Ernie Watts

Biography

Watts was born in Norfolk, Virginia, and began playing saxophone at thirteen. After a brief period at West Chester University, he attended the Berklee College of Music on a Down Beat magazine scholarship. He toured with Buddy Rich in the mid-1960s, occupying one of the alto saxophone chairs, with Lou Marini occupying the other. He visited Africa on a U.S. State Department tour with Oliver Nelson's group. For twenty years he played tenor saxophone with The Tonight Show Band under Doc Severinsen. He was a featured soloist on many of Marvin Gaye's albums on Motown during the 1970s, as well as on many other pop and R&B sessions during his twenty-five years as a studio musician in Los Angeles. He has won two Grammy Awards as an instrumentalist.

In the mid-1980s Watts decided to rededicate himself to jazz. He recorded and toured with German guitarist and composer Torsten de Winkel, drummer Steve Smith, and keyboardist Tom Coster. He was invited to join Charlie Haden's Quartet West. They met backstage one night after Haden heard Watts play "Nightbird" by Michel Colombier. Watts played on soundtracks for the movies Grease and The Color Purple and on the theme song for the TV show Night Court.

He was featured in the Windows XP edition Jazz preview. The song he was featured in was "Highway Blues".

In 2008, his album Analog Man won the Independent Music Award for Best Jazz Album. He played on Kurt Elling's album Dedicated to You, which won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album in 2011.

As leader

With Karma

As sideman

With Billy Alessi and Bobby Alessi

With Gene Ammons

With Paul Anka

With Willie Bobo

With Brass Fever

With Kenny Burrell

With Lee Ritenour

With David Axelrod

With Donald Byrd

With Stanley Clarke

With Randy Crawford

With Donna Summer

Donna Summer (Eponymous Quincy Jones Producer 1982)

With Kurt Elling

With Marvin Gaye

With Dizzy Gillespie

With Charlie Haden

With Bobby Hutcherson

With Milt Jackson

With J. J. Johnson

With Carole King

With Charles Kynard

With Eric Martin

With John Mayall

With Carmen McRae

With Blue Mitchell

With Helen Reddy

With New Stories

With Moacir Santos

With Lalo Schifrin

With Bud Shank

With Gábor Szabó

With Gino Vannelli

With Gerald Wilson

With Torsten de Winkel and Hellmut Hattler