Charlie Watts
Charlie Watts' drumming was one of the primal forces behind the Rolling Stones forging the entire genre of hard rock out of R&B, 50s rock and roll and Chicago blues in the 1960s. His tight, anchoring beat in one of the most famous rock groups ever helped set a new standard of rhythmic structure for rock that was widely imitated. After that, what's left to do? Jazz, apparently.
Watts is no stranger to jazz. He has two recordings of Charlie Parker tunes and a tribute to jazz drummers. In between tours with his "regular" group, Watts' drums with his Tentet, a jazz band made of talented jazz players from the United Kingdom. The Tentet comprises three saxes, two trumpets, trombone, vibraphone, piano, bass, percussion, and, of course, Watts on drums. They are large enough to swing like a big band on standards such as "Take the A Train," but small enough to drive at fast bebop speeds on Charlie Parker tunes.
At their live show last Tuesday night at the Blue Note the band sounded relaxed, confident and very polished. They stayed within a straight-ahead sound made of soft moods and variegated textures. While the crisply written charts left room for soloing, the half-expected explosions of rock-like energy seemed to be continually postponed. But that hardly mattered, the Tentet is not a jazz-rock amalgam, but a straight jazz unit, and the crowd went wild just the same.
After the show, having made it past the star-crazed hands of the audience with the help of a cordon made of every single waiter in the club, Watts took time away from hanging with the other ten members backstage to talk about his no-longer-secret love of jazz.
How do you answer the typical jazz critics' snobbish view that rock is easier than jazz?
"Jazz is filled with people who look down on things. There was a real bitterness with jazz people especially after rock became so popular. But these days, young players are just as impressed with James Brown as with Sonny Rollins."
Does it bother you, that elitism of jazz?
"It inhibits me. Not when I'm playing with the band, really, but in general. Jazz is difficult. Half the people I've played with I'm terrified of. They're that good."
It must feel different playing small venues?
"You have to be on top at small places. This group got together to play at Ronnie Scott's [the most famous jazz club in London]. It was packed for both sets and people go there to LISTEN! You can't hide behind the volume on a small stage."The Tentet works with a variety of soft textures and delicate moods, or relatively so."Well, I don't know, Keith [Richards—Rolling Stones' guitarist] can be just as soft and pretty on a ballad."
How is it to work with the guys in this band?
"They're all bandleaders AND fabulous soloists AND fabulous arrangers."
Do you do any of the arranging yourself?
"No, not really. For me, it's more the sound, not the arrangement. If you move the sax solo here or there, it's OK with me. I just listen to the sound. Fortunately, everyone else in the band can do arrangements."
How do you decide on the play list for your sets?
"We usually like to start out with something by Charlie Parker, one of my favorite players, or by Duke Ellington. But the band works best with originals. Both Gerard [Presencer on trumpet and keyboards] and Peter [King on alto sax] have contributed outstanding tunes and charts. I feel the band really picks up and takes off on these originals. It's like with my other band [The Rolling Stones]. At first we just played R&B we learned from records, but then Keith [Richards] and Mick [Jagger] started writing their own tunes, like 'Satisfaction'."
It makes a big difference, then, playing your own stuff?
"Yeah, a very big difference. But it's not just that. All these players in the Tentet are fantastic, but if they were in the States they'd be much more famous. That's just the way it is, the system. It's too bad, though, that Americans have become so blasé about their music, jazz."
Did you see the recent series on the history of jazz by Ken Burns?
"Yeah, I did. It was great, I thought. The footage was amazing. There was one scene with Dave Tough [legendary 1920s jazz drummer], and there's only maybe three pieces of footage of him in the entire world. It was worth it just for that."I liked the shots of everyone dancing."Jazz music WAS dance music. Everyone danced to it. We were lucky to have a good dancer in the band [Mick Jagger of the Stones]! But for a while, jazz went off, lost its way. That's not bad or anything, but it wasn't until Miles Davis started putting in that Sly Stone sound that jazz had a fresh direction again."
Do you think that musicians playing jazz outside the States are under-recognized?
"Definitely. Jazz has become a world music. It's very open now. You'll find as good players in, for example, Poland as anywhere. These days, if you play 'A Night in Tunisia' you're very likely to have an actual Tunisian playing with you!"
Do you go out a lot to listen to live music?
"Not much, actually. I stay at home when I'm not on the road."
What do you listen to at home?
"The classical radio station. My wife puts on some rock and roll sometimes, old stuff. I like that, of course. That's how I learned to play, listening to R&B records with Alexis Korner and Keith. We loved that whole Chicago sound, Chuck Berry and Jimmy Reed. We listened for hours."
But you listened to other stuff as well?
"Oh, always. I love the Clifford Brown and Max Roach group. It's just one of the best ever. 'Jazz at Massey Hall' is a classic. Roy Haynes is a monster. Elvin Jones gets better and better as he gets older. Don't know how he does that."
So, you're a little star struck yourself at times?
"Absolutely. I always feel nervous when I play, thinking of those players. What people do in jazz has such integrity to it, a real honesty."