Bobby Watson
Bobby Watson | |
---|---|
Watson performing in 2008 | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Robert Michael Watson Jr. |
Born | (1953-08-23) August 23, 1953 (age 70) Lawrence, Kansas, U.S. |
Genres | Jazz |
Occupation(s) | Musician, composer, educator |
Instrument(s) | Saxophone |
Years active | 1970s–present |
Labels | Roulette, Red, Blue Note, Columbia, Palmetto |
Website | bobbywatson |
Robert Michael Watson Jr. (born August 23, 1953),[1] known professionally as Bobby Watson, is an American saxophonist, composer, and educator.
Early life
Watson was born in Lawrence, Kansas, United States,[2] and grew up in Kansas City, Kansas. He had four brothers. Watson credits his father as one of his greatest inspirations. His father played saxophone in addition to being a pilot and working for the Federal Aviation Administration.[3] The family moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, for his father's work with the FAA. While Watson was in junior high school there, a jazz history class he took helped him realize he was a jazz musician.[4]
Music career
He attended the University of Miami,[2] at the same time as Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorius, and Bruce Hornsby. He graduated in 1975, moved to New York City, and became music director for the Jazz Messengers from 1977 to 1981.[2] After leaving the band, he was productive as a session musician, recording with Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Max Roach, Joe Williams, Dianne Reeves, Lou Rawls, Betty Carter, and Carmen Lundy. He formed the band Bobby Watson & Horizon with bassist Curtis Lundy and drummer Victor Lewis,[2] with whom he played throughout the 1980s and 1990s.[5] In 1991, they released the album Post Motown Bop on Blue Note Records, with John Fordham in Q Magazine describing it as "gleaming, glossy bebop".[6]
Watson also led a group known as the High Court of Swing (a tribute to the music of Johnny Hodges), the sixteen-piece Tailor-Made Big Band, and is a founding member of the 29th Street Saxophone Quartet, an all-horn, four-piece group with alto saxophonist Ed Jackson, tenor saxophonist Rich Rothenberg, and baritone saxophonist Jim Hartog. Watson also composed a song for the soundtrack to the movie A Bronx Tale (1993).
A resident of New York for most of his professional life, he served as a member of the adjunct faculty and taught saxophone privately at William Paterson University from 1985 to 1986 and the Manhattan School of Music from 1996 to 1999.[5] He is involved with the Thelonious Monk Institute's annual Jazz in America high school outreach program.
In 2000, he was approached to return to his native midwestern surroundings on the Kansas-Missouri border. Watson was selected as the first William D. and Mary Grant/Missouri, Distinguished Professorship in Jazz Studies.[7] As the director of jazz studies at the University of Missouri–Kansas City Conservatory of Music, while still managing a worldwide performing schedule, Watson's ensembles at UMKC have received several awards.[8] Watson spent the 2019-2020 academic year as a Global Jazz Ambassador for UMKC. He retired from UMKC in 2020 and remains a Kansas City resident as he continues to tour internationally as a musician.[9]
Honors
In 2011, Watson was inducted into the Kansas Music Hall of Fame.[10] In 2013, he received the Benny Golson Jazz Master Award from Howard University.[11] On his 61st birthday, he was one of two living inductees into the American Jazz Walk of Fame in its first group of inductees in 2014.[12]
Discography
As leader
- Estimated Time of Arrival (Roulette, 1978)
- All Because of You (Roulette, 1979)
- Beatitudes (New Note, 1983) with Curtis Lundy
- Advance (Enja, 1985)
- Appointment in Milano (Red,1985)
- Love Remains (Red, 1986)
- The Year of the Rabbit (New Note, 1987)
- The Inventor (Blue Note, 1989)
- Post-Motown Bop (Blue Note, 1991)
- Present Tense (Columbia, 1992)
- Tailor Made (Columbia, 1993)
- Gumbo (Evidence, 1994)
- Midwest Shuffle (Columbia, 1994)
- Urban Renewal (Kokopelli, 1995)
- Live & Learn (Palmetto, 2001)
- Old Friends New Point (City Light, 2002)
- From the Heart (Palmetto, 2007)
- Made in America (Smoke Sessions, 2017)
- Bird at 100 (Smoke Sessions, 2019)
- Keepin' It Real (Smoke Sessions, 2020)
As sideman
With the 29th Street Saxophone Quartet
- Pointillistic Groove (Osmosis, 1984)
- The Real Deal (New Note, 1987)
- Underground (Antilles, 1991)
With Art Blakey
- Gypsy Folk Tales (Roulette, 1977)
- In My Prime Vol. 1 (Timeless, 1977)
- In My Prime Vol. 2 (Timeless, 1977)
- In This Korner (Concord Jazz, 1978)
- Reflections in Blue (Timeless, 1978)
- Night in Tunisia: Digital Recording (Philips, 1979)
- Live at Montreux and Northsea (Timeless, 1980)
- One by One (Palcoscenico, 198)
- Art Blakey in Sweden (Amigo, 1981)
- Album of the Year (Timeless, 1981)
- Straight Ahead (Concord Jazz, 1981)
With others
- Ricky Ford, Interpretations (Muse, 1982)
- Louis Hayes, Light and Lively (SteepleChase, 1989)
- John Hicks, Naima's Love Song (DIW, 1988)
- John Hicks, Piece for My Peace (Landmark, 1995)
- The Leaders, Spirits Alike (Double Moon, 2006)
- Curtis Lundy, Just Be Yourself (New Note, 1987)
- Curtis Lundy, Against All Odds (Justin Time, 1999)
- Sam Rivers, Colours (Black Saint, 1982)
- Superblue, Superblue (Blue Note, 1988)[13]
- Jack Walrath, Journey, Man! (Evidence, 1995)
References
- ^ "Bobby Watson". International Council of Fine Arts Deans. Retrieved September 8, 2018.
On August 23, 2014, coincidentally his 61st birthday
- ^ a b c d Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 2637. ISBN 0-85112-939-0.
- ^ O'Dell, Patricia. "Bobby Watson's Inspiration in Life and Music". www.umkc.edu. Retrieved 2023-08-02.
- ^ DeLuke, R.J. (October 18, 2022). "Saxophonist Bobby Watson is not changing to meet trends". Times Union. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
- ^ a b Skelly, Richard. "Bobby Watson". AllMusic. Retrieved 12 September 2018.
- ^ Fordham, John (5 March 1991). "Post Motown Bop review". Q Magazine. 55: 80.
- ^ "People: Faculty Directory: Bobby Watson, Jr". UMKC. Archived from the original on 2011-07-19. Retrieved 2010-09-07.
- ^ Burnett, Chris (2003-10-02). "Bobby Watson's Kansas City Big Band: Part 1-2". All About Jazz. Retrieved 2010-09-07.
- ^ Paul, Steve (2020-05-21). "After 20 Years in Academia, Bobby Watson Will Travel the Jazz World Again". KC STUDIO. Retrieved 2023-08-02.
- ^ "2011 Inductees – Kansas Music Hall of Fame". Retrieved 2023-09-24.
- ^ "BENNY GOLSON AWARD – Howard University Jazz Ensemble". Retrieved 2023-09-24.
- ^ "Inductees". American Jazz Walk of Fame. Retrieved 2023-09-24.
