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William Russell Watrous III (June 8, 1939 – July 2, 2018) was an American jazz trombonist. He is perhaps best known for his rendition of Sammy Nestico's arrangement of the
Johnny Mandel John Alfred Mandel (November 23, 1925June 29, 2020) was an American composer and arranger of popular songs, film music and jazz. The musicians he worked with include Count Basie, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Anita O'Day, Barbra Streisand, Tony Benn ...
ballad "A Time for Love", which he recorded on a 1993 album of the same name. A self-described "bop-oriented" player, he was well known among trombonists as a master technician and for his mellifluous sound.


Biography

He was born in
Middletown, Connecticut Middletown is a city in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. Located along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, 16 miles (25.749504 km) south of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. Middletown is the largest city in the L ...
, United States. Watrous' father, also a trombonist, introduced him to the instrument at an early age. While serving in the U.S. Navy, Watrous studied with jazz pianist and composer Herbie Nichols. His first professional performances were in Billy Butterfield's band. Watrous' career blossomed in the 1960s. He played and recorded with many prominent jazz musicians, including
Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...
,
Maynard Ferguson Walter Maynard Ferguson CM (May 4, 1928 – August 23, 2006) was a Canadian jazz trumpeter and bandleader. He came to prominence in Stan Kenton's orchestra before forming his own big band in 1957. He was noted for his bands, which often served ...
,
Woody Herman Woodrow Charles Herman (May 16, 1913 – October 29, 1987) was an American jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roo ...
,
Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024) was an American record producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader. Over the course of his seven-decade career, he received List of awards and nominations re ...
, Johnny Richards, and trombonist
Kai Winding Kai Chresten Winding ( ; May 18, 1922 – May 6, 1983) was a Danish-born American trombonist and jazz composer. He is known for his collaborations with fellow trombonist J. J. Johnson. His version of " More", the theme from the movie ''Mondo Ca ...
. He also played with Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald, and Sarah Vaughan. He played in the '' Merv Griffin Show'' house band during 1965–1968 and worked as a staff musician for CBS during 1967–1969. In 1971, he played with the
jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric gui ...
group Ten Wheel Drive. Also in the 1970s, Watrous formed his own band, The Manhattan Wildlife Refuge Big Band, which recorded two albums for
Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...
. The band was later renamed Refuge West when Watrous moved to southern California. In July 1973, he attended the US tour of French
zeuhl Zeuhl (pronounced zœl meaning "Celestial") is a music genre that is a hybrid of jazz fusion, symphonic rock and neoclassical music, established in 1969 by the French band Magma. The term comes from Kobaïan, the fictional language created by ...
band
Magma Magma () is the molten or semi-molten natural material from which all igneous rocks are formed. Magma (sometimes colloquially but incorrectly referred to as ''lava'') is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and evidence of magmatism has also ...
. He continued to work as a bandleader, studio musician, and performer at jazz clubs. In 1983, Watrous collaborated with Alan Raph to publish ''Trombonisms'', an instructional manual covering performance techniques for trombone. He has recorded as a solo artist, bandleader, and in small ensembles. These recordings include a Japanese import album in 2001 containing material recorded in 1984 with Carl Fontana, whom Watrous has cited as his favorite trombonist. He traveled periodically to San Diego to play with his good friend and former student, Dave Scott, a noted jazz musician himself and TV broadcast host. The annual SHSU (Sam Houston State University) Bill Watrous Jazz Festival in Huntsville, Texas is named in his honor and claims to be Texas' oldest jazz festival. Watrous taught for two decades at the
University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...
in Los Angeles, before retiring in 2015. He died in Los Angeles on July 2, 2018. He was survived by his wife, Maryann; their son, Jason; and two daughters from a previous marriage – Melody Watrous Ide and Cheryl Schoolcraft.


Other talents

In his teens, Watrous played baseball and was scouted by the New York Yankees. In the early 1980s, Watrous considered joining a minor league baseball team.


Awards and nominations

*1975, Grammy Nomination for ''The Tiger of San Pedro'' *2019, Legacy Circle Award o
The International Trombone Association
*Two
Down Beat ''DownBeat'' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm that it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1 ...
Awards and nominated top trombonist by
DownBeat ''DownBeat'' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm that it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1 ...
seven years in a row


