A great little album from Person – one of his best for Muse, and a record that sounds a lot better than the cover or title might indicate! The group's a very swinging quintet with Jimmy Ponder on guitar, Sonny Phillips on organ, Frankie Jones on drums, and Buddy Caldwell on congas – and overall, the record feels like a move back to the mid 60s soul jazz mode – Person playing in a relaxed swinging style that was rarely captured on record so well. Titles include "T Bone Steak", "Stolen Sweets", "If Ever I Would Leave You", and "At Last". LP, Vinyl record album

With Cecil Bridgewater on trumpet and Stan Hope on piano – on titles that include "Only Trust Your Heart", "Almost Like Being In Love", "Everything Happens To Me", and "Just For You". LP, Vinyl record album

With Cedar Walton on piano, Buster Wiliams on bass, Grady Tate on drums, and Buddy Caldwell on congas. LP, Vinyl record album

Sweet electric grooving from Houston Person – an album that features his soulful tenor set in larger arrangements than on his earlier small combo Prestige sessions, in a mode that's a bit like some of the larger jazz sets coming out on CTI and Kudu at the time! Like Stanley Turrentine, who also made a similar shift during this period, Houston turns out to be an extremely strong soloist in this sort of setting – hitting new notes on the laidback ballads, and playing with a richly expressive style that somehow seems even more possible than before, since the core rhythms and melodies are handled by the other players in the ensemble, and Houston's main job is just to blow freely on his solos. Billy Ver Planck does the orchestrations, and the group includes Hubert Laws, Victor Paz, and Cedar Walton. Tracks include "Everything's Alright", "Bleeker Street", "Let's Call This", and "Moan Er-uh Lisa". LP, Vinyl record album

A great little record – one of Houston's most successful for Prestige! The album follows strongly in that late 60s pre-funk mode that Prestige was cooking up – tight and groovy, with electric bass dropped into the mix, electrifying things a bit, but still really just grooving in a souped-up 60s soul jazz mode. Houston rises to the style wonderfully – and the rest of the group include Sonny Phillips on organ, Billy Butler on guitar, and Buddy Caldwell who throws in some great conga work! Includes a nice boogaloo cut called "Hey Driver!", with some chanted vocals by the band, plus the tracks "Hard Times" and "Jamilah", which have a very nice groove! LP, Vinyl record album

A very funky double-length live set that stands as a real gem in the 70s catalog of Houston Person! The date was recorded for the obscure Eastbound arm of the Westbound funk label – and features a killer lineup that includes Grant Green on guitar, Marcus Belgrave on trumpet, Jack McDuff on organ, Idris Muhammad on drums, and Spanky Wilson on vocals – a very soulful setting for Person's strong work on tenor! The set's got long tracks with plenty of Prestige Records-styled jazz funk – and titles include versions of "Pain" by the Ohio Players and "Crazy Legs" by Donald Austin, plus the tracks "Kittitian Carnival", "Where Is The Love", and "Easy Walker". LP, Vinyl record album

A really unusual setting for the tenor of Houston Person – in that the four-person group features very prominent trombone work from Mark Levine, whose soulful sound is a great match for Person – plus hammond from Charles Boyston, a player we don't know at all, but who sounds great here – and drums from Frank Jones. The sound is a very groovy one – similar to some of Person's work with Johnny Hammond's combo – and the tracks have a bit more of a bite than some of his later prestige work. Titles include "Ballin", "The Pimp", and "Underground Soul" – which should give you an idea of the nature of the proceedings! LP, Vinyl record album

A sweet little set from Houston Person – a record that's a nice return to basics, much needed after some of his overproduced sessions of the mid 70s! The group here features a number of old Prestige stalwarts, helping Houston to hit a laidback soul jazz vibe – players who include Jimmy Ponder on guitar, Sonny Phillips on organ, and Idris Muhammad as drums – as well as Bill Hardman on trumpet, whose clean blowing in the front brings Houston back up to speed. Larry Killian plays added percussion on the set – and tracks include "Dameron", "Preachin & Teachin", "My Romance", and "Wildflower". LP, Vinyl record album

With Houston Person on tenor saxophone, Richard Wyands on piano, Ray Drummond on bass, and Kenny Washington on drums. LP, Vinyl record album

Late recording by bluesy jazz guitarist Tiny Grimes, recorded with a host of the usual Muse suspects, like Houston Person, Harold Mabern, and Freddie Waits. There's an electric bass on the session, which pumps up Grimes' guitar a little bit more than usual (as if it needed pumping!), and the tracks are long, with bigger solos than Grimes usually takes. Cuts include "Tiny's Excercise", "Cookin' At the Cookery", "Blue Midnight", and "Backslider", which has a bit of singing by Tiny. LP, Vinyl record album

