Bill Watrous

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Bill Watrous (2007)

William Russel "Bill" Watrous III (born May 8, 1939 in Middletown , Connecticut , USA ; † July 2, 2018 in Los Angeles , California ) was an American jazz trombonist . He was one of the most famous bop- oriented jazz trombonists of the past 30 years and known as an outstanding technician.

Life

Although Bill Watrous took some music lessons as a child and was introduced to the trombone by his father - a trombonist himself - he was largely self-taught. In the early 1960s he studied with Herbie Nichols before becoming a professional jazz trombonist.

He made his debut with Billy Butterfield and was a trombonist in Kai Windings' bands from 1962 to 1967 . He was a sought-after studio musician in New York in the late 1960s and early 1970s . He worked with the likes of Quincy Jones , Maynard Ferguson , Johnny Richards and Woody Herman and played in the band for the television program " Merv Griffin 's Show" between 1965 and 1969 .

After Bill Watrous was a member of the jazz rock group Ten Wheel Drive in 1971 , he founded his own big band (Manhattan Wildlife Refuge Big Band) , with which he recorded two albums for Columbia Records between 1973 and 1977 . In the mid-1970s, Bill Watrous moved to Los Angeles, where he continued to work as a studio musician, recording his own records with Danny Stiles , Charles Small and others, and performing mainly in local clubs.

At the end of the 1970s, Bill Watrous formed the group Trombone Summit with trombonists Kai Winding, Albert Mangelsdorff and Jiggs Whigham , with whom he made a record in 1980 for the German label MPS . In the mid-1990s he reactivated his big band, which he now called Refuge West.

Recordings

Recordings under your own name

  • Bone Straight Ahead (Famous Door, 1972)
  • Manhattan Wildlife Refuge (Columbia, 1974)
  • The Tiger of San Pedro (Columbia, 1975)
  • Watrous in Hollywood (Famous Door, 1978)
  • Funk'n Fun (Yupiteru, 1979)
  • I'll Play for You (Famous Door, 1980)
  • Coronary Trombossa (Famous Door, 1980)
  • La Zorra (Famous Door, 1980)
  • Bill Watrous in London: Live at the Pizza Express ( Mole , 1982)
  • Roarin 'Back to New York, New York (Famous Door, 1982)
  • Someplace Else (Soundwings, 1986)
  • Reflections (Soundwings, 1987)
  • Bone-Ified ( GNP Crescendo , 1992)
  • A Time for Love (GNP Crescendo, 1993)
  • Space Available (Double-Time, 1997)
  • Live at the Blue Note 1998 recording (Half Note, 2000)
  • Bone Straight Ahead (Progressive Records, 2001)
  • Live in Living Comfort (Stonequake Recordings, 2003)

Compilations

  • The Best of Bill Watrous (1980)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ What a week! RIP Bill Watrous. In: Daily Kos. July 3, 2018, accessed July 4, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Watrous, Bill
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Watrous, William Russel III
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz trombonist
DATE OF BIRTH May 8, 1939
PLACE OF BIRTH Middletown , Connecticut , USA
DATE OF DEATH 2nd July 2018
Place of death Los Angeles , California