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Jazz Articles about Kobie Watkins
Chicago Jazz Orchestra: More Amor: A Tribute to Wes Montgomery
by Jack Bowers
When the Chicago Jazz Orchestra decided to record a tribute to Wes Montgomery, the choice of who would sit in for the legendary guitarist was obvious: Bobby Broom, a stellar guitarist in his own right who has called Chicago home for more than forty years and had performed a concert version of the album at Chicago's Harold Washington Library in 2004. Once Broom agreed to accept the assignment, the sailing was relatively smooth, as CJO music director Jeff Lindberg assembled ...
Continue ReadingChad McCullough: In These Hills, Beyond
by Dan McClenaghan
Trumpeter Chad McCullough started his recording career in Seattle at Origin Records, releasing five albums between 2009 and 2015 under his name or as a co-leader with pianist Bram Weitjers. It was a successful run that earned him the “Rising Star" tag. A move to Chicago to teach, the release of his “Best of Year" pick, 2020's Forward (Outside In Music), and the subsequent starting up of his Calligram Records that has taken his artistry and his career to the ...
Continue ReadingThe Bobby Broom Organi-Sation: Jamalot
by Chris May
When Jimmy Smith brought the tablets down from the mountain, one of the commandments decreed that the job of an organ trio was to mix jazz standards with pop tunes and mash them all up into a seamless joyous brew. Guitarist Bobby Broom keeps to the original recipe on the live album Jamalot, recorded in 2014 and 2019, the earlier tracks from a tour supporting Steely Dan. It is his second disc with his Organi-Sation trio completed by Ben Paterson ...
Continue ReadingMark Watkins: FOUR + Six
by Chris May
We had out of nowhere, we had straight outta Compton. Here comes straight out of Brigham Young University, Idaho, where saxophone quartet FOUR leader Mark Watkins has been director of jazz studies since 1999. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints may not the most abundant source of high-grade jazz--one assumes that Watkins is a member--but FOUR + Six proves it can be. Who would have thunk it? But jazz is a broad church and the album is proof ...
Continue ReadingRon Blake: Mistaken Identity
by Jack Bowers
Once hailed as a promising young lion, Puerto Rico-born saxophonist Ron Blake is more a crafty old fox these days, bringing his wealth of experience and undeniable talent to bear on Mistaken Identity, his first album as leader in fifteen years. To assure a broad comfort zone, Blake invited guitarist Bobby Broom, a longtime friend and music partner, to join him alongside drummer Kobie Watkins and bassists Nat Reeves (five numbers) and Reuben Rogers (four). Among the ...
Continue ReadingBobby Broom: Keyed Up
by Jack Bowers
On his latest album, Keyed Up, the well-traveled and well-respected guitarist Bobby Broom pays tribute to pianists “who have been an important part of [his] musical life." As he writes, ..."many great pianists who didn't need to include my six-string version of what they could already do harmonically and melodically saw fit to include me. Perhaps, among other things, this is my way of saying 'thank you' to them." Another way to thank them may have been ...
Continue ReadingAndre Ferreri Quintetto: Numero Uno
by Jack Bowers
On Numero Uno, guitarist Andre Ferreri leads a tight-knit quintet, four of whose members appear on every number with alternating pianists—Sean Higgins, Phillip Howe, Mark Stallings (Hammond B3 on the breezy “Uptown Swing")--and one trumpeter (Brad Wilcox) who makes it a sextet on “Avia Pervia." Tenor saxophonist Ziad Rabie shares the front line while bassist Anna Stadlman and drummer Kobie Watkins lay on the rhythm. From the album's title, one might reasonably assume that Ferreri was born ...
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