Ernie Watts Quartet

His 1998 release Classic Moods may be the most personal recorded statement Ernie Watts has made to date. With a strong sense of melody, Watts melds improvisation and harmonic structure utilizing a base in blues. Watts` musical loyalties are evidenced in his selection of pieces associated with Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Billie Holiday.

Watts' other JVC recordings Reaching Up, Unity and The Long Road Home demonstrate that he is a musician of the first order. Watts also records and plays regularly with Charlie Haden`s Quartet West and his own project The Ernie Watts Quartet.

In addition to keeping The Ernie Watts Quartet active with concert appearances, Watts travels the world conducting music workshops for all student levels. He has also compiled a collection of orchestral charts, which he uses as a guest soloist with symphonies around the country. For Ernie Watts, all of his past success, and all that the future has to offer comes down to just one thing - playing the music.

ERNIE WATTS QUARTET

Grammy winning saxophonist Ernie Watts has spent his career performing in the far corners of the world, sharing his music with various cultures and meeting fellow musicians along the way. While on tour in the mid-‘90s, Watts had the opportunity to play with pianist Christof Saenger and a bond was created. After that meeting, Watts formed a quartet with Saenger at its heart. This group has consistently toured Europe on a semi-annual basis and has developed a fan base of jazz aficionados which continues to expand.

With Rudi Engel on acoustic bass and Heinrich Koebberling on drums, these four musicians have merged into a cohesive unit, creating a solid platform for Watts’ creative force. “Our history together has helped evolve the music we perform,” says Watts, “We communicate effortlessly, and instead of four voices we have created a group voice.”

The Quartet has toured Germany extensively and has performed in Zurich, Vienna, Istanbul, Kiev and Moscow. In 2004 Watts released Ernie Watts Quartet: ALIVE (recorded live in concert) documenting the union of these four masters.

ERNIE WATTS is one of the most versatile and prolific saxophone players in music. In a diverse career that has spanned more than thirty years, he has been featured on more than 500 recordings by artists ranging from Cannonball Adderley to Frank Zappa, always exhibiting his unforgettable trademark sound.

During classical saxophone training as a youth, he started to learn jazz by ear, often falling asleep at night listening to a stack of Coltrane records. After studying at the famed Berklee College of Music, Watts was asked to join the Buddy Rich Band in 1966, moved to Los Angeles in 1968, and began working in the big bands of Gerald Wilson and Oliver Nelson. He went on to become a longtime associate of Charlie Haden, including charter membership in Haden’s acclaimed Quartet West, and played and recorded with Pat Metheny, Gene Harris, Kenny Barron, and Jack DeJohnette, among many others. With 18 solo recordings to his credit Watts continues to build an impressive body of work, whether in the studio or on stage in live performance.

CHRISTOF SAENGER has developed a distinguished history, touring the world as a featured soloist and releasing nine recordings as a leader. Two of those CDs are duet recordings with Ernie Watts; Pa Chuly and Blue Topaz, released on Laika Records. His performance schedule is highlighted by concerts throughout South America, the U.S. and Canada, and tours of Japan with the Christof Saenger Trio. Saenger’s work includes musical affiliations with Branford Marsalis, Richie Cole, Bob Mintzer, George Mraz and Al Foster. A classically trained pianist, Christof Saenger adds a unique quality to Ernie Watts Quartet.

HEINRICH KOEBBERLING studied jazz drums at The New School in New York City and spent another three years freelancing around Manhattan. His solid and lyrical rhythms

have supported many classic jazz artists on stage: Lee Konitz, Tom Harrell, Gary Peacock, Clark Terry, Dee Dee Bridgewater, James Moody, Lew Tabackin, Walter Norris and Herb Geller, to name a few. Koebberling is a busy sideman and educator and has recorded several projects with his own groups.

RUDI ENGEL studied with jazz legends Ron Carter, Rufus Reid, Ron McClure and Barre Phillips. Engel has toured India, North Africa and the United States. Known for his distinctive melodic style and leading his own jazz trio, his double bass technique grew out of his early classical training. Engel is a professor of jazz double bass at the Hochschule Für Musik in Würzburg.