American jazz saxophonist (born 1934)
Houston Person
Person performing at the Cellar in 2006
Born (1934-11-10 ) November 10, 1934 (age 89)
Florence , South Carolina, U.S.Genres
Jazz ,
soul jazz ,
swing Occupation(s) Musician, songwriter, bandleader, producer Instrument(s) Saxophone Labels
Prestige ,
Westbound ,
Mercury ,
Savoy ,
Muse ,
HighNote ,
Telarc
Musical artist
Houston Person (born November 10, 1934) is an American
jazz tenor saxophonist and record producer. Although he has performed in the
hard bop and
swing genres, he is most experienced in and best known for his work in
soul jazz . He received the "Eubie Blake Jazz Award" in 1982.
Biography
Person in New York, 1984
Person grew up in
Florence, South Carolina , and first played piano, before switching to
tenor saxophone .
[1] He studied at
South Carolina State College , where he was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame in 1999.
In the
United States Air Force , he joined a service band stationed in
West Germany , and played with
Don Ellis ,
Eddie Harris ,
Cedar Walton , and
Leo Wright . Person later continued his studies at
Hartt College of Music in
Hartford, Connecticut .
He first became known for a series of albums for
Prestige in the 1960s. Contrary to popular belief, he was never married to the vocalist
Etta Jones , but did spend many years as her musical partner, recording, performing and touring, and for much of his career this association was what he was best known for. They first met playing in organist
Johnny Hammond 's band.
[2]
There are more than 75 albums recorded by Person as a bandleader, on Prestige,
Westbound ,
Mercury ,
Savoy , and
Muse , and he has most recently been recording on
HighNote . He has recorded with
Charles Brown ,
Ron Carter ,
Bill Charlap ,
Charles Earland ,
Lena Horne ,
Etta Jones ,
Lou Rawls ,
Janis Siegel ,
Horace Silver ,
Dakota Staton ,
Cedar Walton , plus
Billy Butler ,
Don Patterson ,
Grant Green ,
Sonny Phillips ,
Johnny "Hammond" Smith ,
Richard "Groove" Holmes
[3] and others.
Person has been a resident of
Newark, New Jersey .
[4]
Person performing with his combo at the
Red Bank Jazz & Blues Festival in 2009.
Person in
Paris , France, in 1980
Awards
Person received the Eubie Blake Jazz Award in 1982, and in 2011 the Jazz Legend Award, presented in
San Diego .
[5]
Discography
As leader
Underground Soul! (
Prestige , 1966)
Chocomotive (Prestige, 1967)
Trust in Me (Prestige, 1967)
Blue Odyssey (Prestige, 1968)
Soul Dance! (Prestige, 1968)
Goodness! (Prestige, 1969)
Truth! (Prestige, 1970)
Person to Person! (Prestige, 1970)
Houston Express (Prestige, 1971)
Broken Windows, Empty Hallways (Prestige, 1972)
Sweet Buns & Barbeque (Prestige, 1972)
Island Episode (Prestige, 1971/1973 [1997])
The Real Thing [live] (
Eastbound , 1973) - 2LP
Houston Person '75 (
Westbound /20th Century, 1975)
Get Out'a My Way! (Westbound/20th Century, 1975)
Pure Pleasure (
Mercury , 1976)
Harmony (Mercury, 1977)
Stolen Sweets (
Muse , 1976 [1977])
Wild Flower (Muse, 1977 [1978])
The Nearness of You (Muse, 1977 [1978])
The Gospel Soul of Houston Person (
Savoy , 1978)
The Big Horn (Muse, 1976 [1979])
Suspicions (Muse, 1980)
Very PERSONal (Muse, 1980 [1981])
Heavy Juice (Muse, 1982)
Road Warriors (
Greene Street , 1984) - with
Les McCann
Creation (Greene Street, 1984) - with
Roger Kellaway
Always on My Mind (Muse, 1985)
The Talk of the Town (Muse, 1987)
We Owe It All to Love (Baseline [UK], 1989)
Basics (Muse, 1987 [1989])
Something in Common (Muse, 1989 [1990]) - with
Ron Carter
The Party (Muse, 1989 [1991])
Now's the Time (Muse, 1990) - with Ron Carter
Just Friends (Muse, 1990 [1992]) - with
Buddy Tate and Nat Simkins
