A SAX FOR ALL STYLES
VERSATILE TENOR SAXOPHONIST HOUSTON PERSON HAS DONE IT ALL AT AGE 88, AND NOW HE’S HEADED TO DEL MAR TO PLAY THIS YEAR’S THREE-DAY SAN DIEGO JAZZ PARTY
Jazz, blues, classical, funk, pop, soul, bossa nova, gospel, rock, Afrobeat, disco and country. These are just some of the styles of music that tenor saxophone great Houston Person has performed in his storied career, which includes numerous solo albums and memorable collaborations with Lena Horne, Horace Silver, Lou Rawls, Joey DeFrancesco, Ron Carter and other luminaries.
But there is one style affiliated with Person’s name that makes him laugh aloud. It was spotlighted in the title of a 1999 Fantasy Records CD, “Legends of Acid Jazz,” which compiled and repackaged two of Person’s early standout solo albums, 1968’s “Soul Dance” and 1970’s “Truth!”
The “legend” designation is certainly applicable to this laidback South Carolina native. His honors range from the prestigious Eubie Blake Jazz Award in 1982 to the Jazz Legend Award in 2012. Person was presented with the latter 11 years ago at the San Diego Jazz Party, where he returns today through Sunday at the Del Mar Hilton as a featured soloist.
But the late-1980s fusion of jazz, funk, dance music and hip-hop known as “acid jazz”?
“I don’t know what to say about that!” Person said, laughing again.
“The marketers do their thing and, hey, they are trying to sell the music any way they can. I have no qualms about that. I wish them well.”
As affable as he is versatile, Person is — at 88 — still performing around the country, recording solo albums and working as the longtime in-house producer for HighNote Records.
He has made 27 solo albums for the respected New York-based label since 2000. The most recent, “Reminiscing at Rudy’s,” was released in November. His 27 albums in this century were preceded by more than 50 solo albums Person made between his 1966 solo debut, “Underground Soul,” and his two 1999 releases, “Close Encounters” and “Soft Lights.”
Happily, Person’s definitive musical trademarks as a no-nonsense tenor saxophonist have remained consistent through the decades. They include his rich, creamy tone, keen melodic sense, lightness of touch, and ability to make even the most familiar songs sound fresh.
Whether playing gritty blues or svelte pop, a bristling bop classic or an elegant ballad from the
Great American Songbook, Person injects each note with deep feeling. He can perform with admirable delicacy or a playful sense of swagger. In any context he always knows exactly where he’s going — and always takes listeners along for the ride.
Deep in the music
His eclecticism is underscored by the titles of the multiple performances he’ll be doing this weekend at the Del Mar Hilton during the 35th annual San Diego Jazz Party.
He’ll lead tonight’s “Swingin’ With Houston” set. On Saturday, he’ll be featured in both the “Blues 101” set and “Houston Person Remembers Etta Jones,” a tribute to the late singer who was his musical partner for 35 years of joint albums and concerts. On Sunday, he’s the star of “Groovin’ With Houston.”
In each setting, you can expect Person to shine by focusing on the music at hand with singular skill while avoiding the kind of instrumental grandstanding that less seasoned players might bring to the bandstand.
“I’m a big fan of Houston’s,” said San Diego saxophonist Karl Denson, who leads the jazz-funk band Tiny Universe and has toured with the Rolling Stones for the past nine years. In 2013, Person was a guest performer when Denson’s first band of note, the Greyboy Allstars, performed at the famed Blue Note jazz club in New York.
“What most appeals to me about Houston is the purity of what he plays,” Denson continued. “He’s one of those guys who is not confused about what he wants to do, and for me that’s very refreshing and is something I don’t inherently have.”
Was Person an influence on the San Diego-bred Greyboy Allstars, one of the nation’s more popular acid-jazz bands of the 1990s?
“He was an influence on the
scene,” Denson replied. “Houston is part of the same conversation as (saxophonists) Gene Ammons, Sonny Stitt and Lou Donaldson, all those guys that played jazz, but — during the late 1960s and early ’70s — were playing funk. The beauty of it is that these are guys who can really play (complex jazz chord and rhythm) changes. So, when they play funk they don’t have that insecurity of trying to show you they can play changes; they just play funk and it’s really amazing.”
Broad influence
Person’s records have been sampled by Pulitzer Prize-winning
rapper Kendrick Lamar, Jurassic 5 and other hip-hop artists. He co-wrote the 1973 Leon Tomas vocal ballad “Let the Rain Fall on Me,” which was covered by Santana and The Isley Brothers on their joint 2017 album “Power of Peace.”
What makes him especially distinctive — and unusual — is that his accomplishments span multiple areas.
As the in-house producer for HighNote Records and its predecessor, Muse Records, Person played an instrumental role in is just staying out of the way.”
Person’s nearly 80 solos albums are outnumbered by the hundreds of albums he has made as a featured guest with other artists.
In concert and at club dates, he has worked almost equally as a band leader, accompanist and musical director.
“I didn’t even know about all this other stuff Houston’s done as a sideman or a producer,” Denson said. “I just know him through his own records. I view him as a soloist, a great, giant, blues- and jazz-playing tenor player.”
And how does the classically trained Person view himself?
“I just do what I do,” he said, speaking recently from his home on New York’s Long Island.
“I like to be consistent in what I do, which is based on great melodies, great compositions, music that is pleasing to the ear. And I like to introduce little surprises in my playing once in a while. But being consistent and giving you something that will make you smile is my main focus.
“To me, the audience is the other half of the equation. I love my audiences, and I try to give them things they will like and things that evoke memories, as well as maybe something challenging. The audience kind of guides me along. They give you hints on ways they want to go, and I follow that and respect the audience.”
Person is bemused that he became known in the 1990s as a forefather of acid jazz — for albums he made several decades earlier. But he agrees that acid jazz’s focus on dance-friendly grooves is a direct link to the heyday of jazz in the big-band era of the 1920s and ’30s.
“To me, jazz is dance music, no more, no less,” he said. “That’s when it had its heyday in popularity. And I think that’s why the (soul-jazz) organ groups were so popular in the 1960s, because they gave the crowds good music and you could dance to it.
“Every form of music, every culture of music, has dance associated with it, except jazz, which is sort of crazy.”
Up until the pandemic shutdown began in early 2020, Person was on tour for an average of seven months each year. After his Del Mar gig this weekend, he’ll head to Georgia for multiple concert dates, followed by more recording sessions and live gigs.
“I’m busy!” Person affirmed. “I’m not slowing down.”