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Swing's The Thing

Swing may not have altogether still been the thing even in 1956 when this album was recorded. It isn't, in any case, what I look for when I put the record on, but rather tenor saxophonist Jean-Baptiste Illinois Jacquet's way with slow blues & ballads. He plays here as part of a sextet including such notable big band veterans as Jo Jones on drums and Roy Eldridge on trumpet. Jacquet himself had first found fame in the early '40s playing with Lionel Hampton's orchestra.

My favourite track is the singularly evocative version of 'Harlem Nocturne', with the number that follows it ('Can't We Be Friends?' - a mellow ballad dating back to '29) a close second. Not much in evidence (even on the more uptempo numbers) is the "honking" sax style that Jacquet had become associated with, where high harmonics alternate with notes from the bottom of the instrument's range. He had hit upon this style - according to the slightly stilted sleevenotes - partly as a result of his prior mastery of the clarinet. It had thereafter become a formative influence on R&B and Rock'n'Roll sax technique.

It's a very good album and, at barely over half an hour long, never in any danger of oustaying its welcome. My copy is an un-dated German pressing in decent condition, found among "Derek's Records" upstairs at St. Mary's St. Collectables in Chepstow three or four years ago and purchased as part of the long-standing 3-for-£10 deal there.

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