Eric Watson (born July 5, 1955) is an American jazz pianist. He was born in Wellesley, Massachusetts. [1] In 1978, he moved to Paris after graduating from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Oberlin, Ohio. [2] [3] Watson is signed to a long-term recording contract with ACT Records. [2]
Watson has worked with doublebass player John Lindberg, drummer Ed Thigpen, [4] and Steve Lacy. [5]
With Steve Lacy
Steve Lacy was an American jazz saxophonist and composer recognized as one of the important players of soprano saxophone. Coming to prominence in the 1950s as a progressive dixieland musician, Lacy went on to a long and prolific career. He worked extensively in experimental jazz and to a lesser extent in free improvisation, but Lacy's music was typically melodic and tightly-structured. Lacy also became a highly distinctive composer, with compositions often built out of little more than a single questioning phrase, repeated several times.
Han Bennink is a Dutch drummer and percussionist. On occasion his recordings have featured him playing soprano saxophone, bass clarinet, trombone, violin, banjo and piano.
Misha Mengelberg was a Dutch jazz pianist and composer. A prominent figure in post-WWII European Jazz, Mengelberg is known for his forays into free improvisation, for bringing humor into his music, and as a leading interpreter of songs by fellow pianists Thelonious Monk and Herbie Nichols.
David William Sanborn is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album Taking Off in 1975, but has been playing the saxophone since before he was in high school.
Gary Burton is an American jazz vibraphonist, composer, and educator. Burton developed a pianistic style of four-mallet technique as an alternative to the prevailing two-mallet technique. This approach caused him to be heralded as an innovator, and his sound and technique are widely imitated. He is also known for pioneering fusion jazz and popularizing the duet format in jazz, as well as being a major figure in music education from his 30 years at the Berklee College of Music.
Roy Anthony Hargrove was an American jazz musician and composer whose principal instruments were the trumpet and flugelhorn. He achieved worldwide acclaim after winning two Grammy Awards for differing styles of jazz in 1998 and in 2002. Hargrove primarily played in the hard bop style for the majority of his albums, but also had a penchant for genre-crossing exploration and collaboration with a variety of hip hop, soul, R&B and alternative rock artists. As Hargrove told one reporter, “I’ve been around all kinds of musicians, and if a cat can play, a cat can play. If it’s gospel, funk, R&B, jazz or hip-hop, if it’s something that gets in your ear and it’s good, that’s what matters.”
Michael Cain is a pianist and composer.
Aldo Romano is an Italian jazz drummer. He also founded a rock group in 1971.
Reflections is the second album by Steve Lacy which was released on the Prestige label in 1959. It features performances of Thelonious Monk's compositions by Lacy, Mal Waldron, Buell Neidlinger and Elvin Jones.
Evidence is the fourth album by Steve Lacy and was released on the New Jazz label in 1962. It features performances of four tunes written by Thelonious Monk and two from Duke Ellington by Lacy, Don Cherry, Carl Brown and Billy Higgins.
Only Monk is the third album by Steve Lacy to be released on the Italian Soul Note label. It features solo performances of nine tunes written by Thelonious Monk by Lacy. It is the second solo album composed totally of Monk's compositions recorded by Lacy following Eronel (1979) and follows a tradition established on Lacy's second album Reflections (1958) and Epistrophy (1969).
Live at Dreher, Paris 1981 is a live album by American jazz pianist Mal Waldron and soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy recorded in Paris in 1981 and released by the Hathut label. The four-CD box set combines recordings previously released on the LPs Snake Out in 1983, Herbe De L'oubli in 1986 and Let's Call This in 1986, with additional recordings from the concert series. The recordings were also released as two double-CD sets Live at Dreher, Paris 1981: Round Midnight Vol. 1 and Live at Dreher, Paris 1981: The Peak Vol. 2.
I Remember Thelonious is a live album by soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy and pianist Mal Waldron recorded in Italy in 1992 and released on the Nel Jazz label.
Pandelis Karayorgis is a Greek-born and Boston-based pianist, composer and educator.
Paris Blues is an album of duets by pianist Gil Evans and saxophonist Steve Lacy recorded in Paris in 1987 and released on the French Owl label. The album was Evans' final studio recording before his death in 1988. The album was released in the US on Sunnyside Records in 2003.
Sophia Domancich is a French pianist and jazz composer.
Morning Joy, subtitled Live at Sunset Paris is a live album by saxophonist Steve Lacy which was recorded in France in 1986 and first released on the hat ART label in 1989. The album was reissued in 2001 as Morning Joy and 2015 as Morning Joy...Paris Live with an additional track.
Clangs is a live album by soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy featuring a double sextet, which was recorded in Germany in 1992 and released on the Swiss hat ART label in 1993.
Spirit of Mingusis a live album by soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy and pianist Eric Watson, which was recorded in Paris in 1991 and first released on the Free Lance label in 1992.
Let's Call This... Esteem is a live album by soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy and pianist Mal Waldron recorded in Oxford in 1993 and released on the Slam label.