Jazz Articles about Bobby Watson

Meet Bobby Watson

by Craig Jolley
March 14, 2024

This article was first published at All About Jazz in October 1999. Background and early career... I started playing clarinet and piano in my grandfather's church. I played saxophone in junior high school: originally tenor and switched to alto when I got to high school. From there I got hip to jazz and tried to do as much as I could. I went to the University of Miami and got a degree in theory and composition. In 1976 ...

Bobby Watson Birthday Tour at Dolomiti Ski Jazz 2023

by Danilo Codazzi
March 22, 2023

Sylwester Ostrowski: Jammin' With KC

by Kyle Simpler
November 30, 2020

Sylwester Ostrowski traveled from his native Poland to jny: Kansas City in February 2020 to participate in a centennial celebration of Charlie Parker's life and music. During the visit, Ostrowski visited Parker's childhood home, his grave, and other historical landmarks. He also sat in with some of Kansas City's finest jazz musicians at several local venues. He got a taste of not only the Kansas City jazz scene but American life and culture as well. While visiting the US, Ostowski ...

Bobby Watson at the Attucks Jazz Club

by Mark Robbins
December 30, 2019

From 1977 to 1981, Bobby Watson was a student at the “University of Blakey," otherwise known as the Jazz Messengers led by drummer Art Blakey. After “graduation," Watson went on to become an acclaimed alto saxophonist, sought out by instrumentalist and vocalists alike while he led his own band, Horizon. Now, in addition to a fulltime touring schedule, Watson is the director of jazz studies at the University of Missouri-Kansas City's Conservatory of Music and Dance. When Watson ...

Bobby Watson: The Gates BBQ Suite

by AAJ Italy Staff
July 1, 2011

Non è cosa da tutti giorni una suite per big band dedicata a un ristorante di Kansas City famoso per la carne alla griglia! Eppure l'aspetto orale e gustativo della nutrizione sembra ideale per l'espressività del jazz, ricca di aspetti terreni, ironici, conviviali. Di sicuro il Gates Barbeque è entrato nell'animo di Bobby Watson che lo ha eletto a luogo simbolo di relax familiare o post lavorativo. Un mondo di sapori, profumi, salse e cortesia che lo ha spinto a ...

Bobby Watson: The Gates BBQ Suite

by Mark F. Turner
November 18, 2010

An esteemed alto saxophonist, Bobby Watson serves up some “down to the bone" goodness in The Gates BBQ Suite. The seven-part suite for large ensemble features the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music & Dance Concert Jazz Orchestra, and is a heartfelt tribute to Watson's hometown of Kansas City--the people, the culture, and tastes, which includes the area's landmark Gates Barbecue restaurant. Watson's big band masterwork epitomizes an illustrious career of more than 25 years, with ...

Bobby Watson at the Saville Theater, San Diego, CA

by Robert Bush
June 27, 2010

Bobby Watson Quartet Saville Theater (San Diego City College) San Diego, CA May 11, 2010 Currently based in Kansas City, where he teaches at the University of Missouri/ Conservatory of Music, Bobby Watson has a long, storied career. He attended music school in Miami in the 1970's, where his classmates included Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorius, Mike Stern, and Mark Egan. After leaving school, he joined the legendary Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, serving ...