A nice back to basics session from jazz singer Etta Jones – recorded with backing by a small combo that includes Houston Person on tenor – and done in the laidback style that always seems to bring out the best in her singing. Other players include Idris Muhammad, Jimmy Ponder, and Sonny Phillips – and tracks include "The Way You Look Tonight", "Be My Love", "Don't Misunderstand", and "Gloomy Sunday". LP, Vinyl record album

One of Johnny Hammond's most obscure records – and a great little album that's filled with short tracks played by a largeish group – all in a groove that's almost got a cop show feel! The album's got a gritty, dirty feel that's totally great – a nice change from Johnny's early 60s soul jazz, and a definite nod at the funk that would come in the 70s. There's twin tenors on the date from Houston Person and Earl Edwards – who often blow together on the heads, creating a mini-horn section sort of feel that then breaks up into more of a small combo mode as the set rolls on. Guitar is by the wonderful Wally Richardson, who works alongside electric bass from Jimmy Lewis – rumbling nicely next to Hammond's newly-lean sound on the organ. Added congas from Richard Landrum round out the set – and titles include the wonderful "NYPD", plus "Dirty Apple", "Ode To Billie Joe", "Days Of Wine & Roses", "Tara's Theme", and "I Got A Woman". LP, Vinyl record album

Accompanied by Joe Newman on trumpet, Houston Person on tenor, Cedar Walton on piano, George Duvivier on bass, and Jimmy Cobb on drums. LP, Vinyl record album

The rarest of all Charles Kynard albums – and a real standout groover from the classic funk days of Prestige! The album's a really creative outing – with arrangements by Richard Fritz that take the usual small combo Prestige sound to new heights – twisting and turning the rhythms past the usual heavy foot on the bass motif! Fritz wrote the bulk of the tracks, and they've got a modal grooving mode – with a mixture of hard rhythms and dancing organ, guitar, and tenor from Houston Person that's almost in a Funk Inc mode – with lots of sharp changes. The rest of the group is great – Bernard Purdie's on drums, Jimmy Lewis plays Fender bass, and Grant Green is on guitar – on titles that nclude "Sweetheart", "Odds On", "Afro-Disiac", "Trippin", and "Chanson Du Nuit". LP, Vinyl record album

A full funky session from master drummer Bernard Purdie – a set that expands out his previous Prestige vibe, and almost goes for a soundtrack scope to match the record's Shaft title! The set leads off with a great take on the Isaac Hayes hit – one that follows in the same fully-flowing, slow-building mode as Ike's – but which comes across here as an instrumental with some great solo work from Houston Person – playing here almost in a Stanley Turrentine sort of mode! Other tracks continue the hip mix of jazz and larger backings – and feature a lineup of players that includes Neal Creque on electric piano, Gerry Thomas and Danny Moore on trumpets, Willie Bridges and Houston Person on tenors, Billy Nichols and Lloyd Davis on guitars, Gordon Edwards on Fender bass, and Norman Pride on congas. The sound is warm without ever sounding too smooth – and Purdie's funky drums at the bottom ensure that most tunes are nicely lively. Titles include "Shaft", "Butterfingers", "Summer Melody", "Changes", "Way Back Home", and "Attica". LP, Vinyl record album

An overlooked gem from organ jazz giant Johnny Hammond Smith! The album was cut during a time when Hammond was picking a page from the book of Groove Holmes – tightening up the tracks a bit, and going for a punchy sound that would hit big with the crossover and jukebox crowd. The tracks are all short and tight, and the approach to the tunes is a lot hipper than some of Johnny's earlier work. The group features Virgil Jones on trumpet, Houston Person on tenor, Thornel Schwartz on guitar, and Jimmy Lewis playing some mean Fender bass – which gives the set a driving soulful groove that's certainly appreciated by our ears! Johnny clearly digs it too, as he's a monster on the keys – wailing away like we've hardly ever heard him, blowing it off like he's Jimmy Smith or Jack McDuff from the same period. Titles include "The Sin In", "Summertime", "Getting Up", "The In Crowd", and a great reading of "Ebb Tide", possibly Johnny's bid at a "Misty". LP, Vinyl record album

A record that definitely lives up to its title – reminding us not only that Johnny Hammond Smith is one hell of an organist, but also a great leader with a really unique feel for a groove! The set's noteworthy not just for Johnny's own work on Hammond, but also for the presence of a young Houston Person – blowing tenor here in a way that's breathtaking right from the start – a bold, soulful tone that's a perfect fit for the group – which also includes trumpet from Johnny Williams and guitar from Eddie McFadden. The set includes a lot of tasty originals by Johnny – like "Cyra", "Lambert's Lounge", "Departure", and "Opus 2" – and already shows the way that Hammond was complicating his groove from that of other players of the time! LP, Vinyl record album

