Inspired improvisation

Trevor Watts is a world-class composer, saxophonist and percussionist from the north of England, devoted to exploring the possibilities of combining music of all genres. Veryan Weston is a first-rate British jazz pianist also devoted to improvisation. As a duo, they aim to perform an entire evening of improvised music - a rare treat at the usually mainstream jazz venue Reduta.

Watts, born in 1939 in York, England, has been a jazz man his entire life. "I've been into jazz since the '40s, as my father had lived in Canada and the USA in the late '20s and brought back many jazz recordings of Duke Ellington, Tex Beneke, Billie Holiday, Fats Waller - you name it, we had it," he says. "That music was in my house from my birth."

In the late '50s, Watts had to do his military service, joining the Royal Air Force (RAF). He became a member of the RAF Band, where he first met like-minded experimental jazz musicians John Stevens (drummer) and Paul Rutherford (trombonist).

Starting in the early '60s, Watts devoted himself to experimental improvisation. With Stevens and Rutherford, he co-founded the Spontaneous Music Ensemble (SME), which became a seminal mid-'60s free jazz group in the UK, eventually including Evan Parker and Phil Minton. They forged developments in European-style jazz that were inspired by like-minded circles in New York led by John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman and Albert Ayler.

This was followed by Watts' avant-garde electric group Amalgam, which ran from 1967 to 1981. Recalling the parallel British rock 'n 'roll era, Watts says, "Even John Lennon played with us, along with Yoko Ono, who had been doing some concerts with the group."

Through the '70s, Watts also had an important improvisational duo with drummer Liam Genockey (of Amalgam). Since the early '80s, he has been playing with numerous other percussionists, mainly Africans, beginning with the Moire Music Group (1980). Veryan Weston joined the group in 1988, but it wasn't until just a few years ago that he and Watts decided to form a duo.

"I would say that playing music with Veryan feels like second nature to me," Watts says. "We complement each other very well, and the music always has a flow. Veryan has the ability to make anything that I play sound logical, and I think I do the same for him. It's a case of almost guessing where each other is going. Also, we have played for many years together, and it's always good and of the highest standard. There are no taboos - whatever comes up, be it a beautiful melody or rhythm, or something abstract, as long as it feels logical, we'll pursue each idea."

Watts last played Prague in 2004 with speed-demon percussionist Jamie Harris, who was in one of his last large groups, the Celebration Band. But he was here much earlier. "I certainly did come before the Velvet Revolution, and am on a recording by your distinguished record company Supraphon," he says. "It was a radio recording. I remember Jiří Stivín, Tony Oxley and many others. I still have the record somewhere."

Most recently, Watts has devoted his time to a Mexican project with Gibran Cervantes, who plays a handmade instrument called an urukungolo, made of many berimbaus (a bow instrument from Brazil) wired together into the shape of a sculpture. With Brazilian percussionist Cyro Baptista, they produce a captivating and other-worldly sound.

As for his show with Weston, it will not be an abrasive free jazz affair - the noisy rumblings of the Spontaneous Music Ensemble are long gone. "I urge anyone reading this to get to the club and have a listen," says Watts. "I can guarantee a great night of music for sure."

And, with almost 50 years of experience behind him, one can be assured that he is right.

Tony Ozuna can be reached at
features@praguepost.com