Houston Person Explained

Houston Person
Background:non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth Date:10 November 1934
Birth Place:Florence, South Carolina, U.S.
Occupation:Musician, songwriter, bandleader, producer
Instrument:Saxophone
Label:Prestige, Westbound, Mercury, Savoy, Muse, HighNote, Telarc
Associated Acts:Etta Jones

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 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]

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

As Sideman

With The 3B's

With Gene Ammons

With Charles Brown

With Paul (PB) Brown

With Billy Butler

With Ron Carter

With Emmet Cohen

With Joey DeFrancesco

With Charles Earland

With Grant Green

With Tiny Grimes

With Peter Hand Big Band

With Richard "Groove" Holmes

With Randy Johnston

With Etta Jones

With Charles Kynard

With Johnny Lytle

With Don Patterson

With Sonny Phillips

With Jimmy Ponder

With Bernard Purdie

With Shirley Scott

With Rhoda Scott

With Janis Siegel

With Horace Silver

With Johnny "Hammond" Smith

With Melvin Sparks

With Warren Vaché

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Houston Person Biography. AllMusic. Matt. Collar.
  2. Web site: Houston Person: It's Been a Wonderful Journey. Lew . Shaw. The Syncopated Times . March 31, 2020 . 9 April 2020 .
  3. Web site: Richard "Groove" Holmes, Biography. Henderson, Alex. AllMusic.
  4. Web site: The State of Jazz: Meet 40 More Jersey Greats. https://web.archive.org/web/20080927062323/http://www.nj.com/greatday/stories/more.html. The Star-Ledger. Zan. Stewart. September 28, 2003. September 27, 2008. 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..
  5. Web site: Sax great Houston Person, a reluctant 'acid-jazz' legend at 88, the 2023 San Diego Jazz Party. The San Diego Union-Tribune. George. Varga. February 23, 2023. February 8, 2024.
  6. Houston Person, Remember Love - Review by Alex Henderson. NYCJR. September 2018. 197. 16. September 5, 2018.
  7. Houston Person, I'm Just a Lucky So and So - Review by Scott Yanow. NYCJR. September 2019. 209. 31. September 26, 2019.

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