Houston Person
Moment To Moment
High Note Records
www.jazzdepot.com

Mary Stallings
Dream
High Note Records
www.jazzdepot.com

By George W. Harris

Here are two vets that have created their own sound. No rush to prove chops or dexterity. Like a Tuscan cook, they are able simply trust their own ingredients to create a delicious dish.

Tenor saxist Houston Person is one of the few remaining guys who are a link from the “Texas Tenor” sound-thick, rich and bluesy a la Gene Ammons or Lockjaw Davis. No big rush, just let the horn do its thing. Teamed with the tenacious Terrell Stafford/tp, John Di Martino/p, Randy Johnston/g, Ray Drummond/b and Willie Jones III/dr, Person blows it thick and rich through songs like “I Cover The Waterfront” and “All My Life.” His gentle bossa on “E Nada Mais” cruises like a 57 Chevy, while Billy Joel’s “Just The Way You Are” is caressed like an long married spouse. Stafford shows some lovely tone on “Bleeker Street” and the Crescent City feeling “Back In New Orleans,” but this is Person’s spotlight, and he fills the room like Pavarotti.

McRae-influenced vocalist Mary Stallings doesn’t put an album out very often, so when she does, you should take notice. Teamed up with pianist/arranger Eric Reed, as well as Hamilton Price/b and Ralph Penland/dr, Stallings keeps away from the standard standards, and delivers lesser known chestnuts like “Watching You Watching Me” and “Mad About The Boy.” She sings with a gentle authority on “Close Enough For Love” that mixes intimacy with confidence, while she stretches out over “A Timeless Place” with all of the patience in the world. Mature and classically classy.