Chris Grasso

Fresh off a two-week run with John Pizzarelli at New York’s famed Café Carlyle, Chuck Redd brings his quartet to the Carlyle Room in Washington DC with special guest Houston Person, the legendary tenor saxophonist with whom Redd has recorded two albums (Nice and Easy and The Common Thread). They’re joined by Chris Grasso (piano), Corcoran Holt (bass) and Lenny Robinson (drums). With his robust sound and swinging style, Houston Person has kept the hard bop and organ-soaked soul-jazz traditions alive. Emerging from organist Johnny “Hammond” Smith’s group, Person established his reputation as one of the Big Boss tenors in the Gene Ammons style with albums like 1968's Blue Odyssey, 1969’s Goodness and 1970's Person to Person! From the '80s onward, he balanced his love of groove-based R&B with more hard-swinging acoustic sessions, joining contemporaries like Ron Carter and Teddy Edwards as well as younger players like Joey DeFrancesco and Christian. He recorded extensively with singer Etta Jones and has remained a torchbearer for the big tenor sound, releasing warmly attenuated standards and soul-jazz dates like 2015's Something Personal and 2021's Live in Paris. Chuck Redd is well known internationally as a performer on drums and vibraphone. Chuck began recording and touring the globe when he joined the Charlie Byrd Trio at the age of 21. He also became a member of the Great Guitars (Barney Kessel, Byrd and Herb Ellis.) To his credit are 25 European tours and six tours of Japan, with the Barney Kessel Trio, Ken Peplowski and the Benny Goodman Tribute Orchestra, Terry Gibbs and Conte Candoli. He served as Artist-In- Residence at The Smithsonian Jazz Café in Washington, DC from 2004-2008. Chuck is the musical director of The Oregon Festival of American Music. He is a featured soloist, annually at The W.C. Handy Music Festival, The Newport Beach Jazz Party, The West Texas Jazz Party, The North Carolina Jazz Festival and The Roswell Jazz Festival. Chuck was featured vibraphonist with the Mel Torme All-Star Jazz Quintet from 1991 until 1996. While appearing in New York with Torme, Ira Gitler of Jazz Times said: "Redd's vibes were equally notable for vigor and melodiousness."