Ernie Watts
Ernie Watts | |
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Ernie Watts in 2008 Photo by Bob Travis | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Ernest James Watts |
Born | (1945-10-23) October 23, 1945 (age 78) Norfolk, Virginia, U.S. |
Genres | Jazz, rhythm and blues |
Occupation(s) | Musician |
Instrument(s) | Saxophone, flute, clarinet |
Years active | 1960s–present |
Labels | Motown, Tamla, Atlantic, Warner Bros., A&M, CBS, Qwest |
Website | erniewatts |
Ernest James Watts (born October 23, 1945) is a Grammy-winning American jazz and R&B saxophonist who plays soprano, alto, and tenor saxophone. He has worked with Charlie Haden's Quartet West and toured with the Rolling Stones. On Frank Zappa's album The Grand Wazoo he played the "Mystery Horn", a straight-necked C melody saxophone. Watts also played the notable sax riff on "The One You Love" from Glenn Frey's album No Fun Aloud.
Biography
Watts was born in Norfolk, Virginia, and began playing saxophone at 13. After a brief period at West Chester University, he attended the Berklee College of Music on a Down Beat magazine scholarship.
He toured with Buddy Rich in the late 1960s, occupying one of the alto saxophone chairs, and visited Africa on a U.S. State Department tour with Oliver Nelson's group.
Watts played alto saxophone with The Tonight Show Band under Doc Severinsen for 20 years. He was a featured soloist on many of Marvin Gaye's albums on Motown during the 1970s, as well as on many other pop and R&B sessions during his 25 years as a studio musician in Los Angeles. He has won two Grammy Awards as an instrumentalist.
Watts was added to the lineup of backing musicians on the fifth show of the Rolling Stones American Tour 1981 and was with them until the end of that tour. Throughout the tour, Watts's influence on the Stones' live performance grew significantly, with the Stones jamming longer and longer over tracks such as "Just My Imagination" and Let Me Go". Watts can be heard on Still Life, the live album recorded during the tour.
In the mid 1980s, Watts decided to rededicate himself to jazz. He recorded and toured with German guitarist and composer Torsten de Winkel, drummer Steve Smith, and keyboardist Tom Coster. He was invited to join Charlie Haden's Quartet West; the two met backstage one night after Haden heard Watts play "Nightbird" by Michel Colombier.
Watts also played on soundtracks for the movies Grease and The Color Purple and on the theme song for the TV show Night Court.[1] In 1982, his version of "Chariots of Fire" was featured in the Season 4 episode of WKRP in Cincinnati ("The Creation of Venus"). He was featured on one of Windows XP's sample tracks,
"Highway Blues" by New Stories.[2]
In 1986, Watts visited South America with the Pat Metheny Special Quartet alongside Charlie Haden and Paul Wertico, playing at Shams in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
In 2008, his album Analog Man won the Independent Music Award for Best Jazz Album.[3] He played on Kurt Elling's album Dedicated to You, which won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album in 2011.
Discography
As leader
- Planet Love (Pacific Jazz, 1969)
- The Wonder Bag (Vault, 1972)
- Look in Your Heart (Elektra, 1980)
- Chariots of Fire (Qwest, 1982)
- Musician (Qwest, 1985)
- Sanctuary (Qwest, 1986)
- The Ernie Watts Quartet (JVC, 1987 [1991])
- Afoxe with Gilberto Gil (CTI, 1991)
- Reaching Up (JVC, 1994)
- Unity (JVC, 1995)
- Long Road Home (JVC, 1996)
- Classic Moods (JVC, 1998)
- Reflections with Ron Feuer (Flying Dolphin, 2000)
- Alive (Flying Dolphin, 2004)
- Spirit Song (Flying Dolphin, 2005)
- Analog Man (Flying Dolphin, 2006)
- To The Point (Flying Dolphin, 2007)
- Four Plus Four (Flying Dolphin, 2009)
- Oasis (Flying Dolphin, 2011)
- A Simple Truth (Flying Dolphin, 2014)
- Wheel of Time (Flying Dolphin, 2016)
- Home Light (Flying Dolphin, 2018)
With Karma
As a member
The GRP All-Star Big Band
- GRP All-Star Big Band (GRP, 1992)
- Dave Grusin Presents the GRP All-Star Big Band Live!, (GRP, 1993)
- All Blues, (GRP, 1995)
The Super Black Blues Band
(With T-Bone Walker, Otis Spann and Joe Turner)
- Super Black Blues (BluesTime, 1969)
As sideman
With Billy Alessi and Bobby Alessi
With Paul Anka
With Patti Austin
With Donald Byrd
With Christopher Cross
With Marvin Gaye
With Charlie Haden
With Bobby Hutcherson
With Quincy Jones
With Carole King
With Teena Marie
With Lee Ritenour With Boz Scaggs
With Lalo Schifrin
With Frankie Valli
With Deniece Williams
With Gerald Wilson
With Bill Withers
With Betty Wright
| With others
|
References
- ^ "Watts, Ernie (James Ernest) – Jazz.com | Jazz Music – Jazz Artists – Jazz News". Jazz.com. October 23, 1945. Archived from the original on November 8, 2013. Retrieved 2014-07-17.
