(hard bop) [CD] Doug Watkins (feat. Donald Byrd, Hank Mobley, Kenny Burrell, Duke Jordan, Art Taylor) - At Large - 2006, FLAC (tracks), lossless

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Doug Watkins was born in Detroit in 1934. He first left to tour with James Moody in 1953, then returned to play with Barry Harris's trio in 1954. This association enabled him to accompany such visiting musicians as Stan Getz, Charlie Parker, and Coleman Hawkins. In 1954 he performed in New York with Kenny Dorham and Hank Mobley, worked at Minton's Playhouse, and joined the Jazz Messengers. He left the group in 1956 to play with Horace Silver's quintet.
His prolific work as a freelance for Prestige included recordings with Gene Ammons, Sonny Rollins, Phil Woods, Mobley, Art Farmer, Donald Byrd, and Kenny Burrell. Thereafter Watkins took part in performances and recordings by Charles Mingus's Jazz Workshop when Mingus was playing piano. He died in an automobile accident in 1962.
Dianna Rhyan, The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz

I'm still amazed that certain young bass players still invoke the name of Doug Watkins, especially since his records are no longer easy to come by and, moreover, frequently suffer from inferior audio quality. Transition was the only label to do justice to his rich sound and inerrant note choices, making it apparent why he was once held in the same high regard as Paul Chambers. Watkins didn't have to play "busy" solos: he could say more than countless bass "virtuosi" simply through his impeccably constructed, soulfully selected bass lines. And his time was not merely rock solid and steady: it was breathing, living, animated. Dig his lines on "Return to Paradise" (the Dimitri Tiomkin theme revived by Shirley Horn on "Here's to Life"). He manages to produce a groove that is so bouyant, light and free that the sensation is one of suspended time, or of a "circular" movement that defies any notion of termination. Sadly, that was not the case for the brief but lingering instant during which Watkins was with us.
Despite the heavy company--Byrd, Mobley, Burrell, Duke Jordan--it's Watkins' supportive bass lines that shine on this date.
-- Caponsacchi --

Donald Byrd - trumpet
Hank Mobley - tenor sax
Kenny Burrell - guitar
Duke Jordan - piano
Doug Watkins - bass
Art Taylor - drums
Recorded December 8, 1956