NEW RELEASES

In Brief

*** Illinois Jacquet, “Illinois Jacquet Flies Again,” Roulette. Tenor saxophonist Jacquet was often criticized as a showboating honker more concerned with crowd-pleasing than with musical content. What this 1959 reissue reveals, however, is a warm-toned style, influenced by Lester Young and Herschel Evans, that is both melodically and rhythmically appealing. Recorded a decade after his salad years, it features remakes of such Jacquet hits from the ‘40s and early ‘50s as “Robbins’ Nest,” “The King,” “Lean Baby” and “Black Velvet” (later known as “Doncha’ Go Way Mad”).

New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to four (excellent). A rating of five stars is reserved for classic reissues or retrospectives.