1. You Taught My Heart to Sing
2. Namely
You
3. Where
Are You
4. Sweet
Lorraine
5. If
I Ruled the World
6. S'Wonderful
7. Where Is Love
8. I Was Telling
Her About You
9. Don't Forget
the Blues
10. I Wonder
Where Our Love Has Gone
Houston Person – Tenor sax
Bill Charlap – Piano
Having
heard and enjoyed Houston Person on disc and
in concert many times, I found this album
a bit of a surprise – but a very pleasant
one. I had pigeonholed Houston as best suited
to powerful, no-nonsense playing imbued with
the blues. But here he comes across as a sensitive
balladeer, playing so gently that he reminds
one of Ben Webster - since you can hear every
breath he takes. The repertoire is predominantly
slow and gentle. Even S’Wonderful,
which is taken at a bounce tempo, is discreet
and subtle. And Houston’s own composition,
Don’t Forget the Blues, manages to
be bluesy without being too outspoken.
Bill
Charlap is the perfect accompanist, reminiscent
of Ellis Larkins’ delicate accompaniments
for the likes of Ella Fitzgerald and Ruby
Braff. He sometimes resorts to stride piano
to maintain the pulse but more often the beat
is tactfully suggested instead of being thudded
home. His solo introductions to numbers like
the title-track and Where Are You are
exquisite in their delicacy.
The
duo takes unpromising British show-tunes like
If I Ruled the World and Where is
Love (the tune from Lionel Bart’s Oliver!,
not Where is the Love as the sleeve
suggests) and transmutes them into pure gold:
the former wistful rather than bombastic;
the latter tenderly poignant. And just sample
the give-and-take of Sweet Lorraine,
where Houston and Bill share the tune between
them, leaving one another plenty of space
to breathe. In fact, Houston is quoted in
the sleeve-notes as saying "Silence is
as much a part of music as the notes are"
and both he and Charlap create an airy feel
to every number.
Engineered
by Rudy Van Gelder at his own New Jersey studio,
the recording quality is superb, and I can
recommend this album without reserve.
Tony Augarde
CD Reviews
HighNote
HCD 7134
