Houston Person: Reminiscing At Rudy’s

  Judging by his deeply soulful sound on the tenor saxophone, octogenarian Houston Person sounds like a warm and friendly soul, the kind of guy you’d love to buy a coffee and hang with for a while. Reminiscing At Rudy’s is his latest HighNote effort, featuring his usual tasteful selection of tunes and a thoroughly compatible group to play them. Russell Malone is on guitar, Larry Fuller is on piano, Matthew Parrish is on bass, and Lewis Nash is on drums. Nash also contributes a vocal, on Nothing Ever Changes My Love For You, a 1956 hit for Nat “King” Cole. This was a pretty sappy song back then, and it has not improved with age. Person’s first album as a leader was the 1966 Prestige release Underground Soul. Like so many of his projects since that Lp, it was recorded in the same Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, studio run by the late Rudy Van Gelder. The studio is now under the guidance of Maureen Sickler, who assisted Van Gelder in his final years and who recorded and mixed Reminiscing At Rudy’s. The saxophonist has got quite a few memories of Rudy and the studio to call to mind when he starts to play in that familiar room. Perhaps in deference to Person’s elder status, the tempos here tend to be relaxed and laid-back, making a perfect setting for Person’s eloquence and melodic invention. Highlights include a snappy Moon River, an exquisitely tender version of Paul Anka’s Put Your Head On My Shoulder, a sweet stroll through Cedar Walton’s I’ll Let You Know, and the gut-bucket beat that the band applies to the Percy Mayfield classic Please Send Me Someone to Love, complete with a biting Malone guitar solo. The disc concludes with the title track, an upbeat original blues by Person that offers more fine blowing by the saxophonist. I’ve been trying hard to cut my music collection down to a manageable size, but this inspired date will surely make the cut. Recommended, for sure. 

HighNote HCD 7343; Houston Person (ts) Russell Malone (g) Larry Fuller (p) Matthew Parrish (b) Lewis Nash (d, vcl on *); Englewood Cliffs, NJ, July 19, 2022; At Long Last Love/ Again/ Moon River/ Put Your Head on My Shoulder/ Why Did I Choose You/Nothing Ever Changes My Love For You*/ My Romance/ I’ll Let You Know/ Please Send Me Someone to Love/ Reminiscing at Rudy’s; 57:26. www.jazzdepot.com