Legendary jazz musician Houston Person will perform at the Waverly Comm on Sept. 26.
The Waverly Community House is excited to announce that legendary jazz musician Houston Person and his quartet will give a live performance at The Comm at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 26, in the auditorium. The concert is in memory of Comm friend and musician Wayne Smith, and features Person on tenor sax, David Leonhardt on piano, Matthew Parrish on bass and Colby Inzer on drums.
Houston Person knows the music business inside out, from booking his own tours to producing his own albums. Person has recorded everything from disco and gospel to pop and R&B, in addition to his trademark, soulful hard bop. After years as producer and house tenor for HighNote Records and touring with the late Etta Jones, Person is now known as a master of popular songs played in a relaxed, highly accessible style. Dizzy Gillespie once said of Houston: “He’s one of the best … He’s got bull chops!”
Person grew up in Florence, S.C., where he remembers his parents listening to lots of music at home, including jazz. First playing piano before switching to the tenor sax at age 17, he went on to study music at South Carolina State College (where he is included in the school’s Hall of Fame), and later pursued advanced studies at Hartt College of Music in Hartford, Conn. He was a member of the United States Air Force band stationed in Germany.
Houston’s appearances include recordings with Etta Jones, Lena Horne, Lou Rawls, Dakota Staton, Horace Silver, Charles Farland, Joey DeFrancesco and many others. In 1990, his recording with Ron Carter, “Something in Common,” won the Independent Jazz Record of the Year Award. When asked what’s important in his music, he noted, “It’s important that it …relaxes you and makes you feel good.”
Tickets are $25 per person or $10 for students and may be purchased in advance at www.waverlycomm.org. Advance purchase is recommended, as seating may be limited. The concert is a project of The F. Lammot Belin Arts Foundation, whose mission it is to promote art appreciation in the community and to encourage and hearten the human spirit through art. For more information on the foundation, visit www.flbarts.org. The concert will be held in compliance with CDC and PA Department of Health COVID-19 guidelines.
The Waverly Community House is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization and is located at 1115 N. Abington Road in Waverly.
