Illinois Jacquet - Flying Home: The Best of Verve Years

Excellent 1950s compilation.

My father got me listening to Illinois Jacquet when I was 6 years old when he brought home the JATP 1947 Perdido/Mordido recordings. I've been a fan ever since. Of course, these studio sessions from 1950s are not as "noisy" as the 1940s JATP recordings that feature "The King".

I gave this album 5 stars because its one of the seven or eight CDs I listen to the most these days (as I approach the half-century mark). I hear a more refined, mature Jacquet on this album. The Herschel Evans/Chu Berry sound is still there, and live albums from this period (both out-of-print and more-recently-released JATP sessions) demonstrate that The King can still bring the house down when he wants, but this album shows a more restrained, even subdued Jacquet. I even sometimes hear a little bit more of a Lester Young influence here and on later albums recorded for other labels in the early 1960s, such as The Message and the Desert Winds album Jacquet recorded with Kenny Burrell (another personal favorite, who also appears on some tracks on this CD). No version of Robbins Nest here, unfortunately. But one may find that on one of the Lone Hill reissues.

Besides the sessions listed above, I recommend the Verve album Krupa and Rich where one can listen to Jacquet with regular touring members of JATP at that era (c. 1955) in a more relaxed studio environment. Side 2 is especially nice (and also ends up in my CD player very often).

After Illinois Jacquet, my other favorite tenor sax players are Rahsaan Roland Kirk (another player who can be "noisy"), the excellent John Coltrane, Johnny Griffin, and King Curtis. But Jacquet was the first tenor sax player to capture my attention (thanks to my dear father), and this is an excellent compilation (even without my favorite tune Robbins Nest)!
November 2, 2008

Swinging tenor playing

This is a lovely compilation of Jacquets work with the Verve label from 1951 to 1958. Famous for his solo on 'Flying Home' with Lional Hamptons band, here he is still in superb form whether playing ballads or burning incendiary solos on tracks like Ellingtons 'Cotton Tail'.

The album is full of great musicians:
Art Blakey - Drums, Herb Ellis Oscar Moore - Guitars, Ray Brown Brown & Red Callender - Bass, Hank Jones - Piano and Organ, Count Basie - Organ, Ben Webster - Tenor Sax, Roy Eldrige - Trumpet etc etc. They don't all play on the same track!

The sleeve notes by Pianist Brian Preistley summarise the recordings well and I strongly recommend it. October 14, 2007

Great disk!

This is one of my favorite jazz cds! March 26, 2000

an excellent disk, with Jacquet well under control

at his best, Illinois Jacquet was as sensual and inviting as any tenor saxophonist in jazz. It is good to hear the echoes of Herschel Evans in Jacquet's playing. My speculation is that Jacquet influenced Ben Webster as they moved into the 1950's. Partly because there is no squealing this is a 4 star disk because I have to save 5 stars for REALLY GREAT DISKS -- of which there are less than 100. August 13, 1998

More reviews at Amazon.com ...