Feb 3, 2025 10:49 PM
The Essence of Emily
In the April 1982 issue of People magazine, under the heading “Lookout: A Guide To The Up and Coming,” jazz…
Illinois Jacquet, the tenor saxophonist who is best known for his solo on Lionel Hampton’s “Flying Home,” died Thursday at his New York City home. He was 81.
Jacquet wrote his signature on jazz immortality in 1942 when, as a 19-year-old member of Lionel Hampton’s big band, he a took an incredible solo on Hampton’s “Flying Home.” He virtually built a career on that solo, which he claims came from divine inspiration, which ranks as one of the best improvisational performances in the 20th century.
Born in Boussard, La., on Oct. 31, 1922, Jacquet grow up in Houston, where he played in a band with his older brother, Russell, and worked in several bands around town before moving to Los Angeles in 1941. In L.A., he joined Hampton’s big band. His raw-boned tenor sound combined r&b bravado and jazz sophistication. He performed in the Jazz At The Philahramoic series, appeared in the jazz documentary, Jammin’ The Blues and in 1945 formed his own band. From the ‘50s to the present, Jacquet has recorded for many labels including Savoy, RCA, Mercury, Epic and Atlantic.
Into the ‘90s, Jacquet led one of the swingingest big bands on the scene still performing with the intensity that marked his ascendancy more than 50 ago.
“She said, ‘A lot of people are going to try and stop you,’” Sheryl Bailey recalls of the advice she received from jazz guitarist Emily Remler (1957–’90). “‘They’re going to say you slept with somebody, you’re a dyke, you’re this and that and the other. Don’t listen to them, and just keep playing.’”
Feb 3, 2025 10:49 PM
In the April 1982 issue of People magazine, under the heading “Lookout: A Guide To The Up and Coming,” jazz…
As Ted Nash, left, departs the alto saxophone chair for LCJO, Alexa Tarantino steps in as the band’s first female full-time member.
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If only because openings for JLCO’s 15 permanent positions appear about as frequently as sub-freezing days on the…
Larry Appelbaum with Wayne Shorter in 2012.
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Larry Appelbaum, a distinguished audio engineer, jazz journalist, historian and broadcaster, died Feb. 21, 2025, in…
“If you don’t keep learning, your mind slows down,” Coleman says. “Use it or lose it.”
Jan 28, 2025 11:38 AM
PolyTropos/Of Many Turns — the title for Steve Coleman’s latest recording on Pi and his 33rd album overall —…
“This is one of the great gifts that Coltrane gave us — he gave us a key to the cosmos in this recording,” says John McLaughlin.
Mar 18, 2025 3:00 PM
In his original liner notes to A Love Supreme, John Coltrane wrote: “Yes, it is true — ‘seek and ye shall…
