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Trust In Me (Chocomotive/Trust In Me)

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2 rare Prestige albums by Houston Person – both of them among his more obscure work of the 60s! Chocomotive is a bit more complicated than some of Person's earlier work – moving away from the hard and funky organ lineup, into a more lyrically swinging quintet mode, with Cedar Walton on piano, Alan Dawson on vibes, Bob Cranshaw on bass, and Frankie Jones on drums. The presence of Walton really opens up the set, as his majestic soul jazz approach during this time gives the whole album a stridently sophisticated groove – hammered down by Dawson's highly rhythmic approach to playing the vibes (he was mostly a drummer, remember?) Houston's in fine form sax-wise, blowing relaxed and meaningful solos in the mode that he used on the Blue Odyssey album – or kind of in a mode like Sonny Criss on his late 60s Prestige sides. Titles include "More", "Girl Talk", "Close Quarters", and "Chocomotive". Trust In Me is a great set of straight jazz without the usual funky soul jazz twist. Instead of an organ, this LP's got Houston backed by the sensitive piano of Cedar Walton, and the sound is rich and deep, with loads of introspective playing by the two of them. The track list is fairly standard, with a number of pop songs and standards, but the playing is creative and inventive, and the session's a beautiful example of the wide range of talents possessed by Person. Titles include "Hey There", "Trust In Me", "Airegin", and "The Second Time Around". (CD case has a cutout notch.)  © 1996-2013, Dusty Groove, Inc.