Houston Person - Houston Express (1971) [re-rip]

As period soul-jazz goes, this is considerably above the average. It's funky, but not in the bland crossover sense; there's a sense of jazz ensemble discipline to the arrangements, but it's still R&B-based enough to groove to. Cecil Bridgewater (trumpet), Billy Butler (guitar), Bernard Purdie (drums), and Motown bassist Gerry Jemmott are among the more notable contributors to this 1971 session. ~ by Richie Unterberger, AMG.

There are some great players on this album. The electric piano really kicks in on a number of tunes and the brass section adds further highlights, but as usual Houston’s tone is very undeniable and full. Enjoy!

Prestige Records, PR 10017, 1971

Recorded 8^th & 9^th April, 1971 at Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey

Personnel:

Houston Person - Tenor Saxophone

Cecil Bridgewater - Trumpet (#A4-B2)

Harold "Money" Johnson - Trumpet (#A1-A3,B3)

Thad Jones - Trumpet (#A1-A3,B3)

Ernie Royal - Trumpet (#A1-A3,B3)

Garnett Brown - Trombone (#A1-A3,B3)

Jack Jeffers - Trombone (#A1-A3,B3)

Harold Vick - Tenor Sax, Flute (#A1-A3,B3)

Babe Clarke - Baritone Sax (#A1-A3,B3), Tenor Sax (#A4-B2)

Paul Griffin - Piano, Electric Piano (#A1-A3,B3)

Jimmy Watson - Organ

Ernie Hayes - Organ, Electric Piano (#A4-B2)

Billy Butler - Guitar

Jerry Jemmott - Electric Bass

Bernard Purdie - Drums

Buddy Caldwell - Congas

Tracks:

A1. Young Gifted And Black {Nina Simone, Weldon Irvine} (5:17)

A2. The Houston Express {Horace Ott} (5:50)

A3. Enjoy {Horace Ott} (4:57)

A4. [For God's Sake] Give More Power To The People {Eugene Record} (3:42)

B1. Chains Of Love {Ahmet Nugetre} (7:33)

B2. Just My Imagination {Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong} (5:34)

B3. Lift Every Voice {James Weldon Johnson, John Rosamond Johnson} (5:40)

Credits:

Producer - Bob Porter

Recording Engineer - Rudy van Gelder

Arranger, Conductor - Horace Ott (#A1-A3,B3)

Art Direction, Cover Art - Tony Lane

Back Cover Photo - Al Johnson

Note:
Ahmet Nugetre aka Ahmet Ertegün [Founder Atlantic Records]

Houston Person - Pure Pleasure (1976) [vinyl>alac]

Slicker than usual for Houston Person, but still a pretty nice album of tighly produced R&B-oriented jazz. The group includes a lot of hip players, like Cecil Bridgewater, Paul Griffin, and Bruce Nazarian – and the record has arrangements by Jimmy Roach. Tracks are long, and titles include "Deja Vu", "Pure Pleasure", "Inseparable", and "Dancing Feet". © Dusty Groove, Inc.

Mighty tenor saxophone player Houston Person released this LP in 1976 on Mercury Records, it features a great line-up of players like Cecil Bridgewater, Bruce Nazarian, Paul Griffin, Bob Babbit, Alan Schwartzberg, Lawrence Killian and strings & vocals.

Mercury Records, SRM-1-1104, 1976

Recorded & Re-Mixed at Blue Rock Studios, New York

Personnel:

Houston Person - Tenor Saxophone

Cecil Bridgewater - Trumpet

Paul Griffin - Piano [Grand], Electric Piano [Fender Rhodes],
Clavinet, Organ [Hammond]

Bruce Nazarian - Guitar, Synthesizer [Arp]

Bob Babbitt - Bass

Allan Schwartzberg - Drums

Lawrence Killian - Congas, Percussion

David Sackson, Seymour Berman - Viola

Deborah Idol, Elliot Rosoff, Louis Haber, Louis Stone, Robert Rozek - Violin

Irving Spice - Violin [1st]

Maurice Bialkin, Seymour Barab - Cello

Gwen Guthrie, Patti Austin, Vivian Cherry - Backing Vocals

Tracks:

A1. Pure Pleasure (9:15)

A2. Déja Vu (6:37)

B1. Dancing Feet (6:54)

B2. Soul Serenade (6:12)

B3. Inseparable (5:34)

Credits:

Producer - Houston Person, Jimmy Roach, Robin McBride

Engineer - Eddie Korvin

Mastering - Gilbert Kong

Arranger, Conductor - Jimmy Roach

Art Direction - Jim Schubert

Photography - Don Hunstein