The Opening Round

In his review on Allmusic, Stewart Mason states "A fun and personable mix of jazz and soul classics plus a couple of originals by guitarist Rodney Jones, Houston Person's The Opening Round: Groove Masters Series, Vol. 1 isn't a jazz album for the ages, but it's start-to-finish entertaining. It's a straight-up groove album, with Person in front of a four-piece organ combo". In JazzTimes, Stanley Dance wrote: "Person’s thick, unmannered tone, love of melody and swing, together give his music an odd sobriety that he seems compelled to relieve with fast flurries of notes". == Track listing ==

• "Sweet Sucker" (Johnny Griffin) – 1:27 • "Let's Stay Together" (Al Green, Al Jackson Jr., Willie Mitchell) – 3:56 • "Can't Help Lovin' That Man" (Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II) – 4:06 • "What's Going On?" (Marvin Gaye, Renaldo Benson, Al Cleveland) – 2:32 • "When a Man Loves a Woman" (Calvin Lewis, Andrew Wright) – 3:41 • "Blue Spring" (Rodney Jones) – 4:35 • "Song for a Rainbow" (Jones) – 3:57 • "Shenandoah" (Traditional) – 4:55 == Personnel ==

• Houston Person – tenor saxophone • Joey DeFrancesco – Hammond B3 organ • Rodney Jones – guitar • Tracy Wormworth – electric bass • Bernard Purdie – drums == References ==