I posted this because I personally thought it was an exquisite piece of music making. I am thrilled that so many people agreed with me. Just four master musicians with a lovely string orchestra playing a lovely arrangement of a superb melody. Watts is just superb, one of the most distinctive and emotive tenor sounds ever in jazz and I've been listening for 60 years..
Its funny, I think the same thing about Scott Hamilton but he seems to be underappreciated in the jazz and sax community. I don't know why this is, I think he has very melodic lines and a beautifully gentle tone. Nice and fat, both breathy and punchy at times. Regardless I just found out about Ernie and I am loving all of his stuff.
ernie watts has a remarkable ability to draw you into his sound and music. he has the magical quality of emotive singing tone with more technique than anyone needs and a distinct sense of when to use it and when to loose it. this is great from so many angles.... wonderful post ernie is the man!!!
Thank you everyone for your comments regarding this video I posted on TH-cam, more intelligent than any I've seen on TH-cam thus far. But the thanks are to to Charlie and his band especially Ernie Watts and the wonderful string orchestra. Your comments make the uploading worthwhile.
I saw them in SF close to 20 years ago, I always thought I would get to see them again but alas Charlie passed. Thank you for this, they are in my top of all time, miss them.
I've had the honour and great pleasure to translate Ernie Watts' one week masterclass at the conservatory of Palermo (IT) and even to play with him at the concert. What makes him even more admirable is his friendliness and humility, also with all the students. A great great musician in all senses! Thanks for posting.
This brings new music to me. I wasn't aware of Ernie Watts. Great music. Thank you. I'd heard his name, but never paid attention to his music. Now I will.
Wonderful as always. His tone and emotion are such a gift. I love it when musicians have the skill and guts to go straight for the heart - and do it with such class. Ernie is one of the few who can do it. BTW: a few days ago I watched the 1997 tv movie, the excellent remake of "12 Angry Men". When the end titles came I was blown away - I knew I was listening to the best. Then I read: ...performed by Quartest West: Sax: Ernie Watts. Yes!!! Im so glad that some people have great musical taste!
Quartet West is the best crew in my opinion, their technical level is unbelievable and their aesthetic understanding is just stunning. RIP Charlie. Thank you for posting this treasure.
Still makes my lip quiver and my heart skip a beat, and I've listened to it dozens of times. My goodness can that Ernie Watts blow the sax with that distinctive, heart-stopping voice on tenor. What a gift he is to music. Thank you so much for posting this. Please post others like it if you can. So many of us love it.
Was lucky enough to see the great man "live" at Grappa Cellar in Hong Kong in June 2011 WHAT a great night in a great Jazz venue! Ernie has one of those distinctive tones that you just "know" every time you hear him! Thanks so much for posting this!
One must really hear Ernie Watts in person to appreciate the overwhelming and powerful tone he has not to mention how beautiful he sounds. One of the all time great tenors.
I believe that few saxophonists in the world can express themselves like Ernie Watts ... elegance, sound, technique, mastery of the instrument at extreme levels ... for me the greatest.
Thanks for the post. Quartet West has long been a favorite of mine as is Ernie Watts. Both he and Michael Brecker serve as THE models of emotion and technique.
It's funny, all this talk of what a beautiful sound is and whether Ernie has one. It doesn't matter really. I'd say most all of the greats had a beautiful sound in their own way. It was said in an earlier comment that a beautiful sound is Joe Henderson or Getz. Personally I find Getz's sound to be a little choked out at times, honestly, which many people dais agree with me on. But Ernie's to me is broad and relaxed and beautiful to my ear. That's all just me. So it doesn't really matter! Dig what you dig!
I've been playing the horn since the early 60's, following Bird, Johnny Griffin, Stitt, Cannonball, Coltrane, Phil Woods...but have only recently discovered Charlie Watts, who is now in my pantheon of tenor sax heroes. What CLARITY! He must have Gabrel's own mouthpiece!
Absolutely gorgeous. I love this band -- "Haunted Heart" is one of my Desert Island CDs -- and it's a joy to see some video of the quartet at last. Please post more!
Thank you. I must admit I just love this performance. It is an exquisite 5 minutes of music making. I must try and put some more of this gig up if it will fit.
Swingbop, you said it: Ernie's got it ALL - sound, technique, style, sensitivity, and a distinctive voice all his own. Unrivalled, he remains my absolute favorite.
