Bill Watrous - RIP

[Kevin Bresnahan]

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/7/2/1777584/-What-a-week-RIP-Bill-Watrous

He was 79.

[Brad]

A shame. 

[BillF]

A very long career. I first heard him on the Voice of America Jazz Hour (introduced by Willis Conover) in the mid-60s.

I saw him once - at the Wigan Jazz Festival in the 1990s.

Phenomenal trombone technician.

The only thing I could fault him on was his haircut. 

Edited July 3, 2018 by BillF

[Hardbopjazz]

RIP, Bill. 

[gmonahan]

He was 79? Wow, that one snuck up on me. A great, great trombonist. Playing one of my favorites by him right now. RIP

 

Edited July 3, 2018 by gmonahan

[JSngry]

He lived a long time, against a decade or two of trying not to.

RIP, and thanks for being a survivor.

Hoping to live long enough to see an appreciation of this apex of avant-garde elevator music. The whole album is like this, if you ever find it, don't hesitate to pick it up.

 

[clifford_thornton]

I had no idea he was at that age, either.

[Claude Schlouch]

RIP, Bill.

[sidewinder]

RIP. Doesn’t seem that long ago (to me) that he was one of the ‘young guys’. I think I’ve seen him but I can’t recall where or when.

[sgcim]

. I remember reading an interview with him in DB where he said that he lived on peanut butter until he started getting work. Phenomenal technique and ideas, but he always needed to shove that mic deep into the bell. RIP.

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

RIP

i believe i have a white label promo of this-

[BeBop]

2 hours ago, sidewinder said:

RIP. Doesn’t seem that long ago (to me) that he was one of the ‘young guys’. I think I’ve seen him but I can’t recall where or when.

I have that same mental image, formed circa 1977 to put a date on it for me. Just a bit younger than the other "big" trombone player at that moment: Rob McConnell.   If my memory hasn't betrayed me, around that time, I saw Watrous with Red Rodney.  A long time ago like yesterday.  RIP Mr. Watrous.

[sidewinder]

Yeah - 1977ish is about the era I associate with him too.

According to wiki he studied with Herbie Nichols. That was news to me.

Edited July 3, 2018 by sidewinder

[JSngry]

2 hours ago, chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez said:

RIP

i believe i have a white label promo of this-

Dude, I worked hard to find a copy of that one in hopes that it would be akin to the Love Songs... followup, but it was not anything like that. I hated that it wasn't.

Now, quiet as it's kept from even the internet, Danny Stiles also did an album with Walter Raim on MTA right around the same time. Good luck finding that one, I've all but given up. But if it's avant-garde elevator like the Watrous is, I want to hear it at least once.

[JSngry]

It was Bill Watrous who allegedly said "if you're gonna play high, you need to practice high".

Think about that. You think about that.

[Justin V]

I thought for some reason that he was 10-15 years younger.  I unfortunately missed seeing him in Pittsburgh four years ago.  I'll have to listen to Coronary Trombossa! soon and check out more of his music.  Thank you, Mr. Watrous, and rest in peace.

[Bill Nelson]

Here's my favorite Manhattan Wildlife Refuge track.  Danny Stiles gets featuredup to the 3:50 mark and then the band let's 'er rip like a 70's soundtrack chase scene.  And Dick Hyman gets funky on the keys.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enJGn2cIh0s

 

[JSngry]

16 hours ago, JSngry said:

Now, quiet as it's kept from even the internet, Danny Stiles also did an album with Walter Raim on MTA right around the same time. Good luck finding that one, I've all but given up. But if it's avant-garde elevator like the Watrous is, I want to hear it at least once.

Ok, my bad, I think I'm thinking of two records by Burt Collins/Joe Shepley.

https://www.discogs.com/artist/1794530-Collins-Shepley-Galaxy

arrangements by Mike Abene and a cast of interesting players along the way.

 

[soulpope]

R.I.P ....

[Mark Stryker]

20 hours ago, JSngry said:

It was Bill Watrous who allegedly said "if you're gonna play high, you need to practice high".

Think about that. You think about that.

 

Many variations of this truism. My favorite has always been ascribed (probably apocryphally) to Zoot Sims at a recording session. Somebody is supposed to have asked Zoot how he could play so drunk.

He replied, "I practice that way."

 

Edited July 4, 2018 by Mark Stryker

[Brad]

Doug Ramsey posted this at Rifftides. 

“Nancy with the Laughing Face,” with Chick Corea, Ron Carter and Billy Cobham. 

 

[Gheorghe]

On ‎03‎.‎07‎.‎2018 at 8:06 PM, sidewinder said:

RIP. Doesn’t seem that long ago (to me) that he was one of the ‘young guys’. I think I’ve seen him but I can’t recall where or when.

Me too, that happens very often. Someone was one of "the young guys" and that stucks even after decades, usually the sidemen of the then middle-aged established masters where the young guys, the boy wonders, like George Cables, Rufus Reid with Dex, like Don Pullen and George Adams with Mingus. I saw the name Bill Watrous, but it seems I never saw him live or heard him on record.....

[Peter Friedman]

I have seen Bill Watrous in person many many times. Once he was appearing at an event that also had Al Grey performing (though not the two of them playing together). The contrast was very interesting.

Watrous had excellent technique and could play extremely fast. But always had the mic right in the bell of his horn . When he would momentarily step back from the mic his sound on the horn was not at all strong.

Grey did not play as fast. And one was less likely to marvel at his technical prowess. But he had a huge sound and never placed the mic in the bell of his horn. Al could fill up a somewhat large room with his sound standing far from the mic.

 

[Kevin Bresnahan]

19 hours ago, Peter Friedman said:

I have seen Bill Watrous in person many many times. Once he was appearing at an event that also had Al Grey performing (though not the two of them playing together). The contrast was very interesting.

Watrous had excellent technique and could play extremely fast. But always had the mic right in the bell of his horn . When he would momentarily step back from the mic his sound on the horn was not at all strong.

Grey did not play as fast. And one was less likely to marvel at his technical prowess. But he had a huge sound and never placed the mic in the bell of his horn. Al could fill up a somewhat large room with his sound standing far from the mic.

 

Many years ago, I saw Curtis Fuller and he stuffed the mic into the bell of his horn. It sounded terrible. A few weeks later, I saw the young piano player that did the gig with Curtis and I told him that if he ever plays with Curtis again, have him use a clip-on mic. Amazingly enough, he toured with Curtis again and got him to use a clip-on mic. The difference was amazing. Curtis's sound was beautiful with that clip-on mic. He moves around a lot so maybe he figured he needed to stuff his horn onto a stationary mic. With the clip, his sound never changed. We heard what he was playing no matter how much he moved.

That was the best sounding performance I ever heard by Curtis. He hasn't been back since.

Edited July 12, 2018 by Kevin Bresnahan