Ernie Watts

Ernie Watts
Watts in 2008
Watts in 2008
Background information
Born
Ernest James Watts

(1945-10-23) October 23, 1945
Norfolk, Virginia, U.S.
Genres
OccupationMusician
Instruments
Years active1960s–present
Labels
Formerly of
Websiteerniewatts.com

Ernest James Watts (born October 23, 1945) is an American jazz and R&B saxophonist who plays soprano, alto, and tenor saxophones. He has worked with Charlie Haden's band 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 saxophone 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 age 13. After a brief period at West Chester University, he attended the Berklee College of Music on a DownBeat 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 and was a member of Barry White's Love Unlimited Orchestra. He was a featured soloist on many of Marvin Gaye's Motown albums 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. In 1978, Watts provided the saxophone solo for Andrew Gold's hit single Never Let Her Slip Away.[1][2]

Watts with With Charlie Haden's Quartet West, Great American Music Hall, 1987

Watts was added to the lineup of backing musicians on the fifth show of the Rolling Stones American Tour 1981 and was with them through the end of the 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", "Beast of Burden" and "Waiting on a Friend". Watts can be heard soloing on two tracks 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;[3] 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.[4] 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.[5]

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.[6] He played on Kurt Elling's album Dedicated to You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of Coltrane and Hartman, which won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album in 2011.

Discography

Watts at the Old Town Market Square in Warsaw, Poland, August 2012

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

  • Celebration (Horizon/A&M, 1976)[7]
  • For Everybody (Horizon/A&M, 1977)[8]

As a member

Friendship
(With Abraham Laboriel, Alex Acuña, Don Grusin, Lee Ritenour and Steve Forman)

The GRP All-Star Big Band

The Super Black Blues Band
(With T-Bone Walker, Otis Spann and Joe Turner)

Sergio Mendes
Also, he played saxophone in album Confetti (1983) during track 5.

As sideman

References

  1. ↑ Owston, Jim (June 11, 2011). "Reading between the Grooves: Andrew Gold R.I.P". Zeegrooves.blogspot.co.uk. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Andrew Gold "Thank You For Being A Friend: The Best Of Andrew Gold" (1997) –Soft Rock / Westcoast Rock". La Bible de la Westcoast Music. September 11, 2013. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
  3. ↑ Yanow, Scott. "Ernie Watts Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved July 1, 2026.
  4. ↑ "Watts, Ernie (James Ernest)". Jazz.com. October 23, 1945. Archived from the original on November 8, 2013. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
  5. ↑ Baraka, Amiri (February 9, 1995). "Unity | Ernie Watts". Erniewatts.com. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
  6. ↑ "The 7th Annual Independent Music Awards". Independent Music Awards. Archived from the original on March 6, 2009.
  7. ↑ Karma (1976). Celebration (Horizon/A&M SP-713). LP liner notes.
  8. ↑ Karma (1977). For Everybody (Horizon/A&M SP-723). LP liner notes.
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