Beautiful Music - for all you beautiful people out there! Don't ever change! Luv you people - lets all meet someday soon in the Colloseum of Creativity. My man - Lawrence Marabele on the tubs - keepin' it tight - Dat Rite - Check yor baggage - C'mon!
Thanks. With yours as the first anly comment comment, I thought for a moment that I was the only person to enjoy his playing. There's one bit just after Ernie starts playing that one of the girl violinists gives Ernie a look as though she's thinking "what a beautiful sound".
This is one of my favorite songs, ever. And as much as I love this performance I have to say that the rendition on the CD "Now is the Hour" is much better because it's performed slower and in a way that's much more evocative of the noir sensibility that the song wants to convey. It's a sensational song, and if you listen to it on the CD it's easy (for me, at least) to be transported to a place I never knew. Thanks so much to donnythejazz for letting me see this in performance!
That's funny you say that about the Haunted Heart CD. I feel the same way. I've listened to it hundreds of times and I still get that feeling I got the first time I heard it... great stuff!
I saw them yesterday at the Blue Note festival in Gent. WONDERFUL. Charlie mentioned a composition recorded in 57 called 'Lonely Woman'. Can anyone please help me find that song. Many Thanks
If anyone has the "End Credits" from the 1997 remake of 12 Angry Men, please upload and share. I haven't been able find out if it is released on any of Quartet West's recordings. Thanks
I couldn't disagree more if you were twice as wrong. Ernie Watts has a remarkably distinctive sound. He doesn't emulate Trane or Getz like so many players, either. I won't say that his is the most beautiful of tones (a la Getz, Benny Golson, Joe Henderson), but it certainly is very personal and readily identifiable.
If you like this come check him out live when the University of Wisconsin- River Falls features him for the 2011 Jazz Festival we put on. February 25th @ 7:30 is the Jazz Matinee with Faculty and Ernie jazz combo, along with the UWRF Jazz-tet and Plus 1 Trio. February the 26th @ 7:30 we feature him with the UWRF Jazz Ensemble, playing some tunes written and arranged by and for Ernie. Should be some incredible live music that weekend.
Ernie will always be my favorite saxophone player. Ever since I heard him with the Chariots of Fire theme, I have loved every note he has played. A small yet magical moment is his solo on Patti Austin's All Behind Us Now. When my favorite singer, who has exactly the same feeling in her voice as Ernie does, delivers a heartbreaking ballad, Ernie's sax cries like never before. m.th-cam.com/video/VSOpN_M8YXo/w-d-xo.html
Come on pong224. Not only did I put the info about the tune at in the box next to the video, it actually tells you what the tune is about 30 seconds in to the video. Have you actually watched it?
Regarding Watts' sound, I do find it "distinctive" in its "gruffness" or maybe "scratchiness" in the upper overtones. I think in his earlier career, he was known a lot more as an alto sax player and sometimes I feel he adapted his alto stylings to tenor - like maybe that's the sound he wants to hear in his head?
I agree, it always strikes me as "Sanborn on tenor". For all I know, Watts had this type of vibrato and ornamentation in his playing before Sanborn hit the big leagues, but of course Sanborn had the huge success and gets associated with this school of playing.
Because he has talent and gobs of chops and has been around long enough to have paid his dues and absorbed a great deal of jazz and other music and puts it all together as all great players do to create his very own sound. Bagpipe players also now use mostly plastic reeds and thank God for them. He's also using a metal mouthpiece - that's not "tradition" either. Open your mind just a bit and just LISTEN.
I went to concert of his quartet in Memphis and it was absolutely amazing. The reason for his rich sound beside technique and skill is the 8 thousand instrument he blows. I believe that you have to spend a lil money to be the best at what you do.
I wish the drummer hadn't rushed this. Sounds like he's playing in double time and throws everything off. He *sounds* great, it's just...why was that tempo necessary? Everything else is perfect.
Oh, here we go. My tenor player is better than yours. I'm sure that Grover was great (although his playing hardly rocked my boat) but Watts is just sublime in SO MANY settings. I thought that I put this video up to give pleasure to music lovers. I didn't realise that it was a competition.
