Julius Watkins (October 10, 1921 – April 4, 1977) was an American jazz musician who played

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most o ...

. Described by

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

as "virtually the father of the jazz French horn", Watkins won the ''

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 ...

'' critics poll in 1960 and 1961 for Miscellaneous Instrument.

Life and career

Watkins was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, United States. He began playing the French horn when he was nine years old. Watkins began his career in jazz playing the

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

in the Ernie Fields Orchestra from 1943 to 1946. By the late 1940s, he had played some French horn solos on recording sessions led by Kenny Clarke and Babs Gonzales. After moving to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, Watkins studied for three years at the

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music a ...

. He started appearing in small-group jazz sessions, including two led by

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk ( October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the Jazz standard, standard jazz repertoire, includ ...

, featuring on "Friday the 13th" on the album '' Thelonious Monk and Sonny Rollins'' (1954). Watkins recorded with many other jazz musicians, including

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the Jazz#Post-war jazz, history of jazz and 20th-century musi ...

, Freddie Hubbard,

Charles Mingus Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz Double bass, upright bassist, composer, bandleader, pianist, and author. A major proponent of collective Musical improvisation, improvisation, he is considered one of ...

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

and Gil Evans, Phil Woods, Clark Terry, Johnny Griffin, Randy Weston, and with the Jazz Composer's Orchestra. He co-led, with Charlie Rouse, the group Les Jazz Modes from 1956 to 1959, and he toured 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 ...

and his band from 1959 to 1961. In 1969, Watkins played French horn for the beat poet Allen Ginsberg's album '' Songs of Innocence and Experience'' (1970), a musical adaptation of

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake has become a seminal figure in the history of the Romantic poetry, poetry and visual art of the Roma ...

's poetry collection of the same name. Suffering from diabetes, liver and kidney problems, and chronic alcoholism, Watkins died from a heart attack in Short Hills, New Jersey, at the age of 55.Smith, P. G
"Julius Watkins and the Evolution of the Jazz French Horn Genre"
(dissertation), University of Florida, 2005, p. 56-57. Retrieved October 6, 2016. From 1994 to 1998, an annual Julius Watkins Jazz Horn Festival was held in New York, beginning at the Knitting Factory,) honoring his legacy. After an eleven-year break, another Julius Watkins Festival was held on October 3, 2009, in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, Washington, at

Cornish College of the Arts Cornish College of the Arts (CCA) was a Private college, private art school, art college in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1914 by music teacher Nellie Cornish. The college's main campus is in the Denny Triangle, Seattle, Denny Triangle ...

. On September 29, 2012, the seventh Julius Watkins Jazz Horn Festival was held at Virginia Commonwealth University in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

Discography

As leader/co-leader

* '' Julius Watkins Sextet, Vol 1 & 2'' ( Blue Note, 1954, 1955) * '' French Horns for My Lady'' (Phillips, 1962) With Charlie Rouse as Les Jazz Modes/The Jazz Modes *''Jazzville Vol. 1'' (Dawn, 1956) - shared LP with Gene Quill-Dick Sherman Quintet *'' Les Jazz Modes'' (Dawn, 1956) *'' Mood in Scarlet'' (Dawn, 1956) *'' The Most Happy Fella'' (Atlantic, 1958) *'' The Jazz Modes'' (Atlantic, 1959) With Jazz Contemporaries ( George Coleman, Clifford Jordan, Harold Mabern, Larry Ridley, Keno Duke) *'' Reasons in Tonality'' (Strata-East, 1972)

As sideman

With Manny Albam *'' Jazz Goes to the Movies'' ( Impulse!, 1962) With Benny Bailey *'' Big Brass'' (Candid, 1960) With

Art Blakey Arthur Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he converted to Islam for a short time in the late 1940s. Blakey made a name for himself in the 1 ...

*'' Golden Boy'' (Colpix, 1964) 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 ...

*'' Guitar Forms'' (Verve, 1965) With Billy Byers *''Impressions of Duke Ellington'' (Mercury, 1961) With

Donald Byrd Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II (December 9, 1932 – February 4, 2013) was an American jazz and rhythm & blues trumpeter, composer and vocalist. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd was one of the few h ...

