Artist info

Wow! The last time the Jazz Series and Murry's hosted a New Year's Eve bash -- four years ago -- the two seatings sold out in a flash. We have no doubt that it's going to happen again. Bobby Watson has long-been a Jazz Series favorite. He has appeared intermittently as a special guest with Wynton Marsalis, participated in the "Night of Jazz & Baseball" extravaganza, co-starred with the late pianist and colleague James Williams in our first "House Concert" turned acclaimed duo CD and just a few months ago worked with Jim Widner.

That said, it's been a long time since Watson's Horizon, the distinguished post-bop quintet that captured the jazz world on nearly a daily basis for more then a decade, appeared. This is rare treat indeed as drummer Victor Lewis, trumpeter and another Jazz Series favorite, Terell Stafford, pianist Edward Simon and bassist Peter Washington come together to rekindle their collective jazz spark.

Considered by critics and knowledgeable jazz fans alike to be among the planet's best post-bop, small-band ensembles for a decade plus dating to the mid-1980s, Bobby Watson & Horizon issued one great recording after another for the Blue Note and Columbia record labels. The group, touring almost incessantly, always left audiences smiling. The cohesive unit owned a post-Art Blakey sensibility that leader Watson and some of the other members absorbed directly from the legendary drummer-leader. Horizon created a musical energy and environment that was truly infectious.

It's well-documented how successful each of Horizon's members has become since the group rose to prominence. Still, this is a band that on any given night the whole -- even as good as each of these parts is -- is greater then the sum of those parts -- and it's likely to happen New Year's Eve at Murry's as members gather to help the Jazz Series and the restaurant highlight their respective 15th and [almost] 25th anniversaries.