Robert Michael Watson Jr. (born August 23, 1953), known professionally as Bobby Watson, is an American saxophonist, composer, and educator.
Music career
Watson was born in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and grew up in Kansas City, Kansas. He attended the
University of Miami
The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...
, at the same time as
Pat Metheny
Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer.
He is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works, and other side projects. His style incorporates elements of progre ...
,
Jaco Pastorius
John Francis Anthony "Jaco" Pastorius III (; December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987) was an American jazz bassist, composer and producer. He recorded albums as a solo artist and band leader and was a member of Weather Report from 1976 to 1981. ...
, and
Bruce Hornsby
Bruce Randall Hornsby (born November 23, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. His music draws from folk rock, jazz, bluegrass, folk, Southern rock, country rock, jam band, rock, heartland rock, and blues rock musical traditions ...
. He graduated in 1975, moved to New York City, and became music director for
the Jazz Messengers
The Jazz Messengers were a jazz combo that existed for over thirty-five years beginning in the early 1950s as a collective, and ending when long-time leader and founding drummer Art Blakey died in 1990. Blakey led or co-led the group from the o ...
from 1977 to 1981. After leaving the band, he was productive as a session musician, recording with
Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, teacher, and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has promoted classical and jazz music, often to young audiences. Marsalis has won nine Grammy Award ...
Max Roach
Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in history. He work ...
Dianne Reeves
Dianne Elizabeth Reeves (born October 23, 1956) is an American jazz singer.
Biography
Dianne Reeves was born in Detroit, Michigan, into a musical family. Her father sang, her mother played trumpet, her uncle is bassist Charles Burrell, and h ...
Carmen Lundy
Carmen Latretta Lundy (born November 1, 1954) is an American jazz singer. She has been performing for three decades, with a focus on original material.
She has been positively compared with Aretha Franklin, Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan. Lu ...
. He formed the band Bobby Watson & Horizon with bassist
Curtis Lundy
Curtis Lundy (born October 1, 1955) is an American double bass player, composer, producer, choir director and arranger. Lundy is best known for his work as part of jazz vocalist Betty Carter's band.
Discography As leader
* ''Beatitudes'' with Bo ...
and drummer
Victor Lewis
Victor Lewis (born May 20, 1950) is an American jazz drummer, composer, and educator.
Early life
Victor Lewis was born on May 20, 1950 in Omaha, Nebraska. His father, Richard Lewis, who played saxophone and mother, Camille, a pianist-vocalist ...
, with whom he played throughout the 1980s and 1990s. 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".
Watson also led a group known as the High Court of Swing (a tribute to the music of
Johnny Hodges
Cornelius "Johnny" Hodges (July 25, 1907 – May 11, 1970) was an American alto saxophonist, best known for solo work with Duke Ellington's big band. He played lead alto in the saxophone section for many years. Hodges was also featured on soprano ...
), the sixteen-piece Tailor-Made Big Band, and is a founding member of the
29th Street Saxophone Quartet The 29th Street Saxophone Quartet was an American saxophone quartet. Established in 1982, the ensemble's members included alto saxophonists Bobby Watson and Ed Jackson, tenor saxophonist Rich Rothenberg (in more recent years, Willie Williams), and ...
, 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
William Paterson University, officially William Paterson University of New Jersey (WPUNJ), is a public university in Wayne, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education.
Founded in 1855 and was named after American ju ...
from 1985 to 1986 and the Manhattan School of Music from 1996 to 1999. 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. As the director of jazz studies at the
University of Missouri–Kansas City
The University of Missouri–Kansas City (UMKC) is a public research university in Kansas City, Missouri. UMKC is part of the University of Missouri System and one of only two member universities with a medical school. As of 2020, the university ...
Conservatory of Music, while still managing a worldwide performing schedule, Watson's ensembles at UMKC have received several awards. Watson spent the 2019-2020 academic year as a Global Jazz Ambassador for UMKC.
Discography
As leader
* ''Estimated Time of Arrival'' ( Roulette, 1978)
* ''All Because of You'' (Roulette, 1979)
* ''Advance'' (
Enja
Enja Records is a German jazz record company and label based in Munich which was founded by jazz enthusiasts Matthias Winckelmann and Horst Weber in 1971.
