Caffeine we can seriously use: Buy Me A Coffee

– NBC Radio – Stars In Jazz – Illinois Jacquet-Wild Bill Davis – August 12, 1952 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –

A few notes from two pioneers out of Birdland this week. The legendary Illinois Jacquet, along with an appearance by Hammond-extraordinaire Wild Bill Davis from the Stars In Jazz series over NBC Radio in 1952.

Although they don’t appear together and there’s only 15 minutes allotted for each, the combination of the two in one sitting makes for some spirited and historic listening. Davis was one of the pioneers of the Organ in Jazz – his presence made it possible for talents such as Jimmy Smith to flourish and expand on what Davis had been promoting since his days with Louis Jordan‘s Tympani Five in the 1930s. Illinois Jacquet likewise, was a pioneer. His solo in the trademark Flyin’ Home has been recognized as the first R&B sax solo and it put an indelible stamp on the evolution of Rock n’ Roll.

Together, they were visionaries. In 1952 things were brewing – but it was also a time for big changes in the realm of Jazz – small groups were dominating the scene and ideas were expanding; things were branching out. On the one hand you had Bop and on the other hand you had Jump Blues – two distinctly different roads, but they got started from the same place. Check out Illinois Jacquet and Wild Bill Davis, if you haven’t already. Cool way to spend a Sunday, no?

Wild Bill Davis
Wild Bill Davis – sayin’ it.

Man, it’s almost February already. A new year gettin’ old and Past Daily is still trudging along, looking for support. We don’t run ads so we need contributors to keep us up and running. Costs even more now than it did this time last year. But we’re still offering you the best of what’s in the archive – yes, this is all from our Collection (except the sessions and concerts – gotta give credit where credit is due – BBC 6 Music and Radio X in London and RNE In Madrid are essential sources of finding new music) but everything is the result of yours truly digging into boxes, climbing over shelves, falling into dumpsters. It’s history, it’s important and it’s yours if you want it. All you have to do, if you’re up for it, is please subscribe via Patreon (that little box at the bottom of this post) – click on it and you’ll be taken to their site where you can subscribe to Past Daily, let them know how much you want to donate – or check us out for free, test drive our site, as it were, and decide to become part of the Past Daily experience. Simple, painless and we’ll love you for it. Do it if you can and you’ll be able to download your own copy of all our posts and new ones as they appear. Kind of cool, don’t you think? But you have to become a Patron in order to do it. Think about it – no pressure – honest – really . . no pressure. But there’s this landlord . . . .