# CD review: Charlie Watts – Anthology – 2023: Video, CD cover

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2023/05/13/cd-review-charlie-watts-anthology-2023-video-cd-cover/
- Published: 2023-05-13T00:04:32+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**The first extensive anthology drawn from the bespoke jazz catalogue of one of 
the world’s most loved and admired drummers, the legendary Charlie Watts, will be
released by BMG on June 30th. Available both in double vinyl and double CD editions,
_Anthology_ is a monument to the “other” musical identity of the giant who underpinned
the Rolling Stones for more than 55 years.**

It draws on a near 20-year period in his substantial catalogue of jazz recordings
in various configurations, including quartet, quintet, tentet, and orchestra. The
collection is both the perfect memento of a unique artist for long-time devotees
and the perfect introduction for new admirers.

_Anthology_ is a celebration of the tasteful and inventive playing of a true inspiration
to millions, who generously diverted the spotlight onto his brilliant, hand-picked
collaborators. Across _Anthology, _these include such greats as his lifelong friend
and double bass stalwart Dave Green, saxophonists such as Peter King, Evan Parker
and Courtney Pine, trumpeter Gerard Presencer, fellow drum titan Jim Keltner and
vocalist and Rolling Stones live band member Bernard Fowler.

This highly desirable retrospective begins in 1986, when Watts had his own name 
on an album for the first time – with typical modesty, some 25 years after his drumming
first became the talk of his peers – on _Live At Fulham Town Hall. _It then features
selections from the Charlie Watts Quintet’s 1991 mini-album _From One Charlie_, 
their albums _A Tribute to Charlie Parker with Strings _(1992), _Warm and Tender_(
1993) and _Long Ago and Far Away _(1996), the 2000 collaboration _Charlie Watts –
Jim Keltner Project _and another live set, 2004’s _Watts at Scott’s_, as the Charlie
Watts Tentet.

The expanded CD track listing is further augmented by the inclusion of three sought-
after tracks from a performance by Watts and his group at Swindon Arts Centre, featuring
versions of “Rockhouse Boogie,” “Ain’t Nobody Minding Your Store,” and “Swindon 
Swing.”

_Anthology _features liner notes by music journalist and broadcaster Paul Sexton,
the author of _Charlie’s Good Tonight: The Authorised Biography of Charlie Watts,
_published by HarperCollins.

BMG has announced that on June 30, 2023 it will release _Anthology_, a collection
of Charlie Watt’s jazz recordings, drawn from a 20-year period during which he led
a big band, as well as smaller groups like a quartet, quintet and tentet. Amongst
the musicians featured on the 2-CD/2-Vinyl compilation from the late Rolling Stones
drummer are saxophonists Peter King, Evan Parker and Courtney Pine, trumpeter Gerard
Presencer, bassist Dave Green and vocalist/percussionist Bernard Fowler.

The set pulls music from numerous jazz albums Watts recorded beginning in 1986 with
Live at Fulham Town Hall. Other albums include _From One Charlie_ (1991) _A Tribute
to Charlie Parker with Strings _(1992), _Warm and Tender _(1993) and _Long Ago and
Far Away _(1996), _Charlie Watts – Jim Keltner Project _(2000), and _Watts at Scott’s_(
2004). The double album also includes three tracks from a performance by Watts and
his group at Swindon Arts Centre, featuring versions of “Rockhouse Boogie,” “Ain’t
Nobody Minding Your Store,” and “Swindon Swing.” Liner notes for _Anthology_ are
written by music journalist and radio host Paul Sexton, author of _Charlie’s Good
Tonight: The Authorised Biography of Charlie Watts._

“Everyone knows he was a big jazz fan,” bassist Darryl Jones told me in an interview
for JazzTimes, shortly after Watts’ death. “You can certainly hear Papa Jo Jones
in his playing. I know he loved all the swing and bebop guys: Dave Tough, Kenny 
Clarke, Max Roach, Philly Joe Jones …  he was friends with Roy Haynes. I can’t say
specifically which drummers influenced him but when he played a fill, that wasn’t
a rock & roll fill. It wasn’t really straightforward. He also dug the Motown guys
like Benny Benjamin and Al Jackson from Al Green’s band. He had all of those influences
and all of those things went together into him creating this school of rock & roll
drumming. He was also self-taught, so that creates a very particular kind of thing.
If you’re self-taught, there’s less of a blueprint. It’s not easily copyable.”

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