Charlie Watts Quintet - A Tribute To Charlie Parker With String

Styles: Jazz, Bop
Year: 1992
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 76:16
Size: 174,9 MB
Art: Front

(0:24) 1. Intro
(6:06) 2. Practicing, Practicing, Just Great
(5:10) 3. Black Bird, White Chicks
(4:28) 4. Bluebird
(5:46) 5. Bound For New York
(3:57) 6. Terra De Pajaro
(4:58) 7. Bad Seeds - Rye Drinks
(3:54) 8. Relaxing At Camarillo
(7:11) 9. Going, Going, Going, Gone
(0:43) 10. Intro To The Second Set
(3:18) 11. Just Friends
(3:16) 12. Cool Blues
(3:24) 13. Dancing In The Dark
(5:37) 14. Dewey's Square
(4:05) 15. Rocker
(6:33) 16. Lover Man
(7:18) 17. Perdido

Charlie Watts, the Rolling Stones drummer, was no fish out of water Thursday night at the Palace, leading his quintet, plus an eight-piece orchestra, through a program of tunes from that complicated yet most appealing art form, be-bop. Watts deftly broad-jumped genres as he and his cohorts played selections from his recent, first-rate release, “A Tribute to Charlie Parker With Strings.” The concert included such Parker compositions as “Cool Blues,” played by the quintet, and “Dewey Square,” played with strings added. Additionally, one heard songs associated with Parker, such as a re-creation of the classic “with strings” version of “Just Friends,” and originals written for the ensemble by its musical director, the compelling English alto saxophonist Peter King. While Watts isn’t a true bopper in the manner of a Max Roach or a Roy Haynes, that didn’t prove a detriment to his performance. Employing a tidy, non-flamboyant style, he kept the beat with crisp ride cymbal attacks, and occasionally whacked his snare drum to add propelling accents. The leader preferred to stay in the background, simply providing accompaniment, smiling or nodding his head in empathy as he played.

And while the moderate-size audience may have been watching Watts, it was King who stole the show. The 52-year-old horn man, who speaks Parker fluently, played with brio, delivering swooping and sweeping forays that were packed with choice notes as well as gritty little blues phrases that made you want to say, “A-men.” His originals, exemplified by the Latin-based “Terra de Pajaro,” were of the be-bop era, yet sounded fresh. Trumpeter Gerard Presencer, pianist Brian Lemon and bassist David Green were the other logs in this nicely burning fire. Session singer Bernard Fowler served as the evening’s narrator, reading Watts’ children’s book about Parker, “Ode to a High Flying Bird,” as a segue between tunes and singing “Laura” and “Loverman.” https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-07-25-ca-3707-story.html

Personnel: Charlie Watts - drums; Peter King - alto saxophone, musical director; Gerard Presencer - trumpet; Brian Lemon - piano; David green - acoustic bass: Bernard Fowler - narration, vocals on "Loverman"

String Section: Jim David - violin; Arnold Goodger - violin; Andrew Hughes - violin; Adrian Staines - violin; Nicola Akeroyd - viola; Sylvia Knussen - cello; Robert Johnson - harp; Julie Robinson - oboe

A Tribute To Charlie Parker With String

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Charlie Watts Quintet - From One Charlie

Styles: Jazz, Bop
Year: 1991
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 28:02
Size: 65,6 MB
Art: Front

(5:51) 1. Practising, Practising, Just Great
(4:27) 2. Blackbird - White Chicks
(2:47) 3. Bluebird
(2:18) 4. Terra De Pájaro
(3:57) 5. Badseeds - Rye Drinks
(3:36) 6. Relaxing at Camarillo
(5:02) 7. Going, Going, Going, Gone

Charlie Watts, a charter member of the Rolling Stones and an OK jazz drummer, financed a few jazz projects during the 1980s and '90s. This particular set a tribute to Charlie Parker that features a quintet, vocalist Bernard Fowler (who sings "Lover Man" and adds some narration about Parker's life), six strings, harp, and oboe has renditions of seven songs associated with Bird. Altoist Peter King is easily the solo star, trumpeter Gerard Presencer is decent but not on the same level, and pianist Brian Lemon also gets in some spots; Watts stays in the background. This well-intentioned program is well worth acquiring and its highlights include versions of "Just Friends," "Dewey Square," and "Perdido."~ Scott Yanow https://www.allmusic.com/album/tribute-to-charlie-parker-with-strings-mw0000614758

Personnel: Drums – Charlie Watts; Piano – Brian Lemon; Saxophone, Alto Sax & Leader - Peter King; Trumpet – Gerard Presencer; David Green - Bass.

