Julius Watkins Sextet is an album by the French horn player Julius Watkins featuring tracks recorded in 1954 and 1955 which were originally released as two 10 inch LPs (BLP 5053, 5064) on the Blue Note label.Julius Watkins discography accessed January 1, 2015"Blue Note Records sessionography 1953-1954""Blue Note Records sessionography 1955-1956"Smith, P. G. Julius Watkins and the Evolution of the Jazz French Horn Genre accessed October 6, 2016 The original 12 inch LP (K18P-9273) was released in Japan on June 25, 1983, by King Records (Japan), who owned the Blue Note license in Japan at that time.
Reception Allmusic awarded the album 4½ stars stating: "The French horn might be a difficult instrument, but Watkins played it with the warmth of a trombone and nearly the fluidity of a trumpet. All nine straight-ahead selections on his CD are group originals, with Duke Jordan's future standard "Jordu" being heard in one of its earliest versions. Overall, the music fits into the modern mainstream of the period. This early effort by Julius Watkins is easily recommended".[ Allmusic Review] accessed January 1, 2015
Track listing All compositions by Julius Watkins except where noted. "Linda Delia" (George Butcher) - 5:18 "Perpetuation" - 5:06 "I Have Known" - 4:25 "Leete" - 4:50 "Garden Delights" - 4:43 "Julie Ann" - 3:32 "Sparkling Burgundy" - 4:15 "B and B" - 4:57 "Jordu" (Duke Jordan) - 4:44
Personnel Julius Watkins - French horn Frank Foster (tracks 1–4), Hank Mobley (tracks 5–9) - tenor saxophone George Butcher (tracks 1–4), Duke Jordan (tracks 5–9) - piano Perry Lopez - guitar Oscar Pettiford - bass Art Blakey (tracks 5–9), Kenny Clarke (tracks 1–4) - drums
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