Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com
After spending the early 1960s as a top New York studio trombonist, Bill Watrous caught a break in 1967 and recorded his first leadership album—In Love Again, for MTA Records. Given Watrous's beautiful tone, which was akin to Urbie Green's, I'm not quite sure why he couldn't land a much larger label like Verve, Roulette or Prestige. He recorded for all of them with Kai Winding, Johnny Richards, Quincy Jones and Maynard Ferguson from 1963 on.
As best I can tell, MTA was some sort of New York-based outfit that recorded and acquired recordings from both coasts and licensed them to labels abroad. MTA's catalog seemed divided between mellow adult pop and no-name pop-rockers. In Love Again was positioned as a soft-lights and smooth-drinks album, but calling it easy listening would be unfair, just as referring to Urbie Green's Wave as a mood album would be misguided. Watrous's playing here is sonorous and his trombone was backed smartly by the Richard Behrke Strings. My guess from the cover is this album was a way for Watrous to be taken seriously a solo artist.
Richard Behrke was a pianist-arranger who conducted a bunch of relaxed, flugelhorn-based pop albums for MTA under the name King Richard's Fluegel Knights. His unison horn sound was more subdued than the Tijuana Brass but more in step with swinging London. Behrke's string writing on the Watrous album has a Henry Mancini flavor, always sighing and never growing sticky or stale. They constantly engage Watrous, who floats around on songs with a magically seductive tone. I hope Jordi Pujol at Fresh Sound re-issues this one.
JazzWax tracks: Bill Watrous's In Love Again has never been issued digitally but is available as an LP at eBay.
JazzWax clips: Fortunately I was able to find the complete In Love Again album for you on YouTube in two parts. Watrous's 'bone tone will knock you out...
Here's Side 1...
And here's Side 2...
Used with permission by Marc Myers
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