I posted this because I personally thought it was an exquisite piece of music making. I am thrilled that so many people agreed with me. Just four master musicians with a lovely string orchestra playing a lovely arrangement of a superb melody.
Watts is just superb, one of the most distinctive and emotive tenor sounds ever in jazz and I've been listening for 60 years..
Its funny, I think the same thing about Scott Hamilton but he seems to be underappreciated in the jazz and sax community. I don't know why this is, I think he has very melodic lines and a beautifully gentle tone. Nice and fat, both breathy and punchy at times. Regardless I just found out about Ernie and I am loving all of his stuff.
My Dad is pure music. It's all that he has ever truly pursued. A beautiful human being through and through...A blessing to know him.
ernie watts has a remarkable ability to draw you into his sound and music. he has the magical quality of emotive singing tone with more technique than anyone needs and a distinct sense of when to use it and when to loose it. this is great from so many angles.... wonderful post ernie is the man!!!
Thank you everyone for your comments regarding this video I posted on TH-cam, more intelligent than any I've seen on TH-cam thus far. But the thanks are to to Charlie and his band especially Ernie Watts and the wonderful string orchestra.
Your comments make the uploading worthwhile.
We greatly appreciate content like this! Thank you very much!
I did masterclasses with Ernie and got to hear him live, I will treasure it for life.
I saw them in SF close to 20 years ago, I always thought I would get to see them again but alas Charlie passed. Thank you for this, they are in my top of all time, miss them.
I've had the honour and great pleasure to translate Ernie Watts' one week masterclass at the conservatory of Palermo (IT) and even to play with him at the concert. What makes him even more admirable is his friendliness and humility, also with all the students. A great great musician in all senses! Thanks for posting.
This brings new music to me. I wasn't aware of Ernie Watts. Great music. Thank you. I'd heard his name, but never paid attention to his music. Now I will.
Wonderful as always. His tone and emotion are such a gift. I love it when musicians have the skill and guts to go straight for the heart - and do it with such class. Ernie is one of the few who can do it.
BTW: a few days ago I watched the 1997 tv movie, the excellent remake of "12 Angry Men". When the end titles came I was blown away - I knew I was listening to the best. Then I read: ...performed by Quartest West: Sax: Ernie Watts. Yes!!! Im so glad that some people have great musical taste!
Ernie Watts amazing Tenor sound under appreciated
Amen. I love this group. Saw them live once and it was a truly moving experience. Ernie is a master of emotion and technique.
By far my favorite Tenor sax jazz ballad player of all time......unique voice!
Ernie’s tone always has his own unique “melancholic frequency” which does haunt our spirit.
Thank you so much for posting this.
one of the most underrated musicians around Ernie Watts. is the rosebud. peace;
Quartet West is the best crew in my opinion, their technical level is unbelievable
and their aesthetic understanding is just stunning.
RIP Charlie.
Thank you for posting this treasure.
Thank you! As a saxophone player and an Ernie's fan I Will treasure this video... this music go straight to your heart!
Love this ensemble and Broadbent's string arrangements. Ernie Watts is such a great passionate player. 5 STARS!!!
Still makes my lip quiver and my heart skip a beat, and I've listened to it dozens of times.
My goodness can that Ernie Watts blow the sax with that distinctive, heart-stopping voice on tenor. What a gift he is to music.
Thank you so much for posting this. Please post others like it if you can. So many of us love it.
Was lucky enough to see the great man "live" at Grappa Cellar in Hong Kong in June 2011 WHAT a great night in a great Jazz venue! Ernie has one of those distinctive tones that you just "know" every time you hear him! Thanks so much for posting this!
One must really hear Ernie Watts in person to appreciate the overwhelming and powerful tone he has not to mention how beautiful he sounds. One of the all time great tenors.
I believe that few saxophonists in the world can express themselves like Ernie Watts ... elegance, sound, technique, mastery of the instrument at extreme levels ... for me the greatest.
Thanks for the post. Quartet West has long been a favorite of mine as is Ernie Watts. Both he and Michael Brecker serve as THE models of emotion and technique.
R.I.P Charlie
I saw CHQW with Metropole Orchestra in Rotterdam. Fantastic !
This is so cool man.
Love the way the orchestra just glides through the score.