- ^ "The official home page for Ernie Watts". ErnieWatts.com. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
- ^ [1] Archived March 6, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Karma - Celebration (LP liner notes). Horizon/A&M Records. SP-713
- ^ Karma - For Everybody (LP liner notes). Horizon/A&M Records. SP-723
External links
- Official website
- Ernie Watts Interview NAMM Oral History Library (2020)
- v
- t
- e
- Let's Spend the Night Together (1983)
- Video Rewind (1984)
- Stones at the Max (1992)
- Sympathy for the Devil (1994)
- Voodoo Lounge Live (1995)
- The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus (1996)
- Bridges to Babylon Tour '97–98 (1998)
- Four Flicks (2003)
- Toronto Rocks (2004)
- A Bigger Bang: Special Edition (2005)
- The Biggest Bang (2007)
- T.A.M.I. Show (2010)
- Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones (2010)
- Some Girls: Live in Texas '78 (2011)
- Muddy Waters & The Rolling Stones Live At The Checkerboard Lounge, Chicago 1981 (2012)
- Sweet Summer Sun: Live in Hyde Park (2013)
- Hampton Coliseum (Live 1981) (2014)
- L.A. Friday (2014)
- Live at the Tokyo Dome (2015)
- Live at Leeds (2015)
- Totally Stripped (2016)
- Havana Moon (2016)
- Voodoo Lounge Uncut (2018)
- Steel Wheels Live (2020)
- Charlie Is My Darling (1966)
- The Stones in the Park (1969)
- Gimme Shelter (1970)
- Cocksucker Blues (1972)
- 25×5: the Continuing Adventures of the Rolling Stones (1989)
- Stripped (1995)
- Shine a Light (2008)
- Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! (2009)
- Stones in Exile (2010)
- Crossfire Hurricane (2012)
- Olé Olé Olé!: A Trip Across Latin America (2017)
- British Tour 1963
- 1964 tours
- 1965 tours
- 1966 tours
- European Tour 1967
- American Tour 1969
- European Tour 1970
- UK Tour 1971
- American Tour 1972
- Pacific Tour 1973
- European Tour 1973
- Tour of the Americas '75
- Tour of Europe '76
- US Tour 1978
- American Tour 1981
- Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour
- Voodoo Lounge Tour
- Bridges to Babylon Tour
- No Security Tour
- Licks Tour
- A Bigger Bang Tour
- 50 & Counting
- 14 On Fire
- Zip Code
- América Latina Olé
- No Filter Tour
- Sixty
- Hackney Diamonds Tour
- Discography
- Songs
- Awards and nominations
- Concert tours
- Jagger–Richards
- Nanker/Phelge
- Rolling Stones Records
- Promotone
- Altamont Free Concert
- The Rolling Stones' Redlands bust
- Rolling Stones Mobile Studio
- The Rolling Stones: An Illustrated Record
- Andrew Loog Oldham
- Eric Easton
- Allen Klein
- Nicky Hopkins
- John Pasche
- Instruments played
- Stone Country: Country Artists Perform the Songs of the Rolling Stones
- Tongue and lips logo
- The Stone Age: Sixty Years of the Rolling Stones
- Category