From One Charlie

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Charlie Watts - Long Ago And Far Away

Styles: Jazz, Bop
Year: 1996
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:57
Size: 135,2 MB
Art: Front

(4:23) 1. I've Got A Crush On You
(5:04) 2. Long Ago And Far Away
(4:53) 3. More Than You Know
(4:07) 4. I Should Care
(4:56) 5. Good Morning Heartache
(2:51) 6. Someday (You'll Be Sorry)
(4:24) 7. I Get Along Without You Very Well
(3:49) 8. What's New?
(4:14) 9. Stairways To The Stars
(4:06) 10. In The Still Of The Night
(5:12) 11. All Or Nothing At All
(3:55) 12. I'm In The Mood For Love
(3:42) 13. In A Sentimental Mood
(3:13) 14. Never Let Me Go

Charlie Watts has always had a reputation as the coolest and quietest Rolling Stone. But ask the drummer about something he really cares about the great bebop players or the timeless jazz standards that the Charlie Watts Quintet perform on their new album, Long Ago and Far Away and you can’t shut him up. Watts formed the quintet in 1991 to record an album to accompany the reprinting of Ode to a High Flying Bird, a children’s book he wrote and illustrated in 1964 as a tribute to his hero, the saxophonist Charlie Parker. In the five years since the Parker project, the Stones’ backing vocalist Bernard Fowler has joined the quintet, and the group has recorded three more albums, each a labor of love undertaken by Watts in between commitments to his day job. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/qa-charlie-watts-on-his-new-jazz-album-sketching-hotel-beds-and-the-40-year-old-sex-pistols-244375/

Personnel: Drums – Charlie Watts; Alto Saxophone – Peter King; Double Bass – David Green; Flugelhorn, Trumpet – Gerard Presencer; Orchestra – London Metropolitan Orchestra; Percussion – Louis Jardim; Piano – Brian Lemon; Vocals – Bernard Fowler

R.I.P.

Born: 2 June 1941

Died: 24 August 2021

Long Ago And Far Away

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Charlie Watts - Warm & Tender

Styles: Jazz, Bop
Year: 1993
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 71:14
Size: 163,5 MB
Art: Front

(4:49) 1. My Ship
(3:48) 2. Bewitched
(4:46) 3. My Foolish Heart
(5:40) 4. Someone to Watch Over me
(3:42) 5. I'll Be Around
(4:07) 6. Love Walked In
(4:44) 7. It Never Entered My Mind
(4:38) 8. My One and Only Love
(4:26) 9. I'm Glad There is You
(4:05) 10. If I Should Lose You
(4:56) 11. Ill Wind
(4:10) 12. Time After Time
(4:04) 13. Where Are You
(4:25) 14. For All We Know
(4:19) 15. They Didn't Believe Me
(4:26) 16. You Go To My Head

Drummer Charlie Watts is the engine that’s kept the Stones rolling for more than half a century. As the band's most unassuming, workmanlike, and reliably dapper member, he has always projected an air of cool nonchalance that contrasts sharply with Mick Jagger’s peacocking swagger and Keith Richards’ outlaw mystique. But his wrist-cracking snare thwacks are what give early signature singles like 1965’s “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” their agitated energy, while his hard-driving rhythm amplifies the apocalyptic menace of “Gimme Shelter.” And when you consider the Stones’ various stylistic experiments over the years the loose Latin-psych jamming of “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking,” the seedy disco of “Miss You,” the strobe-lit club grooves of “Undercover of the Night” it’s Watts’ steady hand anchoring every muse-chasing moment. Outside the Stones, Watts (born in London in 1941) has indulged a life-long love of blues and jazz that predates his career in rock. In 1991, he formed a quintet in tribute to another Charlie Parker and released a series of albums that reinvigorate bop standards, illustrating his foremost dedication: serving the music. "I don't know what show biz is,” he told the San Diego Union-Tribune that year. "There are people who just play instruments, and I'm pleased to know that I'm one of them.” https://music.apple.com/us/artist/charlie-watts/64374085

Personnel: Alto Saxophone – Peter King; Drums – Charlie Watts; Orchestra – Metropolitan Orchestra; Piano – Brian Lemon; Trumpet – Gerard Presencer; Vocals – Bernard Fowler

R.I.P.
Born: 2 June 1941

Died: 24 August 2021

Warm & Tender

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Danish Radio Big Band, The - Charlie Watts Meets The Danish Radio Big Band

Size: 119,9 MB
Time: 51:53
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2017
Styles: Jazz Rock
Art: Front

01. Elvin Suite Pt. 1 (9:16)
02. Elvin Suite Pt. 2 (5:53)
03. (Satis) Faction (6:10)
04. I Should Care (8:00)
05. You Can't Always Get What You Want (7:10)
06. Paint It Black (7:43)
07. Molasses (7:36)

A film director once said that you can't make a great film with a weak script. The same goes for bands of any kind be it jazz or rock or any kind. You can't have a great band without a great drummer. A band can get by with an average bassist or guitarist, but not with an average drummer. It's the heartbeat of any band. One of the things that has made the band Rolling Stones what they are is drummer Charlie Watts and his exceptional and unusual drumming skills. For more than 50 years, Watts has been the propulsive engine that has driven this juggernaut. Few other drummers were as integral to the development of rock and roll music by creating rollicking grooves that were executed with an unhurried elan. Watts is a player you can listen to for his sound alone as he balances the smooth and the jagged with great ease. Contemporary musicians don't come much more graceful in sound or execution than that.

