Five Things With Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts

1.Growing Up

I started playing drums through the public school system in the fourth grade, taking snare drum lessons. In junior high school and high school I started playing more classical percussion and began to play drum set. Throughout high school I was beginning to teach myself drum set, playing along with classic R&B and classic rock. Just before college I began to listen to more ’70s fusion, which would lead me to jazz. My parents were not involved in music but growing up my older brother Jimmy worked in a record store.

2.Inspirations

Elvin Jones as a drummer is a big inspiration. Elvin’s flow has always come naturally to me and I’ve always felt free to utilise his feel in conjunction with ideas of mine. I love Elvin personally and musically forever; he was also very kind to me.

3.Your Band

Troy Roberts (saxophone) is an Australian who now lives in New York and I started using in my band a little over a year ago. Chris Smith on bass I met when he was a student at the Brubeck Institute some years ago. Osmany Paredes is a Cuban pianist whom I met when he first moved to New York in 2010 through Cuban musician friends of mine, Yunior and Yosvany Terry. Everyone in the group is on the same page musically so it is usually fairly easy to get inside the music and be creative.

4.The Music You Make

Our live performance showcases my original compositions, mostly new and recent works that we are exploring. Thematically everything is accessible, with improvisation and musical conversation making up a big part of what we do.

5.Music, Right Here, Right Now

The scene is constantly evolving and changing… Living in New York, we are able to check out a lot of live music, from the musicians who live in town, to the constant influx of touring groups, so we have it pretty good.