Illinois Jacquet's Final Performance

[B0FF01]

Right to the end. How wonderful.

[B0FF01]

He and Willis Jackson are the two groovinest sax players ever in my book.

[gcrav]

Sounding big right to the end.

[914daddy]

r i p ...not a close relationship to my grandfather..but he did they damn thang with that sax.....love u

angel j.

[scawaf45]

Does anyone remember him in Bridgeport CT.

at Racaski Hall?

[xxxomehgawdxxx]

belive it or not but this guy is my great uncle i had no idea he was this famous

[TheRumster]

wow well you sure have missed out on a lot

[Baritone45]

omg, he should have been a lot more famous. I had never heard of him (just a passing jazz fan, I am) until I saw him (only once!) at either the Chicago Jazz Festival or Ravinia sometime in the 90s.  I absolutely loved his sound. He seemed to be keeping the true jazz big band sound alive. A little like Basie, only a more professional, slicker, fuller orchestration. RIP Illinois Jacquet.

[B0FF01]

@xxxomehgawdxxx

That's awesome!

[cameronpfiffner]

Not commenting on the video, which according to youtube is no longer available, but on Illinois. I've noticed his solos were based on routines he memorized. The recording of "King Jacquet" from the late 1940's is humorous because J.J. Johnson, who was then on Jacquet's band, takes the first solo and plays all stock Jacquet phrases, some of which Jacquet plays again in his solo.

[panzerschnott]

I'm just saying that running a big band is not an easy job. Many bandleaders demanded more than what their musicians could deliver, no matter how good they were. You mentioned Goodman. He used to argue with Krupa because he was jealous of the drummer's growing fans. That had nothing to do with music. You'll have to que me in on Lionel, I never played in his band. Maybe I made too extreme a comment. I should have said some bandleaders got physically violent with their musicians.

[swingsome]

You got that right, brother. Everybody has their faults, too. But let's be kind enough not to blast these musical heroes, now that they are no longer with us.

[OscarPetersonFan]

Last night I played with a bassist who played with Gene Krupa, in the Teddy Wilson trio.

[panzerschnott]

Proud of you. I remember seeing Oscar Peterson performing alone on TV. He didn't need anyone to back him up, Tremendous!

[customkey]

I played alto in the Jacquet band from 94 to 99. If you stood up to him, he wasn't a problem. I loved the guy, and learned a hell of a lot from him. Ed Stoute was the pianist on this gig. My band worked around the corner from Jacquet this night, and I remember that it was very hot and humid. I was using 3 other Jacquet alumni in my band that night, and we were all concerned for his health because of the heat. He came thru this night with flying colors, but was gone less than a week later.RIPBOSS

[davidhazard71]

Thank you for posting this. I saw him in Boston live in 1999 at the Double Tree Hotel. He was more agile then. It makes me sad to see the cane. I'm glad it was a swinging session. When i did see him i got his autograph! Thanks again.

[ColmOSullivanRed]

Thanks so much for this. You can hear he still had his strength - I mean that SOUND! Wild! And is that the great Richard Wyands I identify on piano? More of this if you have it please. Jean-Baptiste Illinois Jacquet, "The Beast" LIVES!

[musteach40]

He did have a great sound but he was a real horse's #ss to work for.

[haleyfan]

I'd like to know more.

What do you play?

When did you play with him?

How was he difficult?

[musteach40]

I played in the trumpet section in 1988. I went to Europe with him that July and also played a week with him at the Blue Note in NYC. He insisted on long, unpaid rehearsals, which were mainly for him to make sure he had his solos memorized. Illinois memorized all of his solos and played them each performance. Sometimes he would make a sound-check into a 2 hour long rehearsal, ending only minutes from the beginning of the concert.

[musteach40]

He also drank a lot on gigs, especially at the Blue Note. The more he drank, the meaner he would get. One night, he stopped the band at the Blue Note and made Cecil Payne, who was legally blind, practice his flute part in front of the audience. He learned how to be mean from working with Lionel Hampton, who learned it from Benny Goodman.

[haleyfan]

Ooh, I'd never heard anything like that before.

Thanks for sharing your story.

[panzerschnott]

Thought I'd ask. You did make recordings with Illinois, didn't you?

[panzerschnott]

Well, the truth is, most big band leaders were a bitch to work for, let's not single out anybody. It's tough enough getting 3 or 4 musicians to play tight, so when you have 12, 15, or 20 guys playing, no matter how good they are, there's going to be some horse-whipping to get things right. But listen to the results!

[musteach40]

I resent your statement of "the truth is", since what I wrote was the truth. Professional musicians don't need someone like Illinois to play tight, no matter how many musicians. Our band was far from "tight", actually. After 30 years in the business, I am well aware of the number of band leaders who ran their bands similarly as Illinois. I respectfully disagree with your "horse-whipping" statement.

[acbeach]

The all-time KING of the tenor saxophone and one of the main architects of "Rock 'n' Roll!"

[samventura]

One of the greatest sounds ever to be heard out of a tenor sax!!!