Etta Jones was one of the greatest Soul Jazz singers.
Houston Person is one of the greatest Soul Jazz tenor
players. They worked together for over thirty years,
until she died in 2001.
That's a lot of history. After a gig, you knew you'd
been sung to; played for; smiled at. That's how this
album feels. It's not sad; it's a celebration of the
good times Houston and Etta shared on the bandstand.
Printing the songs' words on the sleeve underlines
their importance; in this case doubly so, because of
the songs' association with Etta. This is a very good
album, almost one of Houston's best half-dozen.
I'm pleased to say that the idea of printing the
words, which Houston has adopted on the last two of
his albums in which he played mainly songs, came from
a letter I wrote to him, pointing out that most people
don't know the words, because the songs aren't on the
radio much any more - AM
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1 comment:
Thanks to Allan, I've been a fan of Houston Person's for some time. If you're looking for warm, straight-down-the-road interpretations of some classic songs, beautifully recorded, as ever, by Rudy van Gelder, this is for you. It's a delight.
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