Illinois Jacquet’s ‘Swing’s The Thing’ To Receive Verve Acoustic Sounds Vinyl Release
The reissue is set to be released on November 21.

Illinois Jacquet’s celebrated 1956 LP Swing’s The Thing is set to receive a reissue courtesy of Verve Records’ Acoustic Sounds Vinyl Series. The album will be released on November 21 and is available for pre-order now.
Originally recorded for the Clef label in 1956, Swing’s The Thing features the tenor great in a sextet with Roy Eldridge (trumpet), Jimmy Jones (piano), Herb Ellis (guitar), Ray Brown (bass) and Jo Jones (drums).
While Jacquet’s sessions as a leader were infrequent during this time, this particular recording hits a high mark. The six-song set is highlighted by tracks such as “Las Vegas Blues,” “Harlem Nocturne,” and “Achtung.”
The album was a critical hit, receiving a four-star review from AllMusic. Writer Thom Jurek wrote: “…the magic is in the performances, so to speak with Jacquet, Roy Eldridge, Jo Jones, Herb Ellis, Jimmy Jones and Ray Brown in the party.”
Swing’s The Thing was recorded on October 16, 1956 at Studio Radio Recorders in Hollywood, CA. Norman Granz served as the project’s producer. Granz, of course, was the founder of both Clef (the original label on which the album was released) and Verve.
The album from Jacquet and his sextet is the latest in a long line of stellar releases reissued courtesy of Verve Records’ Acoustic Sounds Vinyl Series. Also set to be released on November 21 is Coleman Hawkins and Confrères, which was originally released in 1958 via Verve. That tremendous session featured Hawkins alongside the Oscar Peterson Trio, Hank Jones (Piano), Herb Ellis (Guitar), and Roy Eldridge and Buck Clayton (Trumpet). Verve’s Acoustic Sounds series features transfers from analog tapes and remastered 180-gram vinyl in deluxe gatefold packaging.