One of the most righteous Horace Silver albums for Blue Note – and a far-reaching, politically-bent batch of tracks that feature vocals by Andy Bey, in a similar style to the work he did on the Gary Bartz records from the time – very hip, and quite different than other jazz vocal work from other singers! Silver plays electric piano on most of the record – and other musicians include Houston Person on tenor and Idris Muhammad on drums – both of whom figure on cuts that feature singer Jackie Verdell replacing Andy Bey. The groove is pretty great throughout – lots of those offbeat lines that you might hear on other Bey albums, warmed up with some of Silver's more familiar soul jazz – and the album is volume 1 (or "Phase 1") of Horace's trippy United States Of Mind series, a series of records on the state of the then-trashed union (proving once again that what goes around, comes around!) Tracks include "The Happy Medium", "Permit Me To Introduce Myself", "Wipe Away the Evil", and "Love Vibrations". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the rare few albums cut as a leader by bassist Clint Houston – a player who always worked with very hip collections of musicians, including the lineup for this unusual date! The album's got a wonderfully warm, soulful vibe – a mode that's never polished or commercial, but which has Houston expressing himself in this very personal sort of way – in the company of players who include Onaje Allen Gumbs on piano and moog, Joanne Brackeen on piano, John Abercrombie on guitar, and Al Foster on drums – playing with even more sensitivity than usual. Abercrombie's especially great – and his chromatic notes have a way of ringing out with a slightly sprightly feel that illuminates some of Clint's deeper tones on bass – a balance that's also offset well by the acoustic piano. Titles include "Escape Velocity", "Watership Down", "Lifetrip", "Con Alma", and "Afternoon Moods". LP, Vinyl record album

Margie Joseph gets a hipper treatment than on earlier records – a mix of east coast styles that adds in some Philly and early modern mellow arrangements, both of which provide a great contrast to Margie's southern-tinged vocals! The approach here is great – a fulling up and fleshing out of Joseph's initial promise – with strong arrangements from Arif Mardin, focused around smaller combo backing by players who include Bernard Purdie on drums, Richard Tee on keyboards, and Norman Harris on guitars. The groove is nice and lean on the bottom, but Margie's vocals are augmented by a brace of backing singers – Judy Clay, Cissy Houston, and others – all of whom create a sense of interplay that's similar to Aretha Franklin with The Sweet Inspirations on earlier records. But Margie's also upfront in the mix on most numbers – singing personally, and somewhat intimately with an easygoing sense of soul. Titles include Margie's own "Ridin' High", Paul Kelly's "Come Lay Some Lovin On Me" and "Come With Me", Norman Harris' "(Strange) I Still Love You", and a great version of Stevie Wonder's "To Know You Is To Love You". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the best-remembered albums from the Atlantic Records run of the legendary Rahsaan Roland Kirk – a set that stands as Kirk's answer to all the hipper soul currents that were taking place at the time – including some that were being issued by singers on Atlantic Records! The album is mostly instrumental, but Roland has this way of singing through his reeds at times, especially his flute – really bringing an earthy sense of personality to the whole thing – as he mixes his acoustic lines on flute, tenor, and other reeds with work from Richard Tee on electric piano, Mickey Tucker on organ, Billy Butler on guitar, and Dick Griffin on trumpet. There's a few vocal spots from other singers – Cissy Houston sings on two great cuts – and titles include remakes of "Never Can Say Goodbye", "What's Going On", "Mercy Mercy Me", "My Girl", and "Ain't No Sunshine" – plus some other nice originals by Roland, including Blacknuss", "Which Way Is It Going", and "One Nation". LP, Vinyl record album

Genius material from the team of tenorist Stan Getz and Brazilian bossa legend Joao Gilberto – reunited here in a brief mid 70s period, after their famous Verve recordings of the early 60s – and in a way that shows all the changes both artists had gone through over the years! Stan and Joao would go onto produce the sublime Best Of Two Worlds studio record during this same stretch – but this never-issued live date is arguably even deeper and darker than that record – as Stan blows with the stronger current of melancholy he seemed to unlock in period of his Sweet Rain record and onward – and Joao himself does all the singing here, without help from any female vocalist – with that bluer, more personal vibe he hit on his incredible record from 1973. The maturity and emotion of both musicians comes through right away – and support is from the trio of Joanne Brackeen on piano, Clint Houston on bass, and Billy Hart on drums – all wonderful musicians who also know just the right moment to step back and let the two giants dominate when needed. Titles include "Eu Vim Da Bahia", "E Preciso Perdoar", "Doralice", and "Retrato Em Branco E Preto". LP, Vinyl record album