THIS EVENT IS A PART OF BARKING LEGS THEATER’S 30TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION!
Saxophonist Trevor Watts is one of the cental figures in British exploratory music, a term that I’ve chosen purposely to convey the extreme breadth of music explored during his long career. He performed for us twice with piano virtuoso Veryan Weston, and it is our very good fortune that this rare tour of the US with percussionist Jamie Harris coincides with our 30th Anniversary Celebration. Truth be told, I didn’t dream we’d have the opportunity to present Trevor Watts again. The bio below is condensed from a more detailed account on AllAboutJazz.
Trevor had to do his National Service in the RAF, and joined the RAF band in 1959. It was there he met John Stevens and Paul Rutherford amongst others and formed the musical association that was to become the Spontaneous Music Ensemble and Amalgam in the early 60's. These groups radically changed the face of European style Jazz and improvised music, and opened up the way for others. Shortly before the formation of the SME in 1965, Trevor had gained some experience playing at the Marquee Club in London with the likes of Sonny Boy Williamson, Long John Baldry and Rod Stewart amongst others.
Amalgam incorporated many different elements within the music. These elements were mainly introduced by the different types of musicians within the group. Trevor always believing that it didn't matter what "style" a person played, but that if the desire was there to play together, a way could be found.
It was always Trevor’s desire to include the African rhythmic element within the improvised musical form, and it was this group that first achieved that. Included in his Moire Music Drum Orchestra of the 1990s were 4 African drummers, bass guitar, drums and his saxophones. Initially in 1990 the group had a 6 week tour of Canada, USA, Venezuela and Mexico, and it was on that tour that the music was shaped and honed. The Moire Drum Orchestra lasted until about 1998 and in that time toured all over the World including Colombia, Venezuela, Caribbean Islands, Burma (Twice), India, Singapore Arts Festival, Malaysia, USA, Canada, Azores Islands, S Africa, Botswana and Lesotho amongst others places.
The Drum Orchestra is no more, but Moire Music have been performing in various sizes as a Trio, Quartet and Quintet, and also visited many countries such as Sudan, Cameroon, New Zealand, Australia, USA, Canada, Jamaica (including playing for the Prime Minister), Trinidad, Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Bolivia amongst many other countries as a smaller unit.
Percussionist Jamie Harris has performed with Trevor Watts for nearly 25 years. Enjoy this link to The Wire feature article with clips both from one of Trevor’s larger ensembles and a casual performance lakeside in Mongolia by the duo.
This is a very special opportunity to catch a living legend in Chattanooga!
Student admission just $10 at the door.
Our Community Connector for the evening is Chattanooga’s own magnificent drummer from Ghana, Kofi Mawuko. At this point, who doesn’t know Kofi? He’s been a musical force at Barking Legs for decades, and he’s given his talent and energy widely in our community and beyond. He’ll be in the lobby for some chat and a bit of demo between 6:30 and 7:30, and we hope to get him on stage for a bit with Trevor and Jamie.
WAIT!!!
Why pay for ONE show when you could see MORE and save money with a BL30 Pass?!