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Talking with colleagues recently, a topic that came up was how some great players of the recent past are unjustly neglected today. In terms of horn, whenever a discussion turns to the French horn in jazz, soon you recognize that Julius Watkins (1921-1977) literally created the genre, and is very worthy of a closer look.
Watkins has been the subject of scholarly research, but before looking at that, let us look at Watkins in action. While you are listening to this 1960 performance below, observe how effortless it all looks for him, and also make a mental note of what exactly are the highest and lowest notes he performs?
His discography is extensive and can be easily accessed for reference in the Wikipedia article on Julius Watkins.
Patrick Smith, in his 2005 dissertation “Julius Watkins and the Evolution of the Jazz French Horn Genre,” offers this on why Watkins choose the horn, a story which many readers can relate to easily.
Julius was nine years old when the horn6 lured him away from the saxophones, trumpets and drums; instruments which were significantly more popular than the horn amongst beginning bandsmen. He was considering tutelage on the guitar or trumpet when Francis Hellstein, Principal Horn in the Detroit Symphony, presented a guest performance at Julius’ school. He finalized his decision upon hearing the horn’s call. “I liked the sound,” said Watkins. “I don’t know exactly why, and I still can’t explain it satisfactorily. But I fell in love with the sound and with the instrument.”7
Watkins was later able to study with Hellstein, and had his foundations in a traditional horn background. He attended a technical high school, which allowed him besides playing in the orchestra to take courses in harmony, music appreciation, and piano. Smith states that as part of his studies with Hellstein “Certainly Julius was familiar with Mozart’s four horn concerti along with Richard Strauss’ ‘First Concerto.’” But then Smith relates that, in recognition of the difficulty of developing an orchestral career as an African-American,
By the summer of 1937, Julius had determined that his musical career path would be different from that of any other performer of his instrument up until that time. “I wanted to be a soloist,” said Watkins in an interview with Downbeat Magazine. “There is very little repertoire in Classical music for solo horn. So, I learned to jazz.”13 Known for being a stubborn individual,14 Julius was obsessed with becoming the first great jazz horn soloist ever. His thirst for listening to jazz and playing jazz was unquenchable.
The Smith dissertation gives extensive background on his life after he left high school, at which point he started his career in Detroit and then made his way to New York.
To continue this concise look at Watkins, we now turn to the liner notes for the CD Next Mode by Vincent Chancey. I would especially like to highlight this CD for two reasons. One, it is a wonderful CD! I’ve listened to it hundreds of times. But also this CD, so far as I can tell, is not on YouTube, Spotify, etc. You really should track down a copy, and Chancey still has it listed for sale on his website. Chancey shares that
Next Mode is a contemporary extension of a group that existed in the mid-fifties called The Jazz Modes or Les Jazz Modes. Julius Watkins was the musical director as well as French hornist. Charlie Rouse played tenor saxophone. The Jazz Modes were a quintet that used various rhythm sections. According to a conversation I had with Charlie Rouse, they recorded seven albums; one master was lost, so only six were released.
Of course, Julius Watkins was a big influence on me. I first heard him at the age of 15, after which I collected any album that had his name on it. He played and recorded with many people other than The Jazz Modes….
Upon receiving my degree in music, I moved to New York to find this incredible jazz pioneer of the French horn. After much hesitation, Mr. Watkins accepted me as a student. He had not taken any students before then, probably because nobody was interested, but after that he did. He imparted some very valuable information to me about playing horn in jazz. Things like alternative fingerings to use for different instrumental pairings, one with strings, maybe another with brass or woodwinds. Also how to project in large ensembles. This may include choice of register or note voicings. We would have lengthy conversations about his career as I battle to begin one myself.
With the recording Next Mode Chancey was attempting to recreate the sound of The Jazz Modes. The first track is a work composed by Watkins for The Jazz Modes, Linda Delia. Below is Watkins performing this work.
I personally really enjoy the entire Next Mode CD. As noted earlier, this is only available now in hard copy, but if you go to the Chancey sales page you can hear the beginning of his version. The call to action here being, if you still listen to CDs (and you should!), buy a copy! Only one of his four recordings as a leader are currently on Spotify, a reminder that there is a lot of great music out there if you put in a little extra effort to find it.
Finally, for a more recent performance set from Vincent Chancey, this last video is also well worth an extended listen. I have not posted on jazz much in Horn Matters, but in reality I am a big fan, and will be looking at the topic more than normal in my teaching this fall.