*''

Jazz Lab ''Jazz Lab'' is an album by American jazz trumpeter Donald Byrd and saxophonist Gigi Gryce, released in 1957 by Columbia Records, Columbia.Gigi Gryce Gigi Gryce (born George General Grice Jr.; November 28, 1925 – March 17, 1983), later in life changing his name to Basheer Qusim, was an American jazz saxophonist, flautist, clarinetist, composer, arranger, and educator. While his performing ...

*'' Modern Jazz Perspective'' (Columbia, 1957) - with Gigi Gryce With

*'' Africa/Brass'' (Impulse!, 1961) *'' The Africa/Brass Sessions, Volume 2'' (Impulse!, 1961

974 Year 974 ( CMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Battle of Danevirke: Emperor Otto II defeats the rebel forces of King Harald I, who has invaded Nordalbingia (modern-day Ho ...

With

Tadd Dameron Tadley Ewing Peake Dameron (February 21, 1917 – March 8, 1965) was an American jazz composer, arranger, and pianist. Biography Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Dameron was the most influential arranger of the bebop era, but also wrote charts for swi ...

*'' The Magic Touch'' (Riverside, 1962) With

*''

Porgy and Bess ''Porgy and Bess'' ( ) is an English-language opera by American composer George Gershwin, with a libretto written by author DuBose Heyward and lyricist Ira Gershwin. It was adapted from Dorothy Heyward and DuBose Heyward's play ''Porgy (play), ...

'' (Columbia, 1959) *'' Miles Davis at Carnegie Hall'' (Columbia, 1961) *'' Quiet Nights'' (Columbia, 1963) With Billy Eckstein *'' At Basin Street East'' (EmArcy, 1961) with Quincy Jones With Gil Evans *'' New Bottle Old Wine'' (World Pacific, 1958) *'' The Individualism of Gil Evans'' (Verve, 1964) *''

Blues in Orbit ''Blues in Orbit'' is an album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington recorded for the Columbia label in 1959 and released in 1960.

'' (Enja, 1971) With

Art Farmer Arthur Stewart Farmer (August 21, 1928 – October 4, 1999) was an American jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player. He also played flumpet, a trumpet–flugelhorn combination especially designed for him. He and his identical twin brother, doub ...

*'' Brass Shout'' (United Artists, 1959) With

Curtis Fuller Curtis DuBois Fuller (December 15, 1932May 8, 2021) was an American jazz trombonist. He was a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and contributed to many classic jazz recordings. Early life Fuller was born in Detroit on December 15, 193 ...

and

Hampton Hawes Hampton Barnett Hawes Jr. (November 13, 1928 – May 22, 1977) was an American jazz pianist. He was the author of the memoir ''Raise Up Off Me'', which won the Deems-Taylor Award for music writing in 1975. Early life Hampton Hawes was born on No ...

*'' Curtis Fuller and Hampton Hawes with French Horns'' (Status, 1957 962 With

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...

*'' Gillespiana'' (Verve, 1960) With Allen Ginsberg *'' Songs of Innocence and Experience'' (MGM, 1970) With

Benny Golson Benny Golson (January 25, 1929 – September 21, 2024) was an American bebop and hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and arranger. He came to prominence with the big bands of Lionel Hampton and Dizzy Gillespie, more as a writer than a p ...

*'' Benny Golson's New York Scene'' (Contemporary, 1957) With Johnny Griffin *'' Change of Pace'' (Riverside, 1961) With

Gigi Gryce Gigi Gryce (born George General Grice Jr.; November 28, 1925 – March 17, 1983), later in life changing his name to Basheer Qusim, was an American jazz saxophonist, flautist, clarinetist, composer, arranger, and educator. While his performing ...

*'' Nica's Tempo'' (Signal, 1955) With

Jimmy Heath James Edward Heath (October 25, 1926 – January 19, 2020), nicknamed Little Bird, was an American jazz saxophonist, composer, arranger, and big band leader. He was the brother of bassist Percy Heath and drummer Albert Heath. Biography Heath w ...

*'' The Quota'' (Riverside, 1961) *'' Triple Threat'' (Riverside, 1962) *'' Swamp Seed'' (Riverside, 1963) With Freddie Hubbard *'' The Body & the Soul'' (Impulse!, 1963) With

Milt Jackson Milton Jackson (January 1, 1923 – October 9, 1999), nicknamed "Bags", was an American jazz vibraphonist. He is especially remembered for his cool swinging solos as a member of the Modern Jazz Quartet and his penchant for collaborating with ...

*'' Meet Milt Jackson'' (Savoy, 1949) *'' Roll 'Em Bags'' (Savoy, 1949) *'' For Someone I Love'' (Riverside, 1963) With The Jazz Composer's Orchestra *'' The Jazz Composer's Orchestra'' (JCOA 1968) With

*'' The Birth of a Band!'' (Mercury, 1959) *'' The Great Wide World of Quincy Jones'' (Mercury, 1959) *'' Q Live in Paris Circa 1960'' (Quest, 1960

996 Year 996 ( CMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Japan * February - Chotoku Incident: Fujiwara no Korechika and Takaie shoot an arrow at Retired Emperor Kazan. * 2 March: Emperor ...

*'' The Birth of a Band! Vol. 2'' (Mercury, 1959-60 984 *'' I Dig Dancers'' (Mercury, 1960) *'' Around the World'' (Mercury, 1961) *'' Newport '61'' (Mercury, 1961) *'' The Great Wide World Of Quincy Jones: Live!'' (Mercury, 1961 984 *'' The Quintessence'' (Impulse!, 1962) *'' Big Band Bossa Nova'' (Mercury, 1962) *'' Quincy Jones Plays Hip Hits'' (Mercury, 1963) *'' Quincy Plays for Pussycats'' (Mercury, 1959-65 965 With

Thad Jones Thaddeus Joseph Jones (March 28, 1923 – August 20, 1986) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer and bandleader who has been called "one of the all-time greatest jazz trumpet soloists". Early life, family and education Thad Jones was born i ...

and

Mel Lewis Melvin Sokoloff (May 10, 1929 – February 2, 1990), known professionally as Mel Lewis, was an American jazz drummer, session musician, professor, and author. He received fourteen Grammy Award nominations. Biography Early years Lewis was ...

*'' Consummation'' (Solid State, 1970) *'' Suite for Pops'' (Horizon, 1975) *'' New Life'' (Horizon, 1976) With Beverly Kenney *''Come Swing with Me'' (Roost, 1956) With

Stan Kenton Stanley Newcomb Kenton (December 15, 1911 – August 25, 1979) was an American popular music and jazz artist. As a pianist, composer, arranger and band leader, he led an innovative and influential jazz orchestra for almost four decades. Though ...

*''

Cuban Fire! ''Cuban Fire!'' is an album by Stan Kenton and his orchestra released in 1956 by Capitol Records. This was Stan Kenton's big band's first full-length recording of Afro-Cuban-styled music. The LP charted for four weeks in ''Billboard (magazine), B ...

'' (

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

, 1956) With

Roland Kirk Roland (; ; or ''Rotholandus''; or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. The historical Roland was mil ...

*'' Left & Right'' (Atlantic, 1968) With

Michel Legrand Michel Jean Legrand (; 24 February 1932 – 26 January 2019) was a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, jazz pianist, and singer. Legrand was a prolific composer, having written over 200 film and television scores, in addition to ma ...

*''Michel Legrand Big Band Plays Richard Rogers'' (Phillips, 1963) With the Manhattan Jazz All-Stars *''Swinging Guys and Dolls'' (Columbia, 1959) With

Herbie Mann Herbert Jay Solomon (April 16, 1930 – July 1, 2003), known by his stage name Herbie Mann, was an American jazz Flute, flute player and important early practitioner of world music. Early in his career, he also played tenor saxophone and clarinet ...

*'' The Herbie Mann String Album'' (Atlantic, 1967) With Cal Massey *'' Blues to Coltrane'' (Candid, 1961 987 With Mat Mathews *''The Modern Art of Jazz by Mat Mathews'' (Dawn, 1956) *''4 French Horns plus Rhythm'' (Elektra, 1958) With Charles McPherson *'' Today's Man'' (Mainstream, 1973) With Gil Mellé *'' Gil's Guests'' (

Prestige Prestige may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Films *Prestige (film), ''Prestige'' (film), a 1932 American film directed by Tay Garnett: woman travels to French Indochina to meet up with husband *The Prestige (film), ''The Prestige'' (fi ...

