Jazz Saxophonist Houston Person

Online sales for this event have completed. Limited tickets will be available at the door.

The Charlottesville Jazz Society is proud to bring legendary tenor saxophonist Houston Person to Charlottesville for the first time on Saturday February 18th at The Jefferson School African American Heritage Center. For this 8:00 pm concert, which is co- sponsored by The Jefferson School African American Heritage Center and WTJU, Houston will be accompanied by The Randy Johnston 3.

Houston Person built his reputation as a leader with a series of soulful recordings for Prestige Records in the 1960’s. However, for a large part of his career he was best-known for his long time partnership with the great vocalist, Etta Jones, which lasted over 30 years until her death in 2001. His many appearances as sideman include recordings with Lena Horne, Lou Rawls, Horace Silver, Charles Earland, Joey DeFrancesco, and many others.

In the course of his long career, Houston has recorded over 100 albums as a leader on a variety of labels including Prestige, Savoy, and Muse, which became HighNote Records, for which he still records today. His HighNote recordings as both saxophonist and producer, “My Buddy: Etta Jones Sings the Songs of Buddy Johnson” and “Etta Jones Sings Lady Day,” were Grammy award finalists.

Gary Giddens wrote in the Village Voice, “Person rides the beat with figures you think you've heard but haven't. These are not recycled licks or clichés; they simply seem familiar, like family…”

Guitarist and composer Randy Johnston has recorded over a dozen albums as a leader, for the Muse and Highnote labels, among others. He has toured extensively around the world, sharing the stage with many prominent jazz artists, including Houston Person and Etta Jones. He was a member of the Lou Donaldson Quartet for 17 years. Other members of the group include Jonah Kane-West on organ, and Emre Kartari on drums.

Tickets to see Houston Person and The Randy Johnston 3 at 8 p.m. at The Jefferson School African American Heritage Center are available in advance at Houstonpersonsax.eventbrite.com. The cost is $20 general admission, $15 for paid supporters of The Charlottesville Jazz Society, and $10 for all students. Any tickets remaining for sale at the door will be $25 for all. Visit Cvillejazz.org for more information, or call Gary at (434) 249-6191. And be sure to listen for Houston’s music on WTJU, 91.1 FM.