Jazz Articles about Kobie Watkins

About Kobie Watkins

Album Review

Guitarist Bobby Broom is no stranger to the music of tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins, having spent two tours of duty with various Rollins groups which, taken together, add up to a decade (1982-'87 and 2005-'10). Notes of Thanks is Broom's way of expressing his gratitude to Rollins for those years in the trenches and the many valuable lessons he learned there, the best way he knows how: through his music. Rollins wrote every song on Notes of Thanks ...

Album Review

Kate McGarry, Lenora Zenzalai Helm, Lois Deloatch, Nnenna Freelon: The Sistering

Read "The Sistering" reviewed by Jacob Sylvester

by Jacob Sylvester
May 24, 2026

The collaborative album created by jazz vocalists Kate McGarry, Lenora Zenzalai Helm, Lois Deloatch, and Nnenna Freelon, titled The Sistering, is a powerful musical journey that explores the bonds of friendship and heritage. Released in early 2026, the project uses the metaphor of “sistering"--a building technique where two boards are joined to make a structure stronger--to show how these four women support one another. The album begins with the “River Song," which introduces the idea of life as a flowing ...

Album Review

Chicago Jazz Orchestra: More Amor: A Tribute to Wes Montgomery

Read "More Amor: A Tribute to Wes Montgomery" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
April 21, 2025

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 ...

Album Review

Chad McCullough: In These Hills, Beyond

Read "In These Hills, Beyond" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
September 12, 2024

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 ...

Album Review

The Bobby Broom Organi-Sation: Jamalot

by Chris May
May 21, 2024

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 ...

Album Review

Mark Watkins: FOUR + Six

by Chris May
April 5, 2024

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 ...

Album Review

Ron Blake: Mistaken Identity

Read "Mistaken Identity" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
November 3, 2023

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 ...