, 1963) With

*'' Music Written for Monterey 1965'' (Jazz Workshop, 1965) *'' Let My Children Hear Music'' (Columbia, 1972) With Blue Mitchell *'' A Sure Thing'' (Riverside, 1962) With

*''

Monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

'' (Prestige, 1954) *'' Thelonious Monk and Sonny Rollins'' (Prestige, 1954) With David Newman *'' The Many Facets of David Newman'' (Atlantic, 1969) With

Oliver Nelson Oliver Edward Nelson (June 4, 1932 – October 28, 1975) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger, composer, and bandleader. His 1961 Impulse! album '' The Blues and the Abstract Truth'' (1961) is regarded as one of the most signi ...

*'' Afro/American Sketches'' (Prestige, 1961) With Chico O'Farrill *'' Nine Flags'' (Impulse!, 1966) With

Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. As a virtuoso who is considered to be one of the greatest Jazz piano, jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordin ...

*'' Bursting Out with the All-Star Big Band!'' (Verve, 1962) With Oscar Pettiford *'' The New Oscar Pettiford Sextet'' (Debut, 1953) * '' Oscar Pettiford'' (Bethlehem, 1954) *'' The Oscar Pettiford Orchestra in Hi-Fi'' (ABC-Paramount, 1956) *'' The Oscar Pettiford Orchestra in Hi-Fi Volume Two'' (ABC-Paramount, 1957) With Johnny Richards *''Experiments in Sound'' (Capitol, 1958) *''The Rites of Diablo'' (Roulette, 1958) *''Walk Softly/Run Wild!'' (Coral, 1959) With the Riverside Jazz Stars *''A Jazz Version of Kean'' (Riverside, 1962) With Pete Rugolo *'' Rugolomania'' (Columbia, 1955) *'' New Sounds by Pete Rugolo'' (Harmony, 1954–55, 957 With

Pharoah Sanders Pharoah Sanders (born Ferrell Lee Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound", San ...

*''

Karma Karma (, from , ; ) is an ancient Indian concept that refers to an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptively called ...

'' (Impulse, 1969) With

George Shearing Sir George Albert Shearing (13 August 191914 February 2011) was a British jazz pianist who for many years led a popular jazz group that recorded for Discovery Records, MGM Records and Capitol Records. Shearing was the composer of over 300 so ...

*''Satin Brass'' (Capitol, 1959) With Warren Smith *''Composer's Workshop Ensemble'' (Strata-East, 1972) With Les Spann *'' Gemini'' (Jazzland, 1961) With

Billy Taylor Billy Taylor (July 24, 1921 – December 28, 2010) was an American jazz pianist, composer, broadcaster and educator. He was the Robert L. Jones Distinguished Professor of Music at East Carolina University in Greenville, and from 1994 was the a ...

*'' Kwamina'' (Mercury, 1961) With Clark Terry *'' Color Changes'' (Candid, 1960) With

McCoy Tyner Alfred McCoy Tyner (December 11, 1938March 6, 2020) was an American jazz piano, jazz pianist and composer known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet from 1960 to 1965, and his long solo career afterwards. He was an NEA Jazz Masters, NEA J ...

*'' Song of the New World'' (Milestone, 1973) With Randy Weston *'' Uhuru Afrika'' (Roulette, 1960) *''

Highlife Highlife is a Ghanaian music genre that originated along the coastal cities of present-day Ghana in the 19th century, during its Gold Coast (region), history as a colony of the British and through its trade routes in coastal areas. It encompasse ...

'' (Colpix, 1963) *'' Tanjah'' (Polydor, 1973) With Art Webb *''Mr. Flute'' (Atlantic, 1977) With

Mary Lou Williams Mary Lou Williams (born Mary Elfrieda Scruggs; May 8, 1910 – May 28, 1981) was an American jazz pianist, arranger, and composer. She wrote hundreds of compositions and arrangements and recorded more than one hundred records (in 78, 45, and ...

*''Mary Lou's Mass'' (Mary, 1972 975 With Phil Woods *'' Rights of Swing'' (Candid, 1961)

References

External links

* All musicbr>Downbeat bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watkins, Julius 1921 births 1977 deaths Jazz musicians from Detroit American jazz horn players Manhattan School of Music faculty Blue Note Records artists 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American male musicians African-American jazz musicians 20th-century African-American musicians