Ernie Watts

Ernie Watts (Norfolk, Virginia, 23 October 1945) (the original Cletus Awreetus-Awrightus, funky emperor and way-hep Grand Wazoo megaphonist and tenor sax player). He wanted as a young lad to play the trombone, but was forced to take up the sax because his school's music department was all out of the instrument. Watts attended Boston's Berklee Collage of Music on a scholarship before moving to California to look for studio work, and a stint with Buddy Rich's Big Band (66-68). He recorded with Jean-Luc Ponty on "King Kong" in 1969, and became a Staff Musician for NBC. Ernie's resume - his list of credits - is incredibly long. He provided tenor sax for The Grand Wazoo.

When he's not doing studio work in LA or touring with jazz greats, Ernie Watts does clinics at colleges all over the country (world?).