Evento

Houston Person - Legendary Jazz & Blues Tenor Man

"I am always trying to make that melody sing because I love melodies. Even if there is no lyric, I'm still singing it."

So said saxophone legend Houston Person in a 2004 profile in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Houston Person has been letting his soulful tenor saxophone do his vocalizing for close five decades. Born in South Carolina, Person, over the years, has developed an unadulterated style reflecting both the blues/gospel heart and the rough & tumble spirit of those Southern roots.

There's just no music more soulful than a Houston Person sax solo.

Houston Person's music "is rooted in the blues-drenched style of swing-and-shout sax players like Illinois Jacquet and Gene Ammons. [Person] delivers growling gutbucket grooves, but also brings an elegant, uncluttered improvisational style to a wide jazz repertoire, and a lovely, intimate touch to his ballad work."
- the San Francisco Chronicle.

Every once in a while a true giant of jazz comes along. Houston Person is one of those giants, with an identifiable original sound and fierce jazz integrity. Whether playing blues, ballads, bebop, or boogaloos, tenor saxophonist Houston Person is instantly recognizable for his big, beefy tone and his alternately tender and tough attack.

During an Air Force hitch in the mid-50s, Person found himself stationed in Germany, where he got to play with musicians like Eddie Harris, Don Ellis and Cedar Walton. Leaving the Air Force, Person joined organist Jimmy "Hammond" Smith's band for two years, then went solo in 1961. He's been recording, touring and singing with his saxophone ever since.