Even in 1968 when the jazz avant-garde was becoming quite influential, tenor saxophonist
Illinois Jacquet played in his own timeless style, performing in an idiom little changed during the previous 20 years. With the assistance of pianist
Barry Harris, bassist
Ben Tucker, and drummer
Alan Dawson,
Jacquet is heard throughout this CD reissue (which adds a previously unissued "Don't Blame Me" to the original program) swinging hard and generally expressing himself in a typically extroverted fashion. "Bottoms Up" (a relative of "Flying Home"), "Jivin' with Jack the Bellboy," and
Jacquet's excellent original ballad "You Left Me All Alone" are most memorable.