Jumpin' at Apollo in Bloomington, MN

Illinois Jacquet
jumped from being a little-known 19-year-old to the tenor to emulate when he soloed on
"Flying Home"
in
Lionel Hampton
's band in 1942. This, in turn, brought him to the attention of
Cab Calloway
in 1943 and eventually helped him found his own band in the mid-'40s.
Jumpin' at Apollo
delivers 23 tunes
Jacquet
recorded as a leader between 1945 and 1947 with a number of star side players, including bassist
Charles Mingus
, trumpeter
Joe Newman
, and pianist
Bill Doggett
. Small-band settings, ranging from six to eight players, provide
's tenor plenty of cushion to swing against. On the jaunty
"Jacquet Bounce,"
Doggett
's light touch and
John Simmons
' steady bassline call to mind the
Count Basie
sound, while the gentle
"Robin's Nest"
gives
room to show off his dexterity as a
ballad
player.
"Bottom's Up,"
as
Dan Morgenstern
points out in the liner notes, is another take on
"Flying Home,"
giving the star of this set a chance to revisit his signature tune. There's also a great big noisy
solo on the rollicking
"12 Minutes to Go."
Both cuts offer a good reminder of why
's tenor style caused so much of a stir in the 1940s and why his influence spread so rapidly.
offers listeners a fine introduction to a powerful and influential tenor. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr.