Houston Person: I’m Just A Lucky So And So

Veteran tenorman Houston Person is in his eighties, but he’s still blowing with his usual soulful and bluesy elegance on his latest HighNote release, I’m Just A Lucky So And So. The basic quartet, with Lafayette Harris on piano, Matthew Parrish, and Kenny Washington on drums, is augmented by trumpeter Eddie Allen and guitarist Rodney Jones on many of the pieces. A funky introduction by Jones is a bit startling at the beginning of Willow Weep For Me, but things settle down soon enough as Person caresses the familiar theme. One of the special pleasures of a Houston Person session is the care that he puts into song selection. A few of the pieces in the repertoire are familiar vehicles for improvisers, like Willow Weep For Me and Who Can I Turn To. But more often than not, Person has resurrected numbers that are not nearly as well-known. Music by Sammy Cahn, represented here by Wonder Why, I Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry, and Day by Day, seems to be especially favored by Person. As pianist Harris, a Person associate since 2014, told Willard Jenkins for his liner notes, the saxophonist has opened him up to “so many great songs that musicians don’t play and sometimes haven’t even heard!” The biggest surprise is the funky closer, Next Time You See Me, a hit for Junior Parker back in 1957 and not a common vehicle for improvisers. The most obscure piece is Alone With Just My Dreams, a posthumously uncovered song by bassist George Duvivier which was the title track of a 1991 album by trumpeter Joe Wilder. Befitting the source, bassist Parrish takes the introductory chorus. Parrish, a long-time member of pianist David Leonhardt’s group who appeared on Person’s Rain Or Shine in 2017, fits in perfectly. Guitarist Jones contributes the date’s sole original composition, the blues-like Song for a Rainbow. Trumpeter Allen is in excellent form throughout. He’s especially effective on Billy Eckstine’s I Want to Talk About You. The rhythm section of Jones, Harris, Parrish, and Washington is warmly supportive and faultlessly swinging at any tempo. Houston’s graceful approach to melody and his unfailingly lovely saxophone sound make all of his projects a joy to listen to over and over, and I’m Just A Lucky So And So is no exception. Happily recommended.
HighNote HCD 7327; Eddie Allen (tp on 1,3,4,6,8-10) Houston Person (ts) Lafayette Harris (p) Rodney Jones (g on 1,2,5,6,8,10) Matthew Parrish (b) Kenny Washington (d); Englewood Cliffs, NJ, November 30, 2018; 1.Willow Weep For Me/ 2.Wonder Why/ 3. I Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry/ 4.I’m Just a Lucky So and So/ 5.Who Can I Turn To/ 6.Day by Day/ 7.Alone With Just My Dreams/ 8.Song for a Rainbow/ 9.I Want to Talk About You/ 10.Next Time You See Me; 55:32. www.jazzdepot.com