HORIZON: Featuring Bobby Watson, Victor Lewis, Terell Stafford, Edward Simon and Essiet Essiet
4:15-5:30PM, Absopure Waterfront Stage
During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Horizon was widely acclaimed as one of jazz’s premier small groups. Led by alto saxophonist Bobby Watson, Horizon was hailed for its “soul-stirring brand of hard bop where joy radiated off the bandstand” (JazzTimes). Although the band successfully enlisted a long list of outstanding players along the way—John Hicks, Marvin ”Smitty” Smith, Caroll Dashiell, Melton Mustafa, Benny Green, Stephon Scott, Joey Calderazzo and Roy Hargrove, to name a few—it all came together with the unit of Bobby Watson, Terell Stafford, Edward Simon, Essiet Okon Essiet and Victor Lewis.
The Detroit Jazz Fest proudly presents a reunion of this special edition of Horizon. Explaining the significance of this particular unit, Watson notes, “The mutual respect for each other, the commitment to the music and the camaraderie, and most importantly, the interaction with the audiences both off and on the bandstand was truly special. It inspired many of our fans to name us ‘The happy band.’”
Alto saxophonist Bobby Watson made his initial mark with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers (1977–1981) and went on to work with a long list of notable musicians, including Max Roach, Louis Hayes, George Coleman, Branford Marsalis, Sam Rivers and Wynton Marsalis. He has also served in a supporting roll for a number of distinguished and stylistically varied vocalists, including Joe Williams, Dianne Reeves, Lou Rawls and Betty Carter. In addition to his work as leader of Horizon, Watson also led the groups High Court of Swing (a tribute to the music of Johnny Hodges) and the Grammy-nominated Tailor-Made Big Band, and he is a founding member of the highly acclaimed 29th Street Saxophone Quartet. All told, he has some 26 recordings as a leader and has appeared on 100 other recordings as either co-leader or sideman.
Trumpeter Terell Stafford has been an integral part of jazz groups led by such stellar performers as McCoy Tyner, Cedar Walton, Sadao Watanabe, the Clayton Brothers, Herbie Mann, Kenny Barron and Matt Wilson. He has also worked with many New York-based big bands, including Wynton Marsalis' Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, the Mingus Big Band and the Village Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. Stafford's recording debut as a leader came in 1995 with Time to Let Go (Candid), followed by the critically acclaimed Centripedal Force (1997).
Pianist Edward Simon arrived on the jazz scene in 1988, performing in a trio led by Charles Fambrough. He went on to work with Kevin Eubanks, Greg Osby, Herbie Mann, Paquito D’ Rivera and, of course, Bobby Watson. Simon made his first recording as a leader, Beauty Within in 1994, giving birth to the Edwin Simon Trio. He has since founded, established and served as musical director of several jazz ensembles, including the Edward Simon Quartet, Ensemble Venezuela and Afinidad.
After stints with Don Moye and Abdullah Ibrahim, bassist Essiet Essiet joined Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers in 1988 and remained until Art’s passing two years later. Essiet has since performed and recorded with Benny Golson, Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Hutcherson, Jackie McClean, Billy Higgins, Louis Hayes, Cedar Walton, Kenny Barron, Sam Rivers, George Adams, Billy Cobham, Gary Bartz, Kenny Garrett, Al Foster, Vincent Herring, Bobby Watson & Horizon featuring Victor Lewis, Mulgrew Miller, Donald Brown, Kenny Kirkland, Jeff "Tain" Watts, Geri Allen and Ralph Peterson, Danilo Pérez , Kevin Mahogany, Kurt Elling, Claudia Acuna, Blue Note Allstars, Fort Apache Band with Jerry Gonzales and many others.
After early stints with Woody Shaw and Stan Getz, drummer Victor Lewis became one of jazz's busiest freelancers in the 1980s. He has toured and recorded with some of jazz’s most respected leaders, including Kenny Barron, Art Farmer, J.J. Johnson, Mike Stern, John Stubblefield, Grover Washington Jr., The Manhattan Jazz Quintet and Bobby Hutcherson. And as co-leader of Horizon, he contributed many compositions to the group’s repertoire, including “P. D. On Great Jones Street” and the title track of their Sony Records release Present Tense (1991). When not working with Horizon, Lewis has been the mainstay in the Kenny Barron Quintet since its inception and the leader of his own quintet.
