Trevor Charles Watts (born 26 February 1939) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

and free-improvising alto and soprano saxophonist.

Biography

Watts was born in

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, England. He is largely self-taught, having taken up the cornet at age 12 then switched to saxophone at 18. While stationed in Germany with the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

(1958–63), he encountered the drummer John Stevens and trombonist Paul Rutherford. After being

demobbed Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and militar ...

he returned to London. In 1965, he and Stevens formed the

Spontaneous Music Ensemble Spontaneous may refer to: * Spontaneous abortion * Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis * Spontaneous combustion * Spontaneous declaration * Spontaneous emission * Spontaneous fission * Spontaneous generation * Spontaneous human combustion * Spontan ...

, which became one of the crucibles of British

free improvisation Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the logic or inclination of the musician(s) involved. The term can refer to both a technique (employed by any musician in any genre) and as a recognizable genre in its ...

. Watts left the band to form his own group Amalgam in 1967, then returned to SME for another stretch that lasted until the mid-1970s. Another key association was with the bassist

Barry Guy Barry John Guy (born 22 April 1947, in London) is an English composer and double bass player. His range of interests encompasses early music, contemporary composition, jazz and improvisation, and he has worked with a wide variety of orchestras ...

and his London Jazz Composers' Orchestra, an association that lasted from the band's inception in the 1970s up to its disbandment in the mid-1990s. Though he was initially strongly identified with the avant-garde, Watts is a versatile musician who has worked in everything from straight jazz contexts to rock and blues. His own projects have come increasingly to focus on blending jazz and African music, notably the Moiré Music ensemble which he has led since 1982 in configurations ranging from large ensembles featuring multiple drummers to more intimate trios. He has only occasionally recorded in freer modes in recent years, notably the CD ''6 Dialogues'', a duet album with

Veryan Weston Veryan Weston (born 1950) is a British pianist active in free improvisation, jazz, and rock music. He has worked with Lol Coxhill, Eddie Prévost, Trevor Watts, Caroline Kraabel and Phil Minton. Weston was born in 1950 and lived in Cornwall be ...

(the pianist in earlier editions of Moiré Music). A solo album, ''World Sonic'', appeared on Hi4Head Records in 2005. Watts has toured the world over numerous times, run workshops, received grants and commissions, and he has collaborated with jazz musicians including

Archie Shepp Archie Shepp (born May 24, 1937) is an American jazz saxophonist, educator and playwright who since the 1960s has played a central part in the development of avant-garde jazz. Biography Early life Shepp was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but ...

, Steve Lacy,

Don Cherry Donald Stewart Cherry (born February 5, 1934) is a Canadian former ice hockey player, coach, and television commentator. Cherry played one game in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Boston Bruins, and later coached the team for five se ...

Jayne Cortez Jayne Cortez (May 10, 1934 – December 28, 2012) was an African-American poet, activist, small press publisher and spoken-word performance artist whose voice is celebrated for its political, surrealistic and dynamic innovations in lyricism and ...

and Stephen Grew. As of 2011, he continues to travel and toured North American with Veryan Weston.

Selected discography

*1969: Amalgam: ''Prayer for Peace'': Transatlantic Records *1971: Spontaneous Music Ensemble: ''So, What Do You Think?'': Tangent *1971: Spontaneous Music Ensemble: ''1.2. Albert Ayler'': Affinity *1974: Amalgam: ''Innovation'': Tangent *1976: Amalgam: ''Another Time'': Vinyl *1977: With John Stevens: ''No Fear'': Spotlite *1977: Amalgam: ''Deep'': Vinyl *1977: Amalgam: "Samanna" Vinyl *1978: ''Cynosure'': Ogun *1979: Amalgam: ''Over the Rainbow''; ARC *1981: With Katrina Krimsky: ''Stella Malu'': ECM *1985: Moiré Music: ''Trevor Watts' Moiré Music''; ARC *1987: Moiré Music Sextet: ''Saalfelden Encore''; Cadillac *1988: Moiré Music: ''With One Voice'': FMR *1989: With The London Jazz Composers' Orchestra: ''

Harmos ''Harmos'' is an album by Barry Guy and the London Jazz Composers' Orchestra that features a recording of a large-scale, 44-minute composition by Guy. It was recorded in April 1989, just before the LJCO's 20th anniversary, in Zürich, Switzerland, ...

'': Intakt *1990: With The London Jazz Composers' Orchestra: '' Double Trouble'': Intakt *1990: Moiré Music Drum Orchestra: ''Live In Latin America Vol.1'': ARC *1991: With The London Jazz Composers' Orchestra: ''

Theoria Christian mysticism is the tradition of mystical practices and mystical theology within Christianity which "concerns the preparation f the personfor, the consciousness of, and the effect of ..a direct and transformative presence of God" ...

'': Intakt *1991: Trevor Watts Moiré Music Group: ''Live in Latin America, Vol. 1'' ARC *1994: Trevor Watts Moiré Music Group: ''A Wider Embrace'': ECM *1995: Trevor Watts Moiré Music Group: ''Moiré Music Trio'': Intakt Records *1998: With The London Jazz Composers' Orchestra: ''

Double Trouble Two ''Double Trouble Two'' is an album by Barry Guy and the London Jazz Composers' Orchestra with guest artists Irène Schweizer (piano), Marilyn Crispell (piano), and Pierre Favre (drums). Documenting a large-scale, 47-minute composition by Guy, i ...

'': Intakt *2000: Trevor Watts Moiré Music Group: ''Live at the Athens Concert Hall'': ARC *2001: ''Trevor Watts and The Celebration Band'' : ARC *2002: Trevor Watts & Veryan Weston: ''6 Dialogues'': Emanem *2004: Amalgam: ''Semanna'': FMR *2005: Trevor Watts: ''Rest of the Spotlight Sessions'': Hi4Head (UK) *2005: Trevor Watts: ''World Sonic'': Hi5Head (UK) *2006: Trevor Watts & Jamie Harris: ''Live in Sao Paulo, Brasil'': Hi4Head *2007: Trevor Watts & Jamie Harris: ''Ancestry'': Entropy Stereo *2008: The Original Trevor Watts Drum Orchestra: ''Drum Energy!'': High Note *2008: Trevor Watts & Peter Knight: ''Reunion Live in London'': Hi4Head (UK) With the

*''

Quintessence Quintessence, or fifth essence, may refer to: Cosmology * Aether (classical element), in medieval cosmology and science, the fifth element that fills the universe beyond the terrestrial sphere * Quintessence (physics), a hypothetical form of da ...

'' (Emanem, 1974

986 Year 986 (Roman numerals, CMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * August 17 – Battle of the Gates of Trajan: Emperor Basil ...

With

/The London Jazz Composers' Orchestra *''

Ode An ode (from grc, ᾠδή, ōdḗ) is a type of lyric poetry. Odes are elaborately structured poems praising or glorifying an event or individual, describing nature intellectually as well as emotionally. A classic ode is structured in three majo ...

'' (Incus, 1972)

References

External links

Watts' homepageTrevor Watts on allmusic.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Watts, Trevor 1939 births Living people English jazz soprano saxophonists English jazz alto saxophonists British male saxophonists Musicians from York 21st-century saxophonists 21st-century British male musicians British male jazz musicians Spontaneous Music Ensemble members New Jazz Orchestra members FMR Records artists ECM Records artists