Jazz Articles about Kobie Watkins

About Kobie Watkins

Album Review

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 ...

Album Review

Andre Ferreri Quintetto: Numero Uno

Read "Numero Uno" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
June 29, 2021

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 ...

Album Review

Steve Haines and The Third Floor Orchestra: Steve Haines and The Third Floor Orchestra

Read "Steve Haines and The Third Floor Orchestra" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
April 7, 2021

Dare al lettore—nel breve spazio di una recensione—l'idea del contenuto e del valore (in un giudizio ovviamente soggettivo) di un album spinge a usare tutte quelle classificazioni nate per orientarci. In poche parole, creare delle mappe è utile ma se il territorio è ricco di elementi diversi si rischia di usare etichette fuorvianti. L'ascolto di questo disco orchestrale di Steve Haines spinge a queste considerazioni per il suo collocarsi tra differenti universi musicali (folk, classica, jazz, canzone ...

Album Review

Scott Sawyer: Night Visions

Read "Night Visions" reviewed by Troy Dostert

by Troy Dostert
January 18, 2021

As a North Carolinian, guitarist Scott Sawyer may not enjoy the visibility of his counterparts in better-known jazz meccas, but fans of contemporary jazz guitar shouldn't pass him up. With some smart songwriting instincts and a knack for finding talented bandmates, not to mention possessing terrific guitar chops, Sawyer delivers on the promise of a career dating back to the 1980s that has involved sideman work with everyone from Nnenna Freelon to alt-rocker Chris Stamey. But Sawyer's had several releases ...

Album Review

Kobie Watkins: Movement

Read "Movement" reviewed by K. Shackelford

by K. Shackelford
May 18, 2018

Solidifying a musical 'voice' could take five years, or it could take 15 years. Yet when an artist's 'voice' or style comes, well, you just know it. The result is work with musical moves that are distinctive and ideas that are au courant. Drummer/Composer/Bandleader Kobie Watkins' voice resounds with artistic certainty and savoir faire on his second album entitled Movement (Origin Records, 2018), featuring the Kobie Watkins Grouptet. Watkins, a Chicago native, has toured and recorded as a ...

Interview

Kobie Watkins: A Drummer's Voyage

by K. Shackelford
December 5, 2014

Chicago native Kobie Watkins is a leading voice in the new generation of jazz drummers. I saw Watkins several months ago at The Jazz Room in Charlotte and his performance was bananas--the crowd was in awe and after each solo there was thundering applause. An absolute wonder to watch, his polyrhythmic creativity and concepts create unique musical art that has put him in the category of a young jazz master. For this reason, he has been sought after by the ...

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Album Review

Etienne Charles: Folklore

Read "Folklore" reviewed by Larry Reni Thomas

by Larry Reni Thomas
August 20, 2009

Trumpeter Etienne Charles' Folklore is a wonderful, colorful, vibrant recording filled with Caribbean flavor, Latin grooves and solid jazz arrangements and solos. A percussionist and composer as well, the 26-year-old Charles has an extremely unique trumpet sound that is his and his alone. He doesn't sound like Wynton Marsalis, Roy Hargrove, or Miles Davis, nor does he sound like fellow West Indian native, the Jamaican-born Dizzy Reece (a trumpet sensation of the 1950s and 1960s and one the Caribbean's most ...