Illinois Jacquet Live in Paris

Coming from a Louisiana Creole background, Jean-Baptiste Illinois Jacquet grew up playing in his father's band. Destiny took him by the hand at a young age when his friend, a young Nat King Cole, introduced him to a musician called Lionel Hampton who was looking to fill spaces in a big band. Jacquet took up the mantle and soon became a star tenor saxophonist, mainly due to his signature "honking" solo he played on the track "Flying Home." Credited as the first R&B saxophone solo and a precursor to rock and roll, Jacquet was expected to bring the house down every night and, at just 19 years old, that is exactly what he did.