Doug Watkins

[Larry Kart]

Put on tonight a 1957 Prestige blowing session that I hadn't listened to a long time -- "Roots," with Pepper Adams, Idrees Suileman, Frank Rehak, Bill Evans, Doug Watkins, and Louis Hayes -- and was pretty much stunned by the uniquely propulsive forward lean of Watkins' bass line on the  very long (27 minute) title track. I say "uniquely" while granting that there's probably some kinship between Watkins and Oscar Pettiford in this respect, but Pettiford didn't get much chance to play in hard bop contexts (I think of Red Rodney's "Red Arrow," and Thad Jones' "Detroit-NY Junction) and that is where Watkins more or less lived musically, feeding off of what was there. What he lays down behind Adams' opening solo  -- both in terms of time and note choice -- has to be heard to be believed.

[Quasimado]

Absolutely - to my ears the most articulate and driving bass among the early hard boppers. Some great things with Donald Byrd - Blows Beacon Hill (Transition); All Day Long/ All Night Long  (Prestige) and a Byrd - Hank Mobley date with Kenny Clarke (Savoy) come to mind. Agree about the Oscar Pettiford forward lean - apparently he was very close to Paul Chambers who also has that (forward lean). Died at 27 in a car accident. What a loss ... Q

[Gheorghe]

3 hours ago, Quasimado said:

Absolutely - to my ears the most articulate and driving bass among the early hard boppers. Some great things with Donald Byrd - Blows Beacon Hill (Transition); All Day Long/ All Night Long  (Prestige) and a Byrd - Hank Mobley date with Kenny Clarke (Savoy) come to mind. Agree about the Oscar Pettiford forward lean - apparently he was very close to Paul Chambers who also has that (forward lean). Died at 27 in a car accident. What a loss ... Q

absolutely. I think he had a very very strong and fat sound and that´s the best thing for the then "new" hard bop sound. Very much in evidence as early as his 1955 playing with the Jazz Messengers. A great sideman. His sound is even stronger than that of Paul Chambers, but IMHO he was not such a great soloist like Paul Chambers. Sometimes, as on some of Contrane´s albums for Savoy he just keeps walkin on his solo spot

[mikeweil]

His last session was playing bass behind Charles Mingus, no less, on the latter's Atlantic session released on "Oh Yeah!" and "Tonight At Noon". The sheer number of sessions he recorded is amazing. I always liked his tome and phrasing much better than Paul Chambers'. The Savoy sessions you mention, Gheorghe, were Wilbur Harden's, not Coltrane's, btw.

p.s. Larry, could you delete the duplicate threads accidentally posted? You can do that from the options menu in the first post. (Happened tome, too, a few weeks ago - you hit the wrong button, and ....)

[Gheorghe]

3 hours ago, mikeweil said:

 

The Savoy sessions you mention, Gheorghe, were Wilbur Harden's, not Coltrane's, btw.

 

 

oh thanks for the info. I had thought it´s Trane´s because the time I purchased it, it was under Trane´s name, one on Musidisc I think "tanganyika strut" and one on an italian label Lineatre or something like that. As you say, both with Wilbur Harden, and I think this was my first encounter with Doug Watkins. Needless to say I got much more albums later.

 

[jlhoots]

Great musician. Chambers cousin, I think.

[Larry Kart]

8 hours ago, mikeweil said:

His last session was playing bass behind Charles Mingus, no less, on the latter's Atlantic session released on "Oh Yeah!" and "Tonight At Noon". The sheer number of sessions he recorded is amazing. I always liked his tome and phrasing much better than Paul Chambers'. The Savoy sessions you mention, Gheorghe, were Wilbur Harden's, not Coltrane's, btw.

p.s. Larry, could you delete the duplicate threads accidentally posted? You can do that from the options menu in the first post. (Happened tome, too, a few weeks ago - you hit the wrong button, and ....)

Sorry -- but it's been a while, and  I can't find the options button. Any clue? I do nknow that if Use the "delete" button in the moderations area the whole thread is deleted, and we don't that again.

[JSngry]

fixed.