- ^ "Superblue". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
External links
- Official website
- Bobby Watson video interview at Furious.com at the Wayback Machine (archived 2015-09-06)
- Interview at NAMM Oral History Library (2016)
- v
- t
- e
- Dale Barlow
- Mickey Bass
- Terence Blanchard
- Joanne Brackeen
- Cameron Brown
- Donald Brown
- Bobby Broom
- Donald Byrd
- George Cables
- Buck Clarke
- Chick Corea
- Steve Davis
- Spanky DeBrest
- Sam Dockery
- Kenny Dorham
- Essiet Essiet
- Robin Eubanks
- Charles Fambrough
- Curtis Fuller
- Carlos Garnett
- John Gilmore
- Benny Golson
- Benny Green
- Johnny Griffin
- Bill Hardman
- Donald Harrison
- Philip Harper
- John Hicks
- Freddie Hubbard
- Dennis Irwin
- Javon Jackson
- Carter Jefferson
- Geoffrey Keezer
- Frank Lacy
- Brian Lynch
- Branford Marsalis
- Wynton Marsalis
- Jackie McLean
- Jymie Merritt
- Mulgrew Miller
- Hank Mobley
- Lee Morgan
- Billy Pierce
- Lonnie Plaxico
- Valery Ponomarev
- Wallace Roney
- Gregory Charles Royal
- David Schnitter
- Woody Shaw
- Clarence Seay
- Wayne Shorter
- Horace Silver
- Victor Sproles
- Bobby Timmons
- Jean Toussaint
- McCoy Tyner
- Cedar Walton
- Peter Washington
- Doug Watkins
- Bobby Watson
- James Williams
- Reggie Workman
albums
- The Jazz Messengers (1956)
- Hard Bop (1957)
- Ritual (1957)
- Selections from Lerner and Loewe's... (1957)
- Cu-Bop (1957)
- Hard Drive (1957)
- A Night in Tunisia (1958)
- Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers with Thelonious Monk (1958)
- Moanin' (1959)
- The Big Beat (1960)
- A Night in Tunisia (1961)
- Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers (1961)
- Mosaic (1962)
- Buhaina's Delight (1963)
- Caravan (1963)
- The Freedom Rider (1964)
- Free for All (1964)
- Kyoto (1964)
- Golden Boy (1964)
- Indestructible (1965)
- 'S Make It (1965)
- Soul Finger (1965)
- Tough! (1966)
- Like Someone in Love (1967)
- The Witch Doctor (1969)
- Roots & Herbs (1970)
- Child's Dance (1972)
- Buhaina (1973)
- Anthenagin (1973)
- In Walked Sonny (1975)
- Backgammon (1976)
- Gypsy Folk Tales (1977)
- In My Prime Vol. 1 (1978)
- In My Prime Vol. 2 (1978)
- Reflections in Blue (1979)
- Night in Tunisia: Digital Recording (1979)
- Album of the Year (1981)
- Oh-By the Way (1984)
- Blue Night (1985)
- Feeling Good (1986)
- Not Yet (1988)
- I Get a Kick Out of Bu (1988)
- Chippin' In (1990)
- One for All (1990)
albums
- At the Cafe Bohemia, Vol. 1 (1956)
- At the Cafe Bohemia, Vol. 2 (1956)
- A Midnight Session with the Jazz Messengers (1957)
- 1958 – Paris Olympia (1959)
- At the Jazz Corner of the World, Vols. 1 & 2 (1959)
- Art Blakey et les Jazz Messengers au Théâtre des Champs-Élysées (1960)
- Paris Jam Session (1960)
- Meet You at the Jazz Corner of the World, Vols. 1 and 2 (1960)
- A Jazz Hour with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers: Blues March (1961)
- Three Blind Mice (1962)
- Ugetsu (1963)
- Buttercorn Lady (1966)
- Jazz Messengers '70 (1970)
- In This Korner (1978)
- Live at Montreux and Northsea (1980)
- One by One (1981)
- Art Blakey in Sweden (1981)
- Straight Ahead (1981)
- Keystone 3 (1982)
- Live at Kimball's (1985)
- The Art of Jazz: Live in Leverkusen (1989)
albums
- Horace Silver and the Jazz Messengers (1956)
- The Cool Voice of Rita Reys (1956)
- Drum Suite (1957)
- Pisces (1979)
- Africaine (1981)
- Originally (1982)
albums
- Des Femmes Disparaissent (1959)
- Les liaisons dangereuses 1960 (1960)
solo albums
- Blakey (1954)*
- A Night at Birdland Vol. 1, Vol. 2 & Vol. 3 (1954)
- Orgy in Rhythm (1957)
- Art Blakey Big Band (1957)
- Holiday for Skins (1958)
- Drums Around the Corner (1959)
- The African Beat (1962)
- A Jazz Message (1963)
- Hold On, I'm Coming (1966)
- Killer Joe (1981)
- Bluesiana Triangle (1990)