Just amazing music.

This incredible take on Earle Hagan's "Harlem Nocturne" is, in my opinion, the most soulfully definitive version of the song EVER, even though the YouTube version cuts off the final verse.

My thoughts are that Jacquet's artistry is effing amazing throughout. Love this song. Love this version - again this is the definitive one, in my opinion. This familiar tune just bristles with his phrasing, which is once again impeccable. I don't know who the trumpeter is, but that Musician also rates a capital M. And I will try to find out quickly this person's name, and put it in the comments, although a few cursory searches haven't helped much.

NONE of the "big band" versions of this tune, and there are many, capture the intimacy of this melody in the way that Illinois Jacquet does with a small combo. It's a wonder to me that Hagan originally pictured this as a large group tune; wonderfully crazy, considering how amazing Harlem Nocturne is, when just boiled down to its basic parts: a simple melody that sizzles at first with a kind of swing that takes you to a very specific time and place . . . and then enjoys its stay with a bridge that just keeps on spilling new ideas . . . and then returns deliciously to its bluesy roots.

Engh. Words fail to do it justice. Listen and Enjoy.