Jeff "Tain" Watts
 | This article is missing information about Tain's early life and 20th century career. (January 2024) |
Jeff "Tain" Watts | |
|---|---|
 Watts performing with Wynton Marsalis in JazzFest 2007 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | January 20, 1960 Easton, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Origin | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, bandleader, actor |
| Instrument | Drums |
| Labels | Dark Key Music |
| Website | tainish |
Jeff "Tain" Watts (born January 20, 1960) is a jazz drummer who has performed with Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Betty Carter, Michael Brecker, Alice Coltrane, Ravi Coltrane, and others.
Biography
[edit]Watts got the nickname "Tain" from Kenny Kirkland when they were on tour in Florida and drove past a Chieftain gas station.[1] He was given a Guggenheim fellowship in music composition in 2017.[2] Watts attended Berklee College of Music, where he met collaborator Branford Marsalis.[3]
Discography
[edit]As leader
[edit]- Megawatts (Sunnyside, 1991)
- Citizen Tain (Columbia, 1999)
- Bar Talk (Columbia, 2002)
- Detained at the Blue Note (Half Note, 2004)
- Folks Songs (Dark Key Music, 2011)
- Watts (Dark Key Music, 2009)
- Family (Dark Key Music, 2011)
- Blue, Vol. 1 (Dark Key Music, 2015)
- Blue, Vol. 2 (Dark Key Music, 2018)
- Detained in Amsterdam (Dark Key Music, 2018)
As sideman
[edit]|
With John Beasley
With Paul Bollenback
With Michael Brecker
With Joey Calderazzo
With Charles Fambrough'
With Kenny Garrett
With Jimmy Greene
With David Gilmore
With Conrad Herwig
With Stanley Jordan
With David Kikoski
With Joe Locke
With Branford Marsalis
With Ellis Marsalis Jr.'
With Wynton Marsalis
With Mingus Big Band
With Greg Osby
With Makoto Ozone
With Danilo Perez
With Courtney Pine
With Robert Stewart
With Sadao Watanabe
With Warren Wolf
|
With others
|
Awards and honors
[edit]Grammy Awards
[edit]| Year | Category | Title | Genre | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Group | Black Codes From the Underground | Jazz | Won | with Wynton Marsalis |
| 1986 | Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Group | J Mood | Jazz | Won | with Wynton Marsalis |
| 1987 | Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Group | Marsalis Standard Time - Vol. 1 | Jazz | Won | with Wynton Marsalis |
| 1992 | Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Group | I Heard You Twice the First Time | Jazz | Won | with Branford Marsalis |
| 1990 | Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Group | Crazy People Music | Jazz | Nominated | with Branford Marsalis Quartet |
| 1999 | Best Jazz Instrumental Album by an Individual or Group | Requiem | Jazz | Nominated | with the Branford Marsalis Quartet. |
| 2000 | Best Jazz Instrumental Album by an Individual or Group | Contemporary Jazz | Jazz | Won | with the Branford Marsalis Quartet. |
| 2004 | Best Jazz Instrumental Album by an Individual or Group | Eternal | Jazz | Nominated | with the Branford Marsalis Quartet. |
| 2010 | Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album | Mingus Big Band Live at the Jazz Standard | Jazz | Won | with the Mingus Big Band |
| 2023 | Best Opera Recording | Fire Shut Up in My Bones (Blanchard) | Opera | Won | with the Metropolitan Opera |
| 2024 | Best Opera Recording | Champion (Blanchard) | Opera | Won | with the Metropolitan Opera |
| 2025 | Best Jazz Performance | Phoenix Reimagined (Live) | Jazz | Lakecia Benjamin ft Randy Brecker, Jeff Tain Watts and John Scofield |
Source:[4]
References
[edit]- ^ From an interview with Kevin Le Gendre for Jazz On 3 on BBC Radio 3.
- ^ 2017 Guggenheim Fellow
- ^ Milkowski, Bill (9 May 2019). "Jeff "Tain" Watts: The Reign of "Tain"". JazzTimes. Retrieved 2020-07-03.
- ^ grammy.com. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
External links
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jeff "Tain" Watts.
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| National | |
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Categories:
- 1960 births
- Living people
- American jazz drummers
- African-American drummers
- Jazz musicians from Pittsburgh
- Columbia Records artists
- Berklee College of Music alumni
- The Tonight Show Band members
- American session musicians
- 20th-century American drummers
- American male drummers
- 20th-century American male musicians
- American male jazz musicians
- Branford Marsalis Quartet members
- Sunnyside Records artists
- 20th-century African-American musicians
- 21st-century African-American musicians