Apart from his long stint as the drummer of one of the most successful and certainly the longest running rock and roll band in the world, it's not a secret Watts's true love has always been jazz and that he has always had a deep appreciation and admiration for this music which hasn't been that much exploited by the press. During the '50s and '60s, Watts fell in love with jazz music through 78 rpm vinyls and the music of musicians like saxophonists Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, Gerry Mulligan, trumpeter Miles Davis, to name but a few as well as the drummers they employed. Since then, he has been a passionate jazz aficionado whose knowledge about this music sits between the reverential and encyclopedic. During his sojourn with a marketing agency, he even penned an illustrated book about Charlie Parker as a tribute to him and has been collecting old drum sets used by drumming legends. During the day he would work at the agency and during the night he would play local gigs. And as many of his generation, he has learnt his trade both by listening to record and by observing jazz drummers in the London's London's jazz circles.

As a result, his drumming style has always been unorthodox and original. When he joined the Rolling Stones he used his jazz chops in order to invent his style of playing rock and blues rock that the Stones became known for and is the reason why he is so revered these days. When the Stones played in New York for the first time during their first American tour, he went to Birdland to see performances by his bassist Charles Mingus and saxophonist Sonny Rollins, and the latter would play years later with the Stones on a song named "Waiting on a Friend."

So it wasn't until the '80s and the '90s that Watts began fronting his own jazz bands whenever the demanding tours and work with the Stones would let him. Since then he has formed a number of jazz, boogie-woogie and big band outfits, including Rocket 88, the Charlie Watts Quintet and the Charlie Watts Tentet. Probably that is best portrayed in the thriller movie "Blue Ice" with actor Michael Caine playing a jazz club owner and Watts' band was the house jazz combo that brilliantly rocked the house. Charlie Watts meets the Danish Radio Big Band was instigated in 2009 by English trumpeter Gerard Presencer, who is also a member of the band. The Band had four days of rehearsals and then had a performance at the then newly opened Danish Radio Concert Hall in Copenhagen. All but two of the pieces here are rewrites of earlier, previously recorded selections either with the Rolling Stones or a selection of suits from his duet record with another drumming legend Jim Keltner. But to make a big band work has really very little to do with "star power" and has really everything to do with hard work. If it is played too conservative then everything will sound predictable and everyone will get bored. For a start, this record doesn't break any new ground. The emphasis is more on moods, harmonies and at moments the arrangements do nod at Gil Evans' or Mingus' styled approaches.

The date opens with two parts of "Elvin Suites" which as an original tune from the project with Kelter is a single composition. The original is an African styled piece with African harmonic voices meshed with piano flashes and cymbals. All of that is beautifully arranged here with dry hissing of Watts' brushes that drives the first part. It is indeed difficult to discern between what's arranged and what is spontaneous. The band's rapport is impressive and everything it plays sounds right. The second part emphasizes the drums and there are polyrhythmic runs that drive this piece with saxophonist Uffe Markussen taking the lead and soon the band steps on the gas and ups the game loud.

The Rolling Stones classics are beautifully rearranged and reharmonized. Nothing in these arrangements would hint at the original songs but a solo instrument would take a lead and directly reference the original melody. Even though named as "Faction" as soon as one hears the melody on the flugelhorn it becomes clear that this is "Satisfaction." Watt's subtle and non-flashy rhythm playing is utterly flawless and galvanizes the band. The same goes for the other two Stones classics "You Can't Always Get What You Want" and "Paint it Black." By no means is this a tribute of faithful recreations of these songs. The arranger shows a daring flair for reimagining these songs. Each of them is rethought and remodeled in order to come out with a vibrant new music. With its imaginative blend of melodies and grooves and colorful textures and timbres, these songs are a launchpad for the big band and its soloists to shine.

"I Should Care" is one of the hidden gems in this collection. There is a certain easiness and flow in this composition, but no blandness at all. The various soloists are stimulating and attentive conversationalists, always listening and often picking up on each other's quips. The album closes on a high note with a beautiful stomp "Molasses." Everything here is filled with movement. It's rich and sticky in rhythm and harmony and is exciting and boiling with energy.

This project feels good in the body and soul. The collaborative energy of this band is exhilarating and a joy to listen. More of this, please. ~by Nenad Georgievski

Personnel: Charlie Watts: drums; Per Gade: guitar,Anders Gustafsson: trumpet; Vincent Nilsson: trombone; David Green: acoustic bass; Peter Jensen: trombone; Steen Rasmussen: fender rhodes, piano; Uffe Markussen: tenor sax; Gerard Presencer: flugelhorn; Lars Møller: tenor sax; Steen Nikolaj Hansen: trombone; Nicolai Schultz: flute

Charlie Watts Meets The Danish Radio Big Band

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