Illinois Jacquet

Illinois Jacquet, known as the foremost of the "Texas tenor titans," is one of the most influential figures in both jazz and R&B saxophone. He started out playing in "territory bands" for the likes of Milt Larkins, but first came to fame in the early 1940s with the Lionel Hampton band. His solo on the 1942 Hampton cut "Flying Home" made him a star of the jazz world, and remains one of his signature pieces. Throughout the '40s he worked with Count Basie, Cab Calloway, and others, eventually leading his own band. His innovations of "honking" on the sax's low end and "squealing" octaves above the instrument's normal range were adopted by countless younger jazz and R&B sax players, and his playing provided a significant bridge between jazz and blues, wailing solos and tender ballads.