BLP 5064

Julius Watkins Sextet - Volume 2

Released - 1955

Recording and Session Information

Van Gelder Studio, Hackensack, NJ, March 20, 1955
Julius Watkins, French horn; Hank Mobley, tenor sax #1-3,5; Duke Jordan, piano; Perry Lopez, guitar #2,4,5; Oscar Pettiford, bass; Art Blakey, drums.

tk.4 B And B
tk.6 Garden Delights
tk.11 Jordu (as Jor-du)
tk.13 Julie Ann
tk.15 Sparkling Burgundy

Track Listing

Side One
Title	Author	Recording Date
Garden Delights	Julius Watkins	March 20 1955
Julie Ann	Watkins-Morgan	March 20 1955
Sparkling Burgundy	Julius Watkins	March 20 1955
Side Two
B And B	Bennie Harris-Bud Powell	March 20 1955
Jor-Du	Duke Jordan	March 20 1955

Liner Notes

...

Connoisseur CD Reissue Liner Notes

PRIOR TO THESE Blue Note sessions, Julius Watkins's first jazz exposure came from a Thelonious Monk quintet session for Prestige that included Sonny Rollins and introduced "Friday The 13th," "Think Of One" and "Let's Call This" to the world and an Oscar Pettiford sextet date for Debut.

As these sessions prove, Watkins had extraordinary facility and the imaginative mind of a jazz improviser. This music is pure bop with no concessions to the technical difficulty in adapting French horn to the form.

These recordings came at the end of the 10-inch era and, if they had any chance of selling, the new 12-inch format took care of that. Julius Watkins persevered and formed The Jazz Modes in 1957 with tenor saxophonist Charlie Rouse (they'd worked together in Pettiford's sextet.) The group lasted for three years and five albums (on Dawn and Atlantic) with some success. "Linda Delia" and "Garden Delights" from these sessions found their way into the Jazz Modes repertoire.

But Watkins was becoming more and more in demand in studios, Broadway pits and the big bands of Pettiford, Pete Rugolo, Johnny Richards, George Shearing and later Charles Mingus. His technique and jazz ability made him doubly valuable on large-scale jazz recordings like Miles Davis's Porgy And Bess, Randy Weston's Uhuru Africa, John Coltrane's Africa Brass and countless sessions by Gil Evans, Oliver Nelson, Art Farmer, Curtis Fuller, Milt Jackson and so many others.

Watkins never realized his goal to bring his instrument into the jazz mainstream. But his efforts have been carried on by the likes of John Clark, Tom Varner, Alex Brofsky and Vincent Chauncey. And the music he made under his own leadership and with so many giants is a testament to his varied and ubiquitous career.

—MICHAEL CUSCUNA
1998