Trevor Watts
The Lantern Tree
For the last couple of years Jazz In Britain’s output has largely consisted of CDs around the 75 minute mark, either single, 2 or even 3 disc releases. However, we have quite a lot of items in our archives which come up well short of the magic 75 minutes but, in our opinion, are well worthy of release. With this in mind, we have decided to launch a ‘budget’ series of releases which will come in gatefold digisleeves with simple artwork and no booklet. CDs and downloads will both be at the same p…
Elastic Jazz - Sketches of Britain
*2023 stock* Sampler of some of the most iconic figures in the British jazz scene. Comes with a book of 92 pages that contains the artist' profiles, brief history of British jazz and related discography. Notes on each track written by the composers. English/Italian text.
The Art Is In The Rhythm
"The music on this recording definitely has a mainly Jazz slant, so I thought it a good idea to dedicate it to other Jazz players (Charlie Parker and Eric Dolphy), that represent the best of that music and were an inspiration to us and many more players. I felt a recording that represented this very important project, and what we achieved together, was long overdue. So here we offer you some music we played in 1989. But still sounds, to me, as fresh as the day we first played it."
I felt a recor…
Ancestry
** 2021 Stock ** On Ancestry, Trevor Watts approaches improvisation in a more stripped down approach with percussionist Jamie Harris. Both Watts and Harris combine an incredible sense of rhythm with exploration and subtlety. The recordings were culled from live performances and more intimate settings at Trevor's home studio to give a balance of the high energy of performance and relaxed musical exploration between friends. The end result is a stunning document of duo interplay on various hand pe…
A World View
Trevor Watts: a legendary man, an exceptional saxophonist, a forerunner of everything that is really valuable in European improvised music, turned 80 last year. As a still active and extremely creative musician (his latest productions can be found primarily in the Listen Foundation! catalog), his long creative journey took many artistic challenges. So before you reach for the music contained in this box set, here is a brief historical outline. Around the mid-1960s, after sharing their musical ex…
Dynamics of the Impromptu
** 2021 Stock ** Entropy Stereo Recordings presents Dynamics of the Impromptu by Derek Bailey, John Stevens and Trevor Watts. These pieces run the gamut from whispery low key musings through enraging or boisterous call and response. The moods constantly shift and evolve as Watts, Bailey and Stevens purvey musical structures that defy logic. Emotions flare up as in "Impromptu Dynamics #6". Arguments or debates are imminent. The sensibilities of unity and collaboration resurface as the music seems…
Apura!
It is intended with the utmost respect that this album is entitled Apura!, which in the Filipino language Tagalog translates to “Very Urgent” (the name of an epochal record by the Blue Notes, the pioneering South African jazz sextet of which drummer Louis Moholo-Moholo was the heartbeat). The musicians of Louis and Trevor Watts’s generation cast a tremendous shadow over the legacy of improvised music. It’s not difficult to romanticize the era in which these musicians first made their marks, exer…
Dialogues With Strings
"The title for the CD and compositions were inspired by a desire that Veryan Weston & I had, which was to open up our regular duo's musical improvisational interactions and incorporate other musicians within them, and thereby expand the scope of what we do after many years of playing together. We'd already done a performance with the addition of Violinist and well known Folk Musician Peter Knight at Café Oto which was filmed by Mark French. Alison had recently asked me to play with her and Hanna…
Mining The Seam - The Rest Of The Spotlite Sessions
Alto Saxophone – Trevor WattsBass – Barry GuyDrums – John StevensRecorded at Riverside Studios, London, May 1977. Previously unissued.
Cynosure
When 20-something saxophonist Trevor Watts was demobbed from the RAF in the early 60s, he moved to London and co-founded the Spontaneous Music Ensemble. Although clearly aware of Ornette Coleman’s new conception of Jazz in America, he soon developed his own, more fluently inclusive style, filtering and synthesising the history of jazz saxophony like few others—David Murray is one obvious counterpart in that respect—and giving it a personal twist. He also developed a unique conception of musical …
Dialogues In Two Places
Free improvisation. Some may think of it as the art of 'making it up as you go along'. But it is much more than that. English vocalist Maggie Nicols has spoken of the necessity for a sort of 'social virtuosity' amongst improvisers: chops and instincts and reflexes simply aren't enough to make great music in a free improv situation. One must listen attentively, and approach music-making with true openness. German clarinetist Theo Jorgensmann captured another aspect of that 'something more' quite …
No Fear
Recorded in May of 1977 and released a year later on Spotlite, No Fear is one of drummer John Stevens' excellent jazzier sessions. Backed by his regular acolytes Trevor Watts and Barry Guy, the leader of the Spontaneous Music Ensemble revels in the hot free jazz licks he and the saxophonist came up with. His playing is superbly detailed by the recording, the interplay between his hi-hat cymbals and snare drum being particularly impressive in this jazz context. Watts pours a lot of soul into his …
Dynamics Of The Impromptu
Recorded live at the Little Theatre Club, Garrick Yard. St. Martins Lane, London, in 1973/74.Processed & premastered at Dynamic Audio Productions, Hastings, England.Track 1 recorded 12/11/1973.Tracks 2-3 recorded 18/12/1973.Tracks 4-6 recorded 17/1/1974.
Catalogue number printed as ESR004 on the disc, as entropy-004 on the spine.