Ease back in your favorite chair, give your martini a quick finger-stir and slip into that place between concrete and silk that is classic Houston Person. It's straight ahead Jazz with a few hand picked sidemen that complement his changing moods ... sometimes blue, sometimes brash and always in a groove that makes you glad you pushed "play!"
This is a keeper. Very low key and soothing featuring some great jazz artists and Houston is in top form. You can hear a lot of him on my program "Jazz Spotlight On Sinatra" at www.live365.com/stations/nancyann3839
Ran Blake is one mysterioso pianist. His playing smacks of deep, complicated feelings, like melancholy, or nostalgia, where painful longing and sweet remembrance mix. His right hand - could be one finger - might hammer out a melody like a brass bell, choosing notes with a poet's care, while his left hand plumbs the depths, with low dissonant chords made all the more ambiguous via subtle foot pedaling. Other pianists abuse the sustain pedal for… more »
