"From the opening moments of TEXAS TENOR, where a pair of weathered hands lovingly caress a metal link and a reed being readied for combat, we know we've wandered into something special. Indeed, this stylist film by director Arthur Elgort is a stunning portrait of tenor titan Jean Baptiste "Illinois" Jacquet, the last of the white-hot Texas tenors. Instead of the usual chronological approach, this 'portrait' is a collage: a mosaic of interviews, rehearsals, strolls through Paris, performances at New York's Blue Note, archival footage, and memorabilia that criss-cross through time as freely as Orson Welles' Citizen Kane... Though one of jazzdom's great extroverts and entertainers, the Jacquet who emerges here is also warm, magnanimous, and a study in artistic concentration. His balladic limnings of 'Misty' and 'Don't Blame Me,' even in excerpted form, are showstoppers. And the full-bodied reprise of 'Flying Home,' his great 1942 hit with Lionel Hampton1s band, is nothing short of sensational. We even get a bit of vocalizing on 'Sunny Side of the Street,' Illinois' tip-of-the-hat to Louis Armstrong. Along the way, in a batch of pithy clips, we get revealing encomiums and anecdotes from Lionel Hampton, Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Clark Terry, Al Hibbler, Harry 'Sweets' Edison, Bob Porter, Les Paul, Javon Jackson, Cecil Payne, Walter Blanding, Jr., Milt Hinton, Jonah Jones, and Dorothy Donegan, among others. We also come to appreciate the influence of Basie on Jacquet1s current big band. Every scene is redolent with feeling and meaning -- and an essential aspect of Jacquet1s large persona. In all, this is a must for all saxophonists, big band enthusiasts, and jazz history classes." -- Chuck Berg, JAZZ EDUCATORS JOURNAL

Description: 1991 B&W 81 min. Directed by Arthur Elgort Produced by Ronit Avneri