Discography


As leader

* ''In Love Again'' (as William Russell Watrous with the Richard Behrke Strings) (MTA, 1964) * ''Plays Love Themes for the Underground, the Establishment & Other Sub Cultures Not Yet Known'' (With the Walter Raim Concept) (MTA, 1969) * ''Bone Straight Ahead'' (Famous Door, 1973) * ''Manhattan Wildlife Refuge'' ( Columbia, 1974) * ''The Tiger of San Pedro'' (Columbia, 1975) * ''Funk 'n' Fun'' (Yupiteru, 1979) * ''Watrous in Hollywood'' (Famous Door, 1979) * ''Coronary Trombossa!'' (Famous Door, 1980) * ''I'll Play for You'' (Famous Door, 1980) * ''La Zorra'' (Famous Door, 1980) * ''Bill Watrous in London'' (Mole Jazz, 1982) * ''Roaring Back to New York, New York'' (Famous Door, 1983) * ''Bill Watrous and Carl Fontana'' (
Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of world map, maps of Earth or of a continent or region of Earth. Advances in astronomy have also resulted in atlases of the celestial sphere or of other planets. Atlases have traditio ...
, 1984) * ''Someplace Else'' (Soundwings, 1986) * ''Reflections'' (Soundwings, 1987) * ''Bone-Ified'' ( GNP Crescendo, 1992) * ''Time for Love'' (GNP Crescendo, 1993) * ''Space Available'' ( Double-Time, 1997) * ''Live at the Blue Note'' (
Half Note In music, a half note (American) or minim (British) is a Musical note, note played for half the duration of a whole note (or semibreve) and twice the duration of a quarter note (or crotchet). It was given its Latin name (''minima'', meaning "le ...
, 2000) * ''Living in the Moment'' with The Gary Urwin Jazz Orchestra (Sea Breeze, 2003) * ''Live in Living Comfort'' (Stonequake, 2003) * ''Mad to the Bone'' with The Rob Stoneback Big Band (Stonequake, 2003) * ''Kindred Spirits'' with The Gary Urwin Jazz Orchestra (
Summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for ...
, 2006)


As sideman

With Deodato *'' Prelude'' (CTI, 1973) With
Kenny Burrell Kenneth Earl Burrell (born July 31, 1931) is an American jazz guitarist known for his work on numerous top jazz labels: Prestige Records, Prestige, Blue Note, Verve Records, Verve, CTI Records, CTI, Muse Records, Muse, and Concord Records, Conco ...
*''
Blues - The Common Ground Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...
'' (Verve, 1968) With
Paul Desmond Paul Desmond (born Paul Emil Breitenfeld; November 25, 1924 – May 30, 1977) was an American jazz alto saxophonist and composer and proponent of cool jazz. He was a member of the Dave Brubeck Quartet and composed the group's biggest hit, " ...
*'' Summertime'' (A&M/CTI, 1968) With
Maynard Ferguson Walter Maynard Ferguson CM (May 4, 1928 – August 23, 2006) was a Canadian jazz trumpeter and bandleader. He came to prominence in Stan Kenton's orchestra before forming his own big band in 1957. He was noted for his bands, which often served ...
*'' The Blues Roar'' (Mainstream, 1965) With
Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024) was an American record producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader. Over the course of his seven-decade career, he received List of awards and nominations re ...
* '' Golden Boy'' (Mercury, 1964) * ''
Roots A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusin ...
'' (A&M, 1977) With O'Donel Levy *'' Dawn of a New Day'' (Groove Merchant, 1973) *''
Simba Simba is a fictional character in Walt Disney Animation Studios, Disney's ''The Lion King (franchise), The Lion King ''franchise. First appearing as a cub in ''The Lion King'' (1994), the character flees his homeland when his father, Mufasa, is ...
'' (Groove Merchant, 1974) With Milton Nascimento *''
Courage Courage (also called bravery, valour ( British and Commonwealth English), or valor (American English)) is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. Valor is courage or bravery, especially in ...
'' (A&M/CTI, 1969) With
Jimmy Witherspoon James Witherspoon (August 8, 1920 – September 18, 1997) was an American jump blues and jazz singer. Early life, family and education Witherspoon was born in Gurdon, Arkansas. His father was a railroad worker who sang in local choirs, an ...
*'' Blues for Easy Livers'' (Prestige, 1965) With Johnny Richards * ''Aqui Se Habla Español'' (Roulette, 1967) With
Red Rodney Robert Roland Chudnick (September 27, 1927 – May 27, 1994), known professionally as Red Rodney, was an American jazz trumpeter. Biography Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he became a professional musician at 15, working in the mid-1940 ...
*'' The Red Tornado'' (Muse, 1975) With
Arturo Sandoval Arturo Sandoval (born November 6, 1949) is a Cuban-American jazz trumpeter, pianist, timbalero, and composer. While living in his native Cuba, Sandoval was influenced by jazz musicians Charlie Parker, Clifford Brown, and Dizzy Gillespie. In 1977 ...
*''Dream Come True'' (1993) With
Kai Winding Kai Chresten Winding ( ; May 18, 1922 – May 6, 1983) was a Danish-born American trombonist and jazz composer. He is known for his collaborations with fellow trombonist J. J. Johnson. His version of " More", the theme from the movie ''Mondo Ca ...
*'' Modern Country'' (Verve, 1964) *'' The In Instrumentals'' (Verve, 1965) *'' More Brass'' (Verve, 1966) *'' Dirty Dog'' (Verve, 1966) *'' Penny Lane & Time'' (Verve, 1967) *'' Trombone Summit'' (MPS,1980) With Pennsbury Concert Jazz Band *''Then & Now'' (2013) With Ingrid James and San Gabriel 7'' (JGS-SG7, 2012)


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Watrous, Bill 1939 births 2018 deaths American jazz trombonists American male trombonists Bebop trombonists Bebop bandleaders Jazz musicians from Los Angeles People from Middletown, Connecticut Military personnel from Connecticut Jazz musicians from Connecticut American male jazz musicians Double-Time Records artists Summit Records artists Columbia Records artists