Why Not! (Muse, 1990)
The Lion and His Pride (Muse, 1991)
Christmas with Houston Person and Friends (Muse, 1994) - with Randy Johnston,
Etta Jones ,
Grady Tate ,
Benny Green [note: reissued as Santa Baby on Savoy in 2003]
Horn to Horn (Muse, 1994 [1996]) - with
Teddy Edwards
Close Encounters (HighNote, 1996 [1999]) - with Teddy Edwards
Person-ified (HighNote, 1996 [1997]) - with Richard Wynands,
Ray Drummond ,
Kenny Washington
Lost & Found - with
Charles Brown (
32 Jazz , 1997) [note: first issue of a previously unreleased Muse album Sweet Slumber , recorded in 1991]
The Opening Round (
Savant , 1997)
Christmas With Houston Person and Etta Jones (32 Jazz, 1997) - compilation of various Muse material
My Romance (
HighNote , 1998)
Soft Lights (HighNote, 1999)
Together at Christmas (HighNote, 2000) - with Etta Jones
The Way We Were: Live in Concert (HighNote, 2000 [2011]) - with Etta Jones
In a Sentimental Mood (HighNote, 2000)
Dialogues (HighNote, 2000 [2002]) - with Ron Carter
Blue Velvet (HighNote, 2001)
Sentimental Journey (HighNote, 2002)
Social Call (HighNote, 2003) - with
Paul Bollenback
To Etta with Love (HighNote, 2004) - with Paul Bollenback
You Taught My Heart to Sing (HighNote, 2004 [2006]) - with
Bill Charlap
All Soul (HighNote, 2005)
Just Between Friends (HighNote, 2005 [2008]) - with Ron Carter
Thinking of You (HighNote, 2007)
The Art and Soul of Houston Person (HighNote, 2008) -3CD
Mellow (HighNote, 2009)
Moment to Moment (HighNote, 2010)
So Nice (HighNote, 2011)
Naturally (HighNote, 2012)
Nice 'n' Easy (HighNote, 2013)
The Melody Lingers On (HighNote, 2014) - with
Steve Nelson
Something Personal (HighNote, 2015)
Chemistry (HighNote, 2015 [2016]) - with Ron Carter
Rain or Shine (HighNote, 2017)
Remember Love (HighNote, 2018) - with Ron Carter
[6]
I'm Just a Lucky So and So (HighNote, 2019)
[7]
Live in Paris (HighNote, 2019 [2021])
Reminiscing at Rudy's (HighNote, 2022)
As Sideman
With The 3B's
Soothin' 'N Groovin' with The 3B's (3B's Music, 1994)
With
Gene Ammons
With
Charles Brown
Blues and Other Love Songs (Muse, 1992)
With
Paul (PB) Brown
Paul Brown Quartet Meets The Three Tenors (Brownstone, 1998)
With
Billy Butler
With
Ron Carter
Orfeu (Somethin' Else/Blue Note, 1999)
With
Joey DeFrancesco
All About My Girl (Muse, 1994)
Plays Sinatra His Way (High Note, 1998 [rel. 2004])
With
Charles Earland
With
Grant Green
With
Tiny Grimes
With Peter Hand Big Band
The Wizard of Jazz: A Tribute to Harold Arlen (
Savant , 2005 [rel. 2009])
Out of Hand (Savant, 2013)
With
Richard "Groove" Holmes
Good Vibrations (Muse, 1977 [rel. 1980])
Broadway (Muse, 1980)
Blues All Day Long (Muse, 1988)
Hot Tat (Muse, 1989 [rel. 1991])
With
Randy Johnston
With
Etta Jones
Etta Jones '75 (Westbound/20th Century, 1975)
Ms. Jones to You (Muse, 1976)
My Mother's Eyes (Muse, 1977)
If You Could See Me Now (Muse, 1978)
Save Your Love for Me (Muse, 1980)
Fine and Mellow (Muse, 1986)
I'll Be Seeing You (Muse, 1987)
Sugar (Muse, 1989)
Christmas with Etta Jones (Muse, 1990)
Reverse the Charges (Muse, 1992)
At Last (Muse, 1995)
The Melody Lingers On (HighNote, 1997)
My Buddy: Etta Jones Sings the Songs of Buddy Johnson (HighNote, 1998)
All the Way (HighNote, 1999)
Easy Living (HighNote, 2000)
Etta Jones Sings Lady Day (HighNote, 2001)
With
Charles Kynard
With
Johnny Lytle
With
Don Patterson
With
Sonny Phillips
With
Jimmy Ponder
With
Bernard Purdie
Shaft (Prestige, 1971 [rel. 1973])
With
Shirley Scott
With
Rhoda Scott
Feelin' the Groove (Verve, 1993)
With
Janis Siegel
Friday Night Special (
Telarc , 2003)
With
Horace Silver
With
Johnny "Hammond" Smith
With
Melvin Sparks
With
Warren Vaché
References
^ Collar, Matt.
