Doug Watkins

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Douglas Watkins (2 March 1934 – 5 February 1962) was an American hard bop jazz double bassist from Detroit.

An original member of the Jazz Messengers, he later played in Horace Silver's quintet and freelanced with Gene Ammons, Kenny Burrell, Donald Byrd, Art Farmer, Jackie McLean, Hank Mobley, Lee Morgan, Sonny Rollins, and Phil Woods among countless others.

He was a cousin by marriage to bassist Paul Chambers, who was similarly prolific on record during this era, working with Miles Davis throughout the 1950s and into the early 1960s. Though less heralded than a later popular Blue Note release under the same time, a remarkable 1956 recording on Columbia, The Jazz Messengers, owes much of its vitality to Watkins' flowing lines. Under the leadership of Art Blakey, as is the later Blue Note session that introduced Bobby Timmons' "Moanin'," the earlier Columbia date on which Watkins appears is distinguished by the inspired compositions of Horace Silver along with exceptional solo work by tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley and trumpeters Donald Byrd and Joe Gordon. Among some Blakey-Silver-Mobley afficionados, the album is prized as the most notable recorded achievement by all three. During this time, the bassist frequently was employed by jazz' most seminal a respected musicians. Some of his best-known work can be heard when as a 21-year-old he appeared on another 1956 album, Saxophone Colossus by tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins, with Max Roach and Tommy Flanagan. From that session, the tunes "Blue Seven" and "St. Thomas," especially, have become revered not only as evidence of Rollins' original genius but as fine examples of Doug's work.

According to Horace Silver's recent autobiography, Let's Get To The Nitty Gritty, Watkins, along with Silver, later left Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers because the other members of the band at the time (Kenny Dorham, Hank Mobley and Blakey) had serious drug problems, whereas Watkins and Silver were tired of being harassed and searched by the police every time they went to a gig in a new city and club.^{[citation needed]} In 1958 Watkins would join Donald Byrd for a European tour, taking up extended residence at Le Chat Qui Peche, a jazz club on Paris' Left Bank. Along with Byrd, tenor saxophonist Bobby Jaspar, pianist Walter Davis, Jr. and drummer Art Taylor, Watkins made two albums with Byrd during this time, one recorded in the club and another at a formal concert featuring Byrd's quintet.

Watkins was known for his superb tone and distinct phrasing. He had a distinct walking tone and was right on the beat, forming an organic, indivisible relationship with his instrument as he swayed with it in perfect time. Pianist Red Garland often stated that Watkins was his favorite bassist and that he was always in tune and never off-key. Doug played with Garland in 1959, along with drummer Specs Wright.

While Watkins lived only to the age of 28, he appeared on well over 350 LPs in his career backing many major jazz stars of the time. When Charles Mingus briefly ventured over to the piano stool in 1961, he hired Watkins to take over the bass part; Oh Yeah!!! and Tonight at Noon were the results of this adventurous interlude. Only two albums appeared with Watkins' as leader: Watkins at Large (1956) is an album for the tiny Transition label, made with fellow members of the Horace Silver Quintet of the time--most recently it has been available on a two-disc set, The Transition Sessions (Blue Note, 2002), which incorporates two additional Transition dates on which Watkins appears; the other Watkins-led session, Soulnik (1961), with Yusef Lateef and reissued as part of the OJC series, features Watkins on cello with Herman Wright backing him on bass. The cello was an instrument he had started to play only two days before the recording session.

Watkins died in an automobile accident on February 5,1962, while traveling from Arizona to San Francisco to meet drummer Philly Joe Jones for a gig. He fell asleep at the wheel and was hit head-on by an oncoming truck. The other occupants of the car, pianist Sir Roland Hanna and trumpeter Bill Hardman, survived the crash. Had Watkins lived, it's almost certain that today he would enjoy a fame and reputation at least equal to that of his cousin Paul Chambers, considered by many to be the most talented and representative bassist of the period, due in great part to his frequent employment by Miles Davis. As it stands, Watkins made enough recordings with seminal musicians, especially Blakey, Silver, Mobley, Byrd and Rollins, to insure his lasting reputation as a superb musician, an unselfish and enabling ensemble player, and a bassist-walker with few peers.