[Dixielandjazz] Jean-Baptiste Jacquet

[TBW504 at aol.com]

As far as I'm concerned it was always Jackay in Britain. Since he was born  
in Louisiana the French pronunciation is most likely. Like Lewis Armstrong  
(still referred to as such in New Orleans) who became Louie up north  
Jean-Baptiste Jacquet underwent a change. Brought up in Houston where he began  on drums 
as a youngster. He dropped the name Jean-Baptiste because there were so  few 
French speakers in Houston. His mother was a Sioux Indian and his father  
Fench-Creole. The nickname came from a Native American (Indian) word "Illiniwek"  
meaning superior men, although at one time there seemed to be some doubt as to  
whether Illinois was a given name or a nickname: Koster settles for the 
latter,  although Illinois himself in later years claimed he was named after a 
relative  who came down from Chicago to help his mother.
Brian Wood