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Doug Watkins

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Doug Watkins
Watkins circa 1950
Watkins circa 1950
Background information
Birth nameDouglas Watkins
Born(1934-03-02)March 2, 1934
Detroit, Michigan, United States
DiedFebruary 5, 1962(1962-02-05) (aged 27)
GenresJazz, Hard Bop, Bebop
Occupation(s)Double bassist, Composer
InstrumentDouble Bass
Years active1950–1962
LabelsBlue Note, Prestige, Atlantic

Douglas Watkins (March 2, 1934 – February 5, 1962) was an American hard bop jazz double bassist from Detroit.

Biography

An original member of the Jazz Messengers, he later played in Horace Silver's quintet[1] and freelanced with Gene Ammons, Kenny Burrell, Donald Byrd, Art Farmer, Jackie McLean, Hank Mobley,[1] Lee Morgan, Sonny Rollins, and Phil Woods among others.

Some of Watkins' best-known work can be heard when as a 22-year-old he appeared on the 1956 album, Saxophone Colossus by tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins, with Max Roach and Tommy Flanagan. From that session, the tunes "Blue Seven" and "St. Thomas," especially, have become revered not only as evidence of Rollins' original genius but as fine examples of Watkins' work.

According to Horace Silver's autobiography, Let's Get to the Nitty Gritty, Watkins, along with Silver, later left Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers because the other members of the band at the time (Kenny Dorham, Hank Mobley and Blakey) had serious drug problems, whereas Watkins and Silver were tired of being harassed and searched by the police every time they went to a gig in a new city and club.[citation needed]

In 1958 Watkins would join Donald Byrd for a European tour, taking up extended residence at Le Chat Qui Pêche, a jazz club on Paris' Left Bank. Along with Byrd, tenor saxophonist Bobby Jaspar, pianist Walter Davis, Jr. and drummer Art Taylor, Watkins made two albums with Byrd during this time, one recorded in the club and another at a formal concert featuring Byrd's quintet.

Watkins was known for his superb tone and distinct phrasing. He had a distinct walking tone and was right on the beat, forming an organic, indivisible relationship with his instrument as he swayed with it in perfect time. Pianist Red Garland often stated that Watkins was his favorite bassist and that he was always in tune and never off-key. Watkins played with Garland in 1959, along with drummer Specs Wright.

While Watkins lived only to the age of 27, he appeared on well over 350 LPs in his career backing many major jazz stars of the time. When Charles Mingus briefly ventured over to the piano stool in 1961, he hired Watkins to take over the bass part; Oh Yeah!!! and Tonight at Noon were the results of this adventurous interlude.

Watkins recorded only two albums as leader. Watkins at Large (1956) is an album for the tiny Transition label, made with fellow members of the Horace Silver Quintet of the time—most recently it has been available on a two-disc set, The Transition Sessions (Blue Note, 2002), which incorporates two additional Transition dates on which Watkins appears.

The other Watkins-led session, Soulnik (1961), with Yusef Lateef and reissued as part of the OJC series, features Watkins on cello with Herman Wright backing him on bass. The cello was an instrument he had started to play only two days before the recording session.

Watkins died in an automobile accident on February 5, 1962, while traveling from Arizona to San Francisco to meet drummer Philly Joe Jones for a gig. He fell asleep at the wheel and was hit head-on by an oncoming truck. The other occupants of the car, pianist Sir Roland Hanna and trumpeter Bill Hardman, survived the crash. Watkins made enough recordings with seminal musicians, especially Blakey, Silver, Mobley, Byrd and Rollins, to insure his lasting reputation as a superb musician, an unselfish and enabling ensemble player, and a bassist-walker with few peers.

He was a cousin by marriage to bassist Paul Chambers, who was similarly prolific on record during this era, working with Miles Davis throughout the 1950s and into the early 1960s.

Discography

As leader

As sideman

With Pepper Adams

With Gene Ammons

With Art Blakey

With Tina Brooks

With Kenny Burrell

With Donald Byrd

With Curtis Fuller

With Red Garland

With Benny Golson

With Yusef Lateef

With Jackie McLean

With Charles Mingus

With Hank Mobley

With Lee Morgan

With Dizzy Reece

With Sonny Rollins

With Horace Silver

With Louis Smith

With Billy Taylor

With Phil Woods

References

  1. ^ a b Rhyan, Dianna The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz cited at The Hard Bop Home page
  2. ^ Allmusic review


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