Illinois Jacquet - Jacquet Files 6 - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

In 1981 Tenor Sax legend Illinois Jacquet pursued his career-long dream of assembling a truly great big jazz band in the tradition of his mentors, Count Basie and Lionel Hampton, bands with whom he recorded and toured in his youth. He would apply all the wisdom and experience he gleaned as their sideman, as well as from his years of leadership over his many small groups, and would include songs he made famous with his Inchlittle big bandInch of the 1940s. The Illinois Jacquet Big Band was filled with luminaries and young stars, but unfortunately would only record one studio album entitled InchJacquet's Got ItInch on Atlantic Records, in 1987. Here we have a very early snapshot of what that band was like at the world famous Blue Note Jazz Club in New York City. This is the first time Jacquet Big Band had played the Blue Note, after previously breaking attendance records at the Village Vanguard, with what seemed to be a guerrilla marketing campaign in the streets of NYC in order to launch the debut of his Big Band. Some NYC Jazz fans may recall flyers being distributed all over town, especially in the Times Square area, revealing that the Inchmissing in actionInch Jazz Legend Illinois Jacquet was indeed InchbackInch with a full 15 piece Big Band on tow. Well, the promotions worked effectively, announcing that InchThe KingInch was back to take the jazz world by storm! As listeners will easily hear, this band rocked the house, and swung hard! Illinois himself is in rare form, playing soulfully and strong, ripping through all his classics with fervor and fire. These wonderful arrangements are mostly by the pen of Eddie Barefield, Wild Bill Davis, Jimmy Mundy and Phil Wilson. Featured here within the band are veterans such as E.V. Perry, Irvin Stokes, Johnny Grimes, Eddie Preston, Carmell Jones, Richard Wyands, Eddie Barefield, Rudy Rutherford, and Babe Clarke; as well as y

In 1981 Tenor Sax legend Illinois Jacquet pursued his career-long dream of assembling a truly great big jazz band in the tradition of his mentors, Count Basie and Lionel Hampton, bands with whom he recorded and toured in his youth. He would apply all the wisdom and experience he gleaned as their sideman, as well as from his years of leadership over his many small groups, and would include songs he made famous with his Inchlittle big bandInch of the 1940s. The Illinois Jacquet Big Band was filled with luminaries and young stars, but unfortunately would only record one studio album entitled InchJacquet's Got ItInch on Atlantic Records, in 1987. Here we have a very early snapshot of what that band was like in a super rare and intimate rehearsal setting in the basement of Jacquet's own home in St. Albans, Queens NY, a space he lovingly named InchCount Basement StudioInch. These legendary musicians would rehearse a full 5 day week, often 7-8 hrs per day to prepare for a week-long engagement, such as this one, which was preparing for a week at the Village Vanguard in New York City. (refer to SR-279, the previous to this one). Some of the performances on this recording are of course, messy, raw and blemished, but they also reveal the pathos with which The Master dedicated himself to perfecting his craft. As the second in our Jacquet Files series, we are proud to unveil the warm sounds of this hard swinging band in all it's glory! One thing to note on these recordings is the difference between the publicly performing Jacquet, and the private-among-his-peers versions. In public Illinois was expected to play his well-known solos, very much in the tradition of his most famous solo of all, as on Lionel Hampton's InchFlying Home.Inch However, in this relaxed setting at home he was actually heard to be improvising more spontaneously, and that is the real value of this recording

In 1981 Tenor Sax legend Illinois Jacquet pursued his career-long dream of assembling a truly great big jazz band in the tradition of his mentors, Count Basie and Lionel Hampton, bands with whom he recorded and toured in his youth. He would apply all the wisdom and experience he gleaned as their sideman, as well as from his years of leadership over his many small groups, and would include songs he made famous with his Inchlittle big bandInch of the 1940s. The Illinois Jacquet Big Band was filled with luminaries and young stars, but unfortunately would only record one studio album entitled InchJacquet's Got ItInch on Atlantic Records, in 1987. Here we have a very early snapshot of what that band was like at the world famous Village Vanguard club in 1987, New York City. This is the third time Jacquet had played the Vanguard, and had previously broken attendance records in the club with what seemed to be a guerrilla marketing campaign in the streets of NYC in order to launch the debut of his Big Band. Some NYC Jazz fans may recall flyers being distributed all over town, especially in the Times Square area, revealing that the Inchmissing in actionInch Jazz Legend Illinois Jacquet was indeed InchbackInch with a full 15 piece Big Band on tow. Well, the promotions worked effectively, announcing that InchThe KingInch was back to take the jazz world by storm! This is the band after returning from their first major European tour for five weeks during the Summer of 1987, and their last engagement before hitting the studio to record InchJacquet's Got ItInch for Atlantic Records. As listeners will easily hear, this band rocked the house, and swung hard! Illinois himself is in rare form, playing soulfully and strong, ripping through all his classics with fervor and fire. These wonderful arrangements are mostly by the pen of Eddie Barefield, Wild Bill Davis, Phil Wilson, and Jimmy M