Illinois Jacquet

Birth Name:

Jean-Baptiste Jacquet

Birth Date:

October 30, 1922

Birth Place:

Broussard, Louisiana

Death Date:

July 22, 2004

Place of Death:

112-44 179th Street, Queens, New York

Age:

Cause of Death:

Heart attack

Cemetery Name:

Woodlawn Cemetery

Claim to Fame:

Music

Although Illinois Jacquet may be best remembered as the tenor saxophonist who defined the screeching style of playing the instrument, his warm and sensitive tone may also be heard on countless jazz ballads and medium groove-tempo numbers since the mid 1940s. Jacquet was widely recognized as the king of the tenor saxophone and during a career spanning more than 60 years, Jacquet played with everyone from Count Basie to Cab Calloway to Lionel Hampton, and gained notoriety for his illustrious saxophone solo in the hit "Flying Home." He also doubled on the bassoon, and was one of only a few jazz musicians to play the instrument.

Fun Facts

In the 1980s Illinois Jacquet was an artist in residence at Harvard University. “I made up my mind that if I could make students at Harvard sound that good, it was time for me to come back to New York and pick the best musicians I could find and form my own big band,” Jacquet told Jazz Times. Full-sized swing bands were rare by the mid-1980s, but the Illinois Jacquet Big Band shattered attendance records at the prestigious Village Vanguard club.

Cemetery Information:

Final Resting Place:

Woodlawn Cemetery

4199 Webster Avenue

Bronx, New York, 10470

USA

North America

Map:

Cemetery Map of Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York

Grave Location:

Hillcrest, Section 170

Grave Location Description

As you enter the cemetery make your way to the intersection of Heather, Knollwood and Fir Avenue. Park and you will see the large Miles Davis black sarcophagus. Facing the Davis monument look across the street and on Fir Avenue you will see the large, distinctive Illinois Jacquet monument.