Tenor saxophonist Ernie Watts' series of recordings for JVC Music has been among the finest of his career. Ernie Watts has consistently sounded explorative and at the top of his form on his JVC Music projects. Although he is quick to point out the inspiration of John Coltrane, Watts has long had a distinctive and soulful sound of his own. 

If Watts tenure at JVC, beginning with the 1994 release Reaching Up, has signified anything, it's that Watts is a jazz musician of the first order. Continuing with Unity (particularly notable for utilizing both Steve Swallow and Eddie Gomez on basses, 1995) and The Long Road Home (1996) which features a drumless trio with Kenny Baron and Reggie Workman, Watts has demonstrated a mastery of the tenor sax in the company of worldclass players. The JVC recordings showed the world what Southern California knew: After the day's studio work is done, Watts could often be heard playing fiery jazz at late night clubs.

Classic Moods may be the most personal recorded statement that Ernie Watts has made to date and is available on the JVC audiophile imprint XRCD. A glance at the material Watts has selected will indicate his musical loyalties, pieces associated with Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Billie Holiday. For a rhythm section, Watts could hardly have done better that pianist Mulgrew Miller, bassist George Mraz and drummer Jimmy Cobb.

Watts is quick to pick out that this album is not a homage, but a point of departure. "It wasn't like we were trying to recapture anything," he asserts, "we were trying to say something fresh. I believe that these arrangements, as done by Miles, Trane, Cannonball Adderly, are a significant part of jazz history. Sooner or later, musicians have to deal with these timeless renditions if they're serious about playing jazz. They are great improvisational springboards with beautiful melodies and harmonic content." His strength as a songwriter remains evident on Classic Moods as on his previous solo efforts. With a strong sense of melody, Watts melds improvisation and harmonic structure utilizing a base in the blues. Explains Watts, "The blues are the source, the essence, the seed of all our jazz improvisations. It's a simple format that allows a great deal of freedom. There's an incredible wealth or harmonic variation within the twelve bar form."

Throughout his career, Ernie Watts has always had his own trademark sound, uplifting sessions no matter what the genre. He remembers his beginnings. "When I was 13 and in the seventh grade, my school had instruments to lend to students who wanted to learn. I actually wanted to play trombone but, because the music department was all out of them, I started on baritone sax. I was always self-motivated so I practiced all the time. I learned how to play jazz by listening to records. After discovering John Coltrane on Kind of Blue, that was it for me. Hearing him when I was 15 or 16 really changed my life, because that is when I decided that I really wanted to play music professionally."

Watts won a scholarship to the Wilmington Music School in Delaware, where he studied classical music. Although he would enroll at West Chester University en route to becoming a music educator, he soon won a Downbeat Scholarship to the Berklee College Of Music. When Gene Quill left Buddy Rich's Band, trombonist Phil Wilson (a teacher at Berklee) was asked to recommend a replacement, and he brought up Watts' name. "I learned a lot from the experience of playing with Buddy. It was my first full time working band experience. Buddy was a masterful drummer so it was like going to school every night." Doc Severinsen heard Watts play with Rich one time, and when the Tonight Show relocated to Los Angeles, Watts was offered the orchestra's tenor spot, a position he held for twenty years. Within a short period, Ernie Watts was very busy working the studios, becoming a member of the NBC staff orchestra and playing sideman to a number of pop and rock artists.

A partial list of his credits include Cannonball Adderley, Quincy Jones, the Rolling Stones (including their 1981 tour and film Let's Spend The Night Together), Whitney Houston, Frank Zappa, Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamond, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Rickie Lee Jones, Chaka Khan, Billy Cobham, Pat Metheny and Lee Ritenour, among many others. He has appeared on many film and television scores (including The Fabulous Baker Boys, Ghostbusters, Tootsie, Arthur, The Color Purple, Fame, Night Court, Benson and Dynasty). His own recordings in the pop/crossover field include his version of Chariots Of Fire, which in 1983 won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental. The artist went on to capture a second Grammy in 1985 for Best Rhythm and Blues Instrumental, honoring his Warner Bros. recording, Musican.

When he recorded The Ernie Watts Quartet for JVC in 1988, it seemed to many listeners as if Watts was finally returning to jazz after a long absence. "Actually I had never really left jazz and I always listened to Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Joe Henderson, Booker Ervin and many other great jazz players. I became associated with the pop music world because I was soloing on countless pop sessions, but even during my studio era, I was always working on my jazz playing. Since moving to Colorado in 1987, Ernie Watts has taken less studio work, but his activities have not slowed down. He plays and records regularly with Charlie Haden's award winning Quartet West (a group also including pianist Alan Broadbent and drummer Larance Marable), and on occasion sits in with Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra. He is a member of The Meeting (a quartet with keyboardist Patrice Rushen and percussionist Ndugu Chancler) and can still be heard with Lee Ritenour in addition to numerous guest appearances on a variety of projects.

Watts eclectic mix of career activities has "expanded in almost every direction and the artistic evolution is far from finished," observes Michael Point in the Austin American-Statesman. In addition to keeping The Ernie Watts Quartet active with concert appearances he travels the world conducting workshops for all student levels on behalf of Boosey and Hawkes, distributors of Julius Keilwerth Saxophones. Watts' hearty tone and melodic improvisatioins keep him in demand by artists such as Billy Taylor for "Jazz at The Kennedy Center" and Mark Isham for a live performance of the film score from "After Glow."

Watts has also compiled a collection of orchestra charts which he uses as guest soloist with symphonies around the country. In fact, Watts was invited to perform the Stan Getz treasure "Focus" with the Turtle Island String Quartet at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center. Eric Levin of People Magazine sums it up, "the celebrated young lions of jazz may have daunting power and speed, but few of them have what tenor saxophonist Watts has honed to perfection, phrasing as natural as falling water and a sound that is at once steeped in tradition and wholly unique."