HighNote Records, founded by the former owners of Muse Records, has retained some of the defunct label's more talented performers, one of them being Houston Person. Appearing as a leader, sideman, or guest on well over 100 recordings, Person uses his knowledge and experience to revisit nine very familiar standards with his big, full-bodied, soulful tenor saxophone. Although Person is the headliner on this set, pianist Richard Wyands gets a considerable amount of solo time. Wyands is right at home with Person, having been associated with a tenor saxman from the same school, if not the same class, as Person - Gene Ammons. Wyands is awarded an especially long solo on "Mean to Me." Person's arrangements can be imaginative…
2 complete albums ("The Master Trio" and (Blues In The Closet") on 1 CD. Only previously available on 2 separate limited Japanese editions.
On June 16 & 17, 1983, three legendary instrumentalists recorded what would be their only collaboration as a unit. While the group's instrumentation consisted of a standard piano trio, the combination of Flanagan together with Carter and Williams was anything but standard. The studio sessions produced 14 tracks of superlative music - mostly modern jazz standards (including Rollins' "St.Thomas", Monk's "Misterioso", Davis' "Milestones", Dameron's "Good Bait" and many more great choices). The date also featured three classic standards as well as an original by each member of the trio.
32Jazz continues to reissue much of the former Muse label material; compiled here, much to the company's credit, are 11 tracks from Jimmy Ponder's days at Muse. As another product from Pittsburgh, one of the cradles of jazz, he honors that city through the title of this release, Steel City. Ponder is one of those few who strum the guitar with his thumb, like Wes Montgomery; also like Montgomery, he gets a very warm and soft sound from the stringed box. On this album, Ponder shows he is equally facile with romantic, soulful material, like "You Are too Beautiful," where he is backed by ace pianist Benny Green, and on the Duke Ellington classic "Solitude," where Big John Patton's organ and Bill Saxton's flute take the lead.