A friend of mine recounted when Watrous walked into a One o’Clock rehearsal at North Texas and asked, “Don’t they have an accounting school here? I’m not working so what makes you think you’re going to work”.
Brutal, but true.
I remember the first time I heard him on some music my band director was playing as class was starting.
I was like whoa! WTH is this!?!?!?
Been meaning to see him around town forever, but never had the time...
RIP...
I attended a trombone clinic given by Bill Watrous at the University of Utah hoping to learn something that would improve my brass teaching. As usual the clinic quickly got to the questions about his mouthpiece and equipment. His answer was, "For several years I spent a lot of time and money trying different set ups and discovered that in two weeks I sounded the same as I always did. Then I learned that in order to sound different, I needed to change my concept." At that time and place in the 1970's my search for the holy grail of sax mouthpieces ended. Thanks Bill.
A tremendous player with incredible chops and good taste. I always enjoyed his work and was very fortunate to have heard him many years back. Sorry to hear the news.
Those of us of a "certain age" fondly remember his two Manhattan Wildlife Refuge albums from the mid-1970s. Less well-known: in the mid-1960s he did a couple of easy-listening albums, one called "In Love Again" under the name William Russell Watrous and the other, with The Walter Raim Concept, "Love Themes For The Underground, The Establishment & Other Sub Cultures Not Yet Known." Oh yeah.
His NY Times obit mentions that he almost joined a minor league baseball team when he was in his 40s.
He was so fluid with incredible range, speed, and lyricism, and he made it all look completely effortless. He also tended to blather endlessly when he was fronting a big band, which I heard him do on a few occasions. I always had the feeling he was trying to play as little as possible, or maybe rest as much as possible between numbers. Maybe it wasn't as effortless as it looked. Trombone-playing isn't for the faint of heart and he kept it up at an incredibly high level into his 70s and for all I know basically until the end of his life.
Maybe it wasn't as effortless as it looked. Trombone-playing isn't for the faint of heart and he kept it up at an incredibly high level into his 70s...
In the 70s I was at UC Northridge.
I wasn't in the A band but would listen in.
Bill was working with the trombone section.
They were having trouble with articulation so he played flight of the Bumblebee up to speed and tongued every note faster than I could play it on the flute.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Sax on the Web Forum
3.3M posts
75.5K members
Since 2003
A forum community dedicated to saxophone players and enthusiasts originally founded by Harri Rautiainen. Come join the discussion about collections, care, displays, models, styles, reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more!