Suggest new bands/artists to JMA - Amalgam (the Trevor Watts UK band)

Trevor Charles Watts (born 26 February 1939 in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/York" rel="nofollow - York ) is an http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/England" rel="nofollow - English http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz" rel="nofollow - jazz and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_improvisation" rel="nofollow - free-improvising alto and soprano saxophonist. He is largely self-taught, having taken up the cornet at age 12 then switched to saxophone at 18. While stationed in Germany with the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Air_Force" rel="nofollow - RAF (1958–63), he encountered the drummer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Stevens_%28drummer%29" rel="nofollow - John Stevens and trombonist http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Rutherford_%28trombone_player%29" rel="nofollow - Paul Rutherford . After being demobbed he returned to London. In http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1965" rel="nofollow - 1965 he and Stevens formed the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontaneous_Music_Ensemble" rel="nofollow - Spontaneous Music Ensemble , which became one of the crucibles of British http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_improvisation" rel="nofollow - free improvisation . Watts left the band to form his own group Amalgam in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1967" rel="nofollow - 1967 , then returned to SME for another stretch that lasted till the mid-1970s. Another key association was with the bassist http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Guy" rel="nofollow - Barry Guy and his http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Guy#London_Jazz_Composers_Orchestra" rel="nofollow - London Jazz Composers' Orchestra , an association that lasted from the band's inception in the 1970s up to its (permanent?) disbandment in the mid-1990s.

Though he was initially strongly identified with the avant-garde, Watts is a versatile musician who has worked in everything from straight jazz contexts to rock and blues. His own projects have come increasingly to focus on blending jazz and African music, notably the Moiré Music ensemble which he has led since 1982 in configurations ranging from large ensembles featuring multiple drummers to more intimate trios. He has only occasionally recorded in freer modes in recent years, notably the CD 6 Dialogues, a duet album with http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Veryan_Weston&action=edit&redlink=1" rel="nofollow - Veryan Weston (the pianist in earlier editions of Moiré Music). A solo album, World Sonic, appeared on Hi4Head Records in 2005.

Watts has toured the world over numerous times, run workshops, received grants and commissions, and he has collaborated with some of the great jazz musicians including http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archie_Shepp" rel="nofollow - Archie Shepp , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Lacy" rel="nofollow - Steve Lacy , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Cherry_%28jazz%29" rel="nofollow - Don Cherry and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayne_Cortez" rel="nofollow - Jayne Cortez . As of 2011, he continues to travel and will tour North American with Veryan Weston in the summer.

Selected discography