
Persondata | NAME = Jacquet, Jean-Baptiste Illinois | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = Jacquet, Illinois | SHORT DESCRIPTION = United States|American jazz tenor saxophonist | DATE OF BIRTH = October 31, 1922 | PLACE OF BIRTH = Broussard, Louisiana , United States | DATE OF DEATH = July 22, 2004 | PLACE OF DEATH = Queens , New York , United States DEFAULTSORT:Jacquet, Illinois Category:1922 births Category:2004 deaths Category:People from Broussard, Louisiana Category:African American musicians Category:American jazz bassoonists Category:American jazz tenor saxophonists Category:American people of Native American descent Category:Bebop saxophonists Category:Count Basie Orchestra members Category:Deaths from myocardial infarction Category:Harvard University staff Category:Jump blues saxophonists Category:Louisiana Creole people Category:Prestige Records artists Category:Swing saxophonists Category:Verve Records artists Category:RCA Records artists Category:Atlantic Records artists Category:Savoy Records artists Category:Epic Records artists