The label's first release was by Mal Waldron, and early releases included European and Ja ...
, 1985)
* ''Beatitudes'' (New Note, 1985)
* ''Appointment in Milano'' (
Red
Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...
Red
Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...
, 1986)
* ''The Year of the Rabbit'' (New Note, 1987)
*''The Inventor'' (
Blue Note
In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical c ...
, 1989)
* ''Post-Motown Bop'' (
Blue Note
In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical c ...
Kokopelli
Kokopelli () is a fertility deity, usually depicted as a humpbacked flute player (often with feathers or antenna-like protrusions on his head), who is venerated by some Native American cultures in the Southwestern United States. Like most fer ...
, 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 The 29th Street Saxophone Quartet was an American saxophone quartet. Established in 1982, the ensemble's members included alto saxophonists Bobby Watson and Ed Jackson, tenor saxophonist Rich Rothenberg (in more recent years, Willie Williams), and ...
* ''Pointillistic Groove'' (Osmosis, 1984)
* ''The Real Deal'' (New Note, 1987)
* ''Underground'' (
Antilles
The Antilles (; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Antiy; es, Antillas; french: Antilles; nl, Antillen; ht, Antiy; pap, Antias; Jamaican Patois: ''Antiliiz'') is an archipelago bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the south and west, the Gulf of Mex ...
Gypsy Folk Tales
''Gypsy Folk Tales'' is an album by drummer Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers recorded in 1977 and released on the Roulette label.Roulette, 1977)
* '' In My Prime Vol. 1'' ( Timeless, 1977)
* ''
In My Prime Vol. 2
''In My Prime Vol. 2'' is an album by drummer Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers recorded in 1977 and released on the Dutch Timeless label.In This Korner
''In This Korner'' is a live album by drummer Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers recorded at the Keystone Korner in San Francisco in 1978 and released on the Concord Jazz label.Concord Jazz
Concord Jazz is a record company and label founded in 1973 by Carl Jefferson, the former owner of Jefferson Motors Lincoln Mercury dealership in Concord, California. The label was named after the city in the East San Francisco Bay area, and the j ...
Philips
Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...
Art Blakey in Sweden
''Art Blakey in Sweden'' is a live album by drummer Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers recorded in Stockholm in 1981 and released on the Amigo label.Album of the Year'' (Timeless, 1981)
* '' Straight Ahead'' (Concord Jazz, 1981)
With others
*
Ricky Ford
Ricky Ford (born March 4, 1954) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist.
Biography
Ford was born in Boston, Massachusetts, United States,) and studied at the New England Conservatory. Ricky Ford AllMusic In 1974, he recorded with Gunther Schulle ...
Muse
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...
, 1982)
*
Louis Hayes
Louis Hayes (born May 31, 1937) is an American jazz drummer and band leader. He was with McCoy Tyner's trio for more than three years. Since 1989 he has led his own band, and together with Vincent Herring formed the Cannonball Legacy Band. He ...
John Hicks
Sir John Richards Hicks (8 April 1904 – 20 May 1989) was a British economist. He is considered one of the most important and influential economists of the twentieth century. The most familiar of his many contributions in the field of economi ...
Piece for My Peace
''Piece for My Peace'' is an album by pianist John Hicks, recorded in 1995.
Recording and music
The album was recorded at EastSide Sound, New York City, on August 8, 1995.
The Leaders
The Leaders is a jazz supergroup formed in 1983.
The initial lineup of the Leaders was put together in 1983 by saxophonist Chico Freeman and featured trumpeter Don Cherry, alto saxophonist Arthur Blythe, along with a rhythm section of pianist Don ...
Colours
Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...
'' (
Black Saint
Black Saint and Soul Note are two affiliated Italian independent record labels. Since their conception in the 1970s, they have released albums from a variety of influential jazz musicians, particularly in the genre of free jazz.
History
Black S ...
Blue Note
In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical c ...
, 1988)
*
Jack Walrath
Jack Arthur Walrath (born May 5, 1946) is an American post-bop jazz trumpeter and musical arranger known for his work with Ray Charles, Gary Peacock, Charles Mingus, and Glenn Ferris, among others.
Biography
Walrath was born in Stuart, Florida. ...