Jeff “Tain” Watts (b-1960)
The first time I saw and heard Jeff Watts was at a Walt Disney World – EPCOT Jazz Festival. It was 1984 with the Wynton Marsalis Group. Those early Columbia records, when Wynton and others were--- “The Young Lions” are very good.
Jeff’s playing in that group was explosive. That early band had a very original concept of moving and shifting the time and groove. It was straight ahead bebop in the tradition…but they took liberties with the arrangements.
I saw the group another time in Orlando. That ensemble included Marcus Roberts, Branford, Charnett Moffett and Jeff. Jeff Watts was the first drummer I’d seen since Elvin play with that much intensity. The way he moves around the drumset with fluidity and control of dynamics is rare.