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Bill Watrous

3K views 19 replies 17 participants last post by  dexdex 
#1 ·
R.I.P.
 
#3 ·
I celebrate that I heard his music. Thank you, Bill.

For those that have never heard of him, check it out. No excuses for missing out on this man's contributions.
 
#8 ·
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.
 
#13 ·
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.
 
#15 ·
Those of us of a "certain age" fondly remember his two Manhattan Wildlife Refuge albums from the mid-1970s.
Yes!

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...
Amen. I've a friend that has been playing bass trombone for 50+ years, that had a shoulder rebuild a couple years ago. Tough. Committed.
 
#14 ·
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.
 
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