Ernie = badass😉🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷🎷
It's funny, all this talk of what a beautiful sound is and whether Ernie has one. It doesn't matter really. I'd say most all of the greats had a beautiful sound in their own way. It was said in an earlier comment that a beautiful sound is Joe Henderson or Getz. Personally I find Getz's sound to be a little choked out at times, honestly, which many people dais agree with me on. But Ernie's to me is broad and relaxed and beautiful to my ear. That's all just me. So it doesn't really matter! Dig what you dig!
Noah Pettibon Amen Noah you
said it all bro.since I got you here what was that thing with the whale all about.
sorry I meant the ark.
I've been playing the horn since the early 60's, following Bird, Johnny Griffin, Stitt, Cannonball, Coltrane, Phil Woods...but have only recently discovered Charlie Watts, who is now in my pantheon of tenor sax heroes. What CLARITY! He must have Gabrel's own mouthpiece!
Paul Fleming Hey Paul have a listen to his work with Lee Ritenour, Abe Laboriel, etc. Fabulous.
I just saw Mr. Haden in London - I love his respect for simple, traditional and beautiful chord sequences.
An outstanding performance!!!!👏👏👏🙏
Absolutely gorgeous. I love this band -- "Haunted Heart" is one of my Desert Island CDs -- and it's a joy to see some video of the quartet at last. Please post more!
Great music...! Great horn man...!!!
Thank you. I must admit I just love this performance. It is an exquisite 5 minutes of music making. I must try and put some more of this gig up if it will fit.
Swingbop, you said it: Ernie's got it ALL - sound, technique, style, sensitivity, and a distinctive voice all his own. Unrivalled, he remains my absolute favorite.
Thank you, donnythejazz, for this wonderful clip.
Quartet West has a unique sound and I simply love it:
Yes I agree, please try to post some more...Ernie is highly under rated!
Quelle pureté d'émotion. 🙏
Thanks for the comments, I would agree it is a Desert Island pick for me too. I'll try to post some more if I can reduce them enough to fit.
FANTASTIC !!!!!
Beautiful, just beautiful.
This is good jazz from heart to heart!
Rolf Hugo
Bergen - Norway
Fantastic posting - thanks. Sure he does...
Beautiful piece of music. I own some of their albums. Great stuff.
Lorenzo1950 do you know the name of this tune?
Ernie Watts continues to move upward. Great album. I'm definitely picking this up. 5 stars!!!
Beautiful Music - for all you beautiful people out there! Don't ever change! Luv you people - lets all meet someday soon in the Colloseum of Creativity.
My man - Lawrence Marabele on the tubs - keepin' it tight - Dat Rite - Check yor baggage - C'mon!
Thanks. With yours as the first anly comment comment, I thought for a moment that I was the only person to enjoy his playing. There's one bit just after Ernie starts playing that one of the girl violinists gives Ernie a look as though she's thinking "what a beautiful sound".
His sax plays with heart
This is one of my favorite songs, ever. And as much as I love this performance I have to say that the rendition on the CD "Now is the Hour" is much better because it's performed slower and in a way that's much more evocative of the noir sensibility that the song wants to convey. It's a sensational song, and if you listen to it on the CD it's easy (for me, at least) to be transported to a place I never knew. Thanks so much to donnythejazz for letting me see this in performance!
Achingly beautiful.
Absolutely!
That's funny you say that about the Haunted Heart CD. I feel the same way. I've listened to it hundreds of times and I still get that feeling I got the first time I heard it... great stuff!
Please ignore my error below."Charlie Watts" should read "Ernie Watts".
Bravo Ernie!
Ernie Watts is too good.
We found it today, not too late from France
I saw the Quartet West at the Nice festival in the 1980s. Got it on tape, maybe I'll put it up on Dimeadozen one day.
KERA is 90FM Public Radio for North Texas ......... This is Sooooooooo Everything. Smoothe as honey on silk.
I wish, I would hear this live.
I saw them yesterday at the Blue Note festival in Gent. WONDERFUL. Charlie mentioned a composition recorded in 57 called 'Lonely Woman'. Can anyone please help me find that song. Many Thanks
GREAT!!
True,hes great.
This guy has an amazing sound on alto too.
SPLENDID
yes he has is is my favourite
If anyone has the "End Credits" from the 1997 remake of 12 Angry Men, please upload and share.
I haven't been able find out if it is released on any of Quartet West's recordings.
