Jean-Baptiste Reilles (29 May 1920 – 17 August 1987), whose stage name was Mac Kac, was a French jazz drummer. He was known for being one of the first to release a rock and roll album in French.

Biography

Mac Kac had Catalan roots and came from a

Manouche The Manouche ( ) are a Romani subgroup who have lived in France and Switzerland since at least the 18th century. The term Manouche is the self-ascribed name of the French Sinti. Etymology The word (or ) means 'human being' in the Romani lang ...

family. His career began in the mid-1930s in Toulouse. Reilles played in the mid-1940s in Michel de Villers orchestra and quintet, with whom he participated on the swing record ''

How High the Moon "How High the Moon" is a jazz standard with lyrics by Nancy Hamilton and music by Morgan Lewis. It was first featured in the 1940 Broadway revue '' Two for the Show'', where it was sung by Alfred Drake and Frances Comstock. In ''Two for th ...

''. During this time he also worked with Big Boy Goudie and George Johnson, in the early 50s with Raymond Le Sénéchal, Guy Lafitte / Peanuts Holland, Bernard Peiffer and His Saint Germain Des Pres Orchestra and in the trio with Jean-Marie Ingrand and further with

Stéphane Grappelli Stéphane Grappelli (; 26 January 1908 – 1 December 1997) was a French jazz violinist. He is best known as a founder of the Quintette du Hot Club de France with guitarist Django Reinhardt in 1934. It was one of the first all-string jazz bands. ...

, Jean-Pierre Sasson and Maxim Saury. In 1955 he was a member of

Jay Cameron Jay Cameron (September 14, 1928 – March 20, 2001) was an American jazz reed musician who played the bass clarinet, baritone saxophone, and B-flat clarinet. Career Cameron began as an alto saxophonist but later recorded with bass clarinet, ba ...

's International Sax band and the

Don Rendell Donald Percy Rendell (4 March 1926 – 20 October 2015) was an English jazz musician and arranger. Mainly active as a tenor saxophonist, he also played soprano saxophone, flute, and clarinet. Career Rendell was born in Plymouth, England, and r ...

Bobby Jaspar Bobby Jaspar (20 February 1926 – 28 February 1963) was a Belgian cool jazz and hard bop saxophonist, flautist and composer. Early life Born in Liège, Belgium, Jaspar learned to play piano and clarinet at a young age. Later, he took up the ...

Combo. In the 1950s he worked with

Buck Clayton Wilbur Dorsey "Buck" Clayton (November 12, 1911 – December 8, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter who was a member of Count Basie's orchestra. His principal influence was Louis Armstrong, first hearing the record " Confessin' that I Love You" ...

Sacha Distel Alexandre "Sacha" Distel (29 January 1933 – 22 July 2004) was a French musician and singer who had hits with a cover version of "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" in 1970, which reached No 10 in the UK Charts, " Scoubidou", and " The Good Lif ...

Lionel Hampton Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, percussionist, and bandleader. He worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, an ...

, Peanuts Holland, Guy Lafitte, Les Blue Stars,

Sammy Price Samuel Blythe Price (October 6, 1908 – April 14, 1992) was an American jazz, boogie-woogie and jump blues pianist and bandleader. Price's playing is dark, mellow, and relaxed rather than percussive, and he was a specialist at creating the ...

Christian Garros Christian Garros (February 17, 1920, Paris – August 23, 1988, Rouen) was a French jazz drummer and bandleader. Garros began playing professionally shortly after the end of World War II, working with Django Reinhardt and Jacques Hélian. He was a ...

, Michel Attenoux and

Henri Salvador Henri Salvador (18 July 1917 – 13 February 2008) was a French Caribbean singer, comedian and cabaret artist. Biography Salvador was born in Cayenne, French Guiana. His father, Clovis, and his mother, Antonine Paterne, daughter of an Indigen ...

(Salvador Plays the Blues). In 1957 he recorded for Atlantic Records the album ''Mac-Kac & His French Rock & Roll''. This was followed from 1960 to 1962, by a series of singles and EPs for the label Fontana. He also appeared regularly at the Parisian ''

Club Saint-Germain The Club Saint-Germain was a jazz club located at 13 rue Saint-Benoît in the 6e arrondissement de Paris. History The club was opened in 1947 by Freddie Chauvelot, Christian Casadesus, Paul Lavigne, Marc Doelnitz, and Boris Vian. Throughout the ...

'' with

Pierre Cullaz Pierre Cullaz (21 July 1935 – 1 January 2014) was a French jazz guitarist and cellist. Pierre Cullaz was the son of Maurice Cullaz, a jazz writer, and the older brother of Alby Cullaz. After he learned piano and cello in 1949, he moved to guit ...

and Pierre Simonian. His last recordings were made in 1983 with the Orchestra of

Jo Privat Jo Privat (15 April 1919 – 3 April 1996) was a French accordionist and composer. Privat was born at Ménilmontant, Paris. He played for many years at Balajo, a musette club in Paris where he worked with Django Reinhardt, the Ferret Brother ...

(Deux guitars et un violon). In the field of jazz, he was involved since 1946 in 42 recording sessions.

References

External links

Portrait
at Midi Libre * * 1920 births 1987 deaths French Romani people Musicians from Toulouse French jazz drummers French male drummers 20th-century French musicians 20th-century drummers 20th-century French male musicians French male jazz musicians {{France-bio-stub