[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 119 (Wednesday, September 11, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1293]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         HONORING BOBBY WATSON

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR.

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 11, 2013

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, legendary jazz artist Bobby Watson will be 
honored this year by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) 
at the Jazz Issue Forum and Concert that will take place during the 
43nd Annual Legislative Conference (ALC). Mr. Watson, an 
internationally renowned saxophonist/composer/arranger/bandleader/
educator, will also perform at the concert, which will take place on 
Thursday, September 19, 2013, at the Walter E. Washington Convention 
Center, in Washington, D.C. Mr. Watson will receive the 2013 CBCF ALC 
Jazz Legacy Award for his contributions to jazz and world culture.
  Blessed with sizzling and sinewy sound that Jazz: The Rough Guide 
described as ``a highly individual, extraordinarily fluid style imbued 
with powerful feeling,'' Watson was born in Lawrence, Kansas, and grew 
up in Kansas City, Kansas. He started playing piano at ten, the 
clarinet one year later, took up the saxophone in the eighth grade, 
played in various concert and R&B bands in high school. He graduated 
from the University of Miami in 1975, moved to New York City. Watson 
joined Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, serving as his Musical Director 
from 1977 to 1981. He has recorded over one hundred recordings as a 
sideman and has worked with an impressive array of artists including 
Max Roach, Joe Williams, Dianne Reeves, Betty Carter and Lou Rawls. He 
was also a co-founder of the 29th Street Saxophone Quartet.
  Watson formed the group, Horizon in 1980. Horizon's six recordings 
include No Question About It, Midwest Shuffle and Post-Motown Bop. 
Watson's nearly thirty CD's as a leader include Appointment in Milano, 
Round Trip, The Year of the Rabbit and his Kansas City opus, The Gates 
BBQ Suite. Watson's compositions, ``In Case You Missed It,'' ``Love 
Remains,'' and ``E.T.A,'' are considered modern jazz standards. Prof. 
Watson taught at William Patterson University in the mid-eighties, and 
at the Manhattan School of Music from 1986 to 1999. He returned to 
Kansas City in 2000, where he was selected as the recipient of the 
first William D. and Mary Grant Missouri Distinguished Professorship in 
Jazz Studies, the first endowed chair at the University of Missouri-
Kansas City Conservatory of Music, where he continues to serve as the 
Conservatory's Director of Jazz Studies. Watson received Howard 
University's Benny Golson Award earlier this year.
  Mr. Speaker, Mr. Watson is a living jazz treasure and I urge all 
members to join me in commending him for his magnificent contributions 
as an artist and educator.

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