Thanks
Maybe not "one of the most distinctive tenor sounds" but surely a beautiful sound.
I couldn't disagree more if you were twice as wrong. Ernie Watts has a remarkably distinctive sound. He doesn't emulate Trane or Getz like so many players, either. I won't say that his is the most beautiful of tones (a la Getz, Benny Golson, Joe Henderson), but it certainly is very personal and readily identifiable.
ワッツがいるだけで‼️いいんです‼️
answering the question ; yes he is great!
If you like this come check him out live when the University of Wisconsin- River Falls features him for the 2011 Jazz Festival we put on. February 25th @ 7:30 is the Jazz Matinee with Faculty and Ernie jazz combo, along with the UWRF Jazz-tet and Plus 1 Trio. February the 26th @ 7:30 we feature him with the UWRF Jazz Ensemble, playing some tunes written and arranged by and for Ernie. Should be some incredible live music that weekend.
Tasty.... Brillante
Ernie will always be my favorite saxophone player. Ever since I heard him with the Chariots of Fire theme, I have loved every note he has played. A small yet magical moment is his solo on Patti Austin's All Behind Us Now. When my favorite singer, who has exactly the same feeling in her voice as Ernie does, delivers a heartbreaking ballad, Ernie's sax cries like never before. m.th-cam.com/video/VSOpN_M8YXo/w-d-xo.html
You can find the original version from "Lonely woman" on Ornette Coleman's "The shape of jazz to come" (Atlantic, 1959).
Love Ernie, his tone reminds me of Gato Barbieri's.
Genial Haden!!!
Come on pong224. Not only did I put the info about the tune at in the box next to the video, it actually tells you what the tune is about 30 seconds in to the video. Have you actually watched it?
Ernie Watts is truly great. Alan Broadbent is no slouch. I think Alan is responsible for the orchestral arrangement.
Regarding Watts' sound, I do find it "distinctive" in its "gruffness" or maybe "scratchiness" in the upper overtones. I think in his earlier career, he was known a lot more as an alto sax player and sometimes I feel he adapted his alto stylings to tenor - like maybe that's the sound he wants to hear in his head?
I agree, it always strikes me as "Sanborn on tenor". For all I know, Watts had this type of vibrato and ornamentation in his playing before Sanborn hit the big leagues, but of course Sanborn had the huge success and gets associated with this school of playing.
Man, you sound like on alto sometimes - awesome! I'm gonna cry...
Does Watts have one of the most distinctive tenor sounds in jazz?
Yes. It's freaking fantastic!
Bravo!
Yes!
favoloso
This is fantastic. It makes my flesh creep.
Ernie Watts, has to be the best balladeer, of the tenor saxophone since Ben Webster and Dexter Gordon.
Because he has talent and gobs of chops and has been around long enough to have paid his dues and absorbed a great deal of jazz and other music and puts it all together as all great players do to create his very own sound. Bagpipe players also now use mostly plastic reeds and thank God for them. He's also using a metal mouthpiece - that's not "tradition" either. Open your mind just a bit and just LISTEN.
I'll try and post some more from this gig, although the 10 min 100MB limit makes it difficult.
Yeah! Check out Four Sleepers/Pools.
yes
That's beautful! Does anybody knows the name of this song?
I went to concert of his quartet in Memphis and it was absolutely amazing. The reason for his rich sound beside technique and skill is the 8 thousand instrument he blows. I believe that you have to spend a lil money to be the best at what you do.
-does Watts have one of the most distinctive tenor sounds in jazz?
-yeah!
So,Why didn't Haden choose Grover?
Quote from "Parkers Mood" at 2:40.
who's the pianist ? he's great !!
🍀🎶☺️
I wish the drummer hadn't rushed this. Sounds like he's playing in double time and throws everything off. He *sounds* great, it's just...why was that tempo necessary? Everything else is perfect.
Because this is jazz... 🤣🤣🤣
No, that was the late Roland Kirk.
do we know which mouthpiece Watts uses?
He uses a Phil Barone
sx 90 tenor the best
Oh, here we go. My tenor player is better than yours.
I'm sure that Grover was great (although his playing hardly rocked my boat) but Watts is just sublime in SO MANY settings.
I thought that I put this video up to give pleasure to music lovers. I didn't realise that it was a competition.
what song is this?