Lu Watters

Lu Watters - trumpet, bandleader

The great New Orleans Revival, which influenced the development of traditional jazz through the 1940s in the U.S. and abroad, was launched by trumpeter Lu Watters and his young Yerba Buena Jazz Band. More than half a century later, their music continues to enjoy considerable popularity, and is prized and sought after by collectors, researched and analyzed by jazz historians.

Cornetist Lu Watters began his career as a cruise ship musician. During the 1930s he worked with the Carol Lofner Orchestra and led his own big band at Sweet's Ballroom in Oakland. In 1940 he formed a new outfit, the Yerba Buena Jazz Band. Watters' new group rejected all modern forms of jazz and embraced the older New Orleans sound. In their effort to return to the pure roots of jazz, they ignored even the white bands of the 1920s and instead focused on such artists as King Oliver and Jelly Roll Morton. However, Yerba Buena wasn't just an attempt to recreate the past; the group also added a great deal of local San Francisco flavor to its music, producing its own unique style.

The Yerba Buena Jazz Band spent its lifetime in San Francisco, settling in the Dawn Club until WWII broke out. During the war Watters led a twenty-piece Navy band in Hawaii. After the war he reformed Yerba Buena, again taking up residence at the Dawn Club. In 1947 Watters opened his own jazz club, Hambone Kelly's in San Francisco, where the group remained until its breakup in 1950. After that Watters retired from the music business to study geology but formed a new band later that decade. He retired again in the late 1950s, and passed November 5, 1989. Source: solid!

Amalgam: Wipeout

by Marc Medwin
September 18, 2008

Here's a three-disc set of performances by Amalgam, saxophonist Trevor Watts' legendary jazz-funk free improv group from the '70s. These nine tracks were recorded on a late 1979 tour and originally released in 1980 in a four-LP box on Impetus. At that time, they had to be cut up, due to the LP's time constraints, but here they are presented intact. One minor quibble first: the sound is boxy and stunted, maybe a result of a transfer ...

Book / Magazine

"MUDDY" - A Picture Book about Muddy Watters is now available from Simon & Schuster

Source: All About Jazz
September 2, 2017

The words and pictures here mix exuberance with melancholy. Mahin’s words have a beat all their own, capturing the lows and highs with poetic verve. Turk’s watercolor, ink, and collage artwork fills pages, exploding with a neon intensity—the equivalent of a dynamic guitar riff... Read the book, then get kids the music.”—Booklist, starred review “Turk’s breathtaking pictures fuse historical newspaper clippings, paint, printer’s ink, oil pastels, and china marker. His symbolic palette shifts from sun-seared, white-gold cotton, red earth, and ...
read more

460

Music Industry

Watters Brothers (Ken & Harry Watters) Sign on as Newest Jupiter Artists

Source: All About Jazz
November 26, 2008

AUSTIN, TEXAS October 29, 2008 Musicians and brothers, Harry and Ken Watters, have signed on as artists and clinicians for Jupiter. Playing the trombone and trumpet, respectively, the Watters brothers are key educators who will provide clinics at schools and universities with a portion of their fee paid by Jupiter through the artist program. They are frequently asked to perform guest solos with ensembles, including winds, jazz, and orchestra. “It is truly an honor to be a member of the ...
read more

199

Festival

Ken Watters' New Haitian Jazz Group Riyel to Perform at 2nd Annual Haitian Jazz Festival

Source: All About Jazz
January 31, 2008

During the 1st week of March, Ken Watters' new Haitian jazz octet RIYEL will give several performances at various venues throughout Port-au-Prince, Haiti. RIYEL (meaning “backstreet" or “alleyway" in Haitian Kreyol) is made up of several of the country's foremost musicians, including Yves Abel (bass), Ralph Conde (guitar), Robenson Jean-Baptiste (drums) & several others. Sharing the front line alongside trumpeter Ken Watters is trombonist & trilingual vocalist Andre Atkins. Atkins' performance/recording credits include Aretha Franklin, Tabou Combo, Soulive, Spoon, David ...
read more

151

Event

Ken Watters Group in Concert May 18 in Huntsville, AL

Source: All About Jazz
May 18, 2007

Performance / Tour

Ken Watters Group @ Kokopelli's in Savannah, Georgia March 9-10

Source: All About Jazz
March 2, 2007

Ken Watters Group will perform at Kokpelli's in Savannah, GA on March 9 & 10. Showtime begins each night at 9PM.

Kokopelli's website URL: http://www.kokopellisjazz.com

Members include: Bryan Leitch - guitar Robert “Dig" Dickson - acoustic bass Marlon Patton - drums Ken Watters - trumpet / flugelhorn

This is Summit Recording artist Ken Watters' first Atlanta-based quartet. The group plans to release their first CD (featuring this new lineup) within ...
read more

140

Technology

Jazz Musicians' Protocol Site by Ken Watters

Source: All About Jazz
February 28, 2007

Jazz trumpeter / Summit Recording artist & Conn-Selmer artist Ken Watters has written & published (online) a website entitled “Jazz Musicians' Protocol" (see link below). The site can apply to musicians of all genres, but is more conciously geared toward aspiring jazz musicians. The site began in 2000) as a short webpage and was born of sheer frustration with the way that gigs and jam sessions that he found himslef taking part in were routinely run. It has developed much ...
read more

129

Performance / Tour

Ken Watters / Will Scruggs / Wes Funderburk with Natalie Cole...

Source: All About Jazz
October 17, 2006

Music Industry

Watters Brothers to Record Live CD

Source: All About Jazz
July 16, 2006

Trumpet & trombone playing brothers Ken & Harry Watters will record a live CD in the next few months (exact dates to be announced).

The new CD will feature the Watters Brothers with lots of special guests, including Kevin Bales (piano), Neal Starkey and Robert Dig" Dickson (acoustic bass), Justin Varnes and Jay Frederick (drums), and Tom Wolfe (guitar). Recording will take place in the fall of 2006 at a venue TBA in the Atlanta area.

Ken & Harry Watters ...
read more

Performance / Tour

Watters Brothers Quintet Upcoming Concerts, June 24 and 25

Source: All About Jazz
June 23, 2006

On June 24 (7:30PM) & June 25 (3PM), the Watters Brothers Quintet will perform two concerts at University of Alabama in Huntsville's Roberts Hall. These performances will benefit the UAH Harry H. Watters Sr. Scholarship for Excellence in Jazz. Regular members of their working quintet are Kevin Bales (piano), Neal Starkey (acoustic bass), Justin Varnes (drums), Harry Watters (trombone) & Ken Watters (trumpet). Ken & Harry Watters have three CDs released internationally on Summit Records (Brothers, Brothers II & Brothers ...
read more

159

Performance / Tour