I met Bill when I was a student at University of Texas at San Antonio. Walked into the exhibit hall at IAJE and spotted him across the room, yes I did recognize him right away by the iconic haircut. Walked over and stood to the side as he doodled. He stopped playing reached out, shook my hand like we'd known each other for decades and said "how's it going man". Loved that guy. So down to earth to be such a legend. Unfortunately he caught a taxi to the airport. I was scheduled to drive him on my shuttle.
Bill , I was at North Texas State , on a full scholarship , When Nixon sent me a letter stating he needed me . Thats how I ended up in a air force band .
Had a great opportunity and spent some time talking with Bill at the airport in Tucson two years ago. At that time he said he was playing a Bach horn and he left it with us for a while when he wanted to shop.
He's 5 years away from 80! What's the rush! He's NEVER changed! Always Great! Here's 'Willie' & I playing a duet on my tune "The Bridge" www.reverbnation.com/playlist/view_playlist/3455811?page_object=artist_1902452
I saw Bill play this with the Navy Commodores in 1977 at the Navy School of Music. Same great playing but he told longer better stories of when he was in the Navy at that concert. :-) Not sure why the actual learning and mastering of a "real" musical instrument fell out of favor but thankfully there are still a few examples around.
Bill had the most beautiful sound of anyone, when he played a ballad and didn't bury the mike into his bell eg. album #1 William Russell Watrous, circa 1967 The only change in his ballad style over the years was to slow down his vibrato very slightly. In my opinion he was the very best.
This fabulous player dies and what do you see on numerous pages ? "Hair" comments. Insults and digs about the man's HAIR. ??? I really hope there is a Heaven somewhere & he is still playing there, cause earthlings don't deserve having this kind of talent among them. RIP Mr. Watrous
Although I prefer Urbie, Bill was very, very good. Besides, Urbie never got his slide caught in a ceiling fan! (Saw the horn at Rob Stewart's repair shop and heard Rob's explanation about what happened.)
... yes, it was the 27.09. - September 28th, 2015 when I saw and listened to the legendary trombonist Bill Watrous here in Germany (Bavaria - Franconia - Nuremberg) with the local sundaynightorchestra. Even then he was already very weak on the jazz stage with 150 banned listeners. He was present and concentrated and a professional, although at the time it was noticed that he was overwhelming himself personally and he was not sparing, even though he gave 10 concerts during the university trip with workshops in different federal states. A German music teacher had organized this difficult, which turned out to be difficult since Bill had no internet and was first found through the University of Southern California, which then contacted his wife after months and was reachable by phone. The concert here in Nuremberg was a special experience for me, even well into the 50s, since it last appeared in Germany in 1992 and also produced recordings back then and before (legendary: Trombone Summit 1980 with B. Watrous; K. Winding; A. Mangelsdorff J. Wiggham). I was actually scared of his condition. Well, I wasn't like that. Hardly any space on the small stage and it was not particularly stable. Even I as a trombonist and my father as a radio musician were just over 60 years old on the physical front. But he was over 75. At that time I thought: all respect, but you have to do that physically with a reduced style of play at this age (he only improvised in the high registers between the first and second moves, without melody). Or did he want this. Being a musician and still in demand as a legend in old age is not easy when your physical condition plays a trick on you. My father had stopped at 58. He could also afford it financially in Germany, with his better social systems in old age. Unfortunately I got the departure of Bill W: FIRST TODAY. My father, as a trombonist, died two years before his 60th birthday. So Bill had done it right in his sense, to play until he left the stage when he wanted ... (in DEUTSCH)..ja, es war der 27.09. - 28. September 2015 als ich den legendären Posaunisten Bill Watrous hier in Deutschland (Bayern - Franken - Nürnberg) mit dem hiesigen sundaynightorchestra sah und lauschte. Schon damals war er schon sehr geschwächt stehend auf der Jazzbühne bei 150 gebannten Zuhörern. Er war präsent und konzentriert und ein Profi, obwohl man ihm damals anmerkte dass er sich persönlich überforderte und er sich nicht schonte, obwohl er 10 Konzerte innerhalb der Hochschul-Reise mit Workshops in verschieden Bundesländern gab. Ein deutscher Musiklehrer hatte dies beschwerlich organisiert, was sich als schwierig erwies, da Bill kein Internet hatte und erst über die University of Southern California ausfindig gemacht wurde, die dann mit seiner Frau nach Monaten kontakten und telefonisch erreichbar wurde. Das Konzert hier in Nürnberg war für mich, auch schon selbst weit in den 50er ein besonderes Erlebnis, da er ja das letzte Mal 1992 in Deutschland auftrat und auch schon damals und bereits vorher Schallplattenaufnahmen produzierte (legendär: Trombone Summit 1980 mit B. Watrous; K. Winding; A. Mangelsdorff J. Wiggham). Eigentlich war ich war erschrocken über seine Verfassung. Nun, so gesehen war ich es nicht. Kaum Platz auf der kleinen Bühne und standfest war er nicht besonders. Selbst ich als Posaunist und auch schon mein Vater als Rundfunkmusiker waren leicht über 60 Jahren körperlich an der Grenze. Aber er war über 75. Ich dachte mir damals: allen Respekt, aber MUSS man in dem Alter sich dass körperlich antun mit reduzierter Spielweise (er improvisierte nur in den hohen Lagen zwischen dem ersten und zweiten Zug, ohne Melodie). Oder wollte er dies. Musiker zu sein und noch gefragt als Legende im hohen Alter ist nicht einfach, wenn die körperlichen Befindlichkeiten einem einen Streich spielen. Mein Vater hatte mit 58 aufgehört. Er konnte sich das auch finanziell leisten in Deutschland, mit seinen besseren Sozialsystemen im Alter. Leider habe ich den Weggang von Bill W: ERST HEUTE MITBEKOMMEN. Mein Vater als Posaunist starb bereits zwei Jahre vor seinem 60. Geburtstag. Somit hatte Bill es in seinem Sinne doch richtig gemacht, solange zu spielen, bis er von der Bühne abging, wann er wollte …
