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Bobby Watson


montg

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The more I listen to this the more I like it--some great stuff in heavy rotation since I bought it last month. This isn't a session where the guys came in, learned the tunes, and started to blow. A lot of nuances in the compostions, things have been worked out, band members familiar with one another and playing off of each others' ideas...Bobby Watson and Terell Stafford are a great front line, no question, but Victor Lewis on drums deserves a lot of credit... he's really powerful, never lets up, but he's always playing with the band not against it.

Some great tunes, also. Lemoncello, The Love We Had Yesterday, Eeeyyess, and Bacharach's "Look of Love" are some of my favorites.

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The rhythm section on this one can do no wrong. A great performance from Edward Simon, Essiet Essiet and Victor Lewis. (Listen to how many DIFFERENT grooves there are in "Lemoncello," and how seamlessly they fit together.)

Weakest tracks are 4 and 5, I'd say. But the strong stuff is very strong indeed.

A factoid that's not in the liner notes: "Permanoon" is written by David Moore, who's a student of Watson's at UMKC.

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I saw Horizon in the early 1990s. The first set was okay; the second set was great; Mr. Watson was breathing fire.

A few years later, I saw him at Sweet Basil, in a bit more commercial style, with Rachel Z, but by the end of the first set he was playing great again.

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Saw Bobby, Victor and Horizon live about 3 times in the early 90s around the time 'No Question About It' and 'The Inventor' came out. Great shows in each case and those BN albums by the band are all worth checking out. 'Post Motown Bop' and 'The Inventor' are probably my faves.

Edited by sidewinder
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No major tour scheduled for the band, I'm told. These five guys have a LOT of commitments and it's hard to get them all together at once. (Vivid illustration: Just last month, Terell was in KC for a leader date -- on a weekend when Bobby had to be out of town. The only Watson at the show was Pam.)

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  • 1 month later...

I heard the group live in August at the Litchfield Jazz Set. It was my second time hearing Watson live and the first time experiencing Horizon live. Enjoyable set. I wanted to pick up the CD then, but they were charging $20 at the festival. I like Watson a lot, but I would be an idiot to pay $20 notwithstanding it could have been autographed. Anyway, thanks for the reminder that I still need to pick this one. I have not heard a Bobby Watson album yet that I do not enjoy.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I just got really lucky at my local used CD store...picked up copies of Bobby's "Tailor Made" and "Present Tense", both which are out of print. $4.99 a piece!! :excited:

Haven't gotten to spin them yet. Any comments?

I think Present Tense is an *incredible* recording -- my favorite Watson session.

Those two discs were a HELLUVA score at that price! Tailor Made is wonderful as well -- beautiful to listen to Bobby's wonderful writing performed by a big band.

In the early '90's I scored a Present Tense promo poster which Bobby signed for me. Now it's framed and hanging on my bedroom wall in a position where Bobby literally is looking down smiling at my computer screen as I type these words, since he's looking downward/leftward in the photo!

Bobby's writing has always felt very powerful to these ears. A transcendant/anthem-like quality that touches me in a very deep place. His new release grows on me more with every listen.

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Love Remains is a beautiful tune, as is Appointment in Milano -- the title track of another of Bobby's Red releases and the only Watson recording I have on that label.

Well -- perhaps I should take that back. Bobby is on the 29th St. Sax Quartet's disc "Milano N.Y. Bridge" on Red. That recording has many arrestingly beautiful moments. Jim Hartog's arrangements are *amazing.*

What do you all think of the 29th Street Saxophone Quartet?

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I've been so happy with the Horizon Reassembled release, I ordered his other Palmetto recording 'Live and Learn' yesterday. Bobby's writing is good, but there's also something soulful, or authentic, in his playing that puts him in a different league compared to a lot of his contemporaries, imo.

I like Stafford's playing a lot too and I'm kind of surprised he's recorded so few dates as a leader.

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