"Houston Person Biography" . AllMusic.
^ Shaw, Lew (March 31, 2020).
"Houston Person: It's Been a Wonderful Journey" . The Syncopated Times . Retrieved April 9, 2020 .
^ Henderson, Alex.
"Richard "Groove" Holmes, Biography" . AllMusic.
^ Stewart, Zan (September 28, 2003).
"The State of Jazz: Meet 40 More Jersey Greats" .
The Star-Ledger . Archived from
the original on September 27, 2008. Retrieved September 15, 2017 . Houston Person -- Deep-toned, blues-rich tenor saxophonist Person, who lives in Newark, has performed and/or recorded with Johnny Hammond, Cedar Walton and Charles Earland, among many others.
^ Varga, George (February 23, 2023).
"Sax great Houston Person, a reluctant 'acid-jazz' legend at 88, the 2023 San Diego Jazz Party" . The San Diego Union-Tribune . Retrieved February 8, 2024 .
^
"Houston Person, Remember Love - Review by Alex Henderson" (PDF) .
NYCJR . No. 197. September 2018. p. 16. Retrieved September 5, 2018 .
^
"Houston Person, I'm Just a Lucky So and So - Review by Scott Yanow" (PDF) .
NYCJR . No. 209. September 2019. p. 31. Retrieved September 26, 2019 .
External links
Years given are for the recording(s), not first release, unless stated otherwise.
As leader or co-leader
Underground Soul! (1966)
Chocomotive (1967)
Trust in Me (1967)
Blue Odyssey (1968)
Soul Dance! (1968)
Goodness! (1969)
Person to Person! (1970)
Truth! (1970)
Houston Express (1971)
Broken Windows, Empty Hallways (1972)
Sweet Buns & Barbeque (1972)
The Real Thing (1973)
The Big Horn (1976)
Stolen Sweets (1976)
Wild Flower (1977)
The Nearness of You (1977)
Suspicions (1980)
Very Personal (1980)
Heavy Juice (1982)
Always on My Mind (1985)
The Talk of the Town (1987)
Basics (1987)
The Party (1989)
Something in Common (and
Ron Carter , 1989)
Just Friends (and
Buddy Tate , 1990)
Now's the Time (and Ron Carter, 1990)
Why Not! (1990)
The Lion and His Pride (1991)
Christmas with Houston Person and Friends (1994)
Horn to Horn (with
Teddy Edwards , 1994)
Close Encounters (with Teddy Edwards, 1996)
Person-ified (1996)
The Opening Round (1997)
My Romance (1998)
Soft Lights (1999)
Together at Christmas (with
Etta Jones , 2000)
The Way We Were: Live in Concert (with Etta Jones, 2000 [2011])
In a Sentimental Mood (2000)
Dialogues (and Ron Carter, 2000)
Blue Velvet (2001)
Sentimental Journey (2002)
Social Call (2003)
To Etta with Love (2004)
You Taught My Heart to Sing (and
Bill Charlap , 2004)
All Soul (2005)
Just Between Friends (2005)
Thinking of You (2007)
Mellow (2009
Moment to Moment (2010)
Nice 'n' Easy (2011)
So Nice (2011)
Naturally (2012)
The Melody Lingers On (2014)
Chemistry (and Ron Carter, 2015)
Something Personal (2015)
Rain or Shine (2017)
Remember Love (and Ron Carter, 2018)
International National Artists Other