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You can't get away from river culture [in Pittsburgh]... I've just always had this connection to the city and the people and the jazz scene here.
—Reggie Watkins
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania—trombonist-composer 
Reggie Watkins
tromboneb.1971
Trombonist Reggie Watkins Centers Himself In, But Branches Out From, His Pittsburgh Home On 'Rivers,' Set For March 28 Release On BYNK Records
Courtesy Sienna Watkins
b.1971
Michael J. Bernabe
pianob.1989
Eli Naragon
bassJason Washington jr
drumsEven the title of the record (the first to comprise all Watkins originals) isn’t as specific to the city as it may seem. Of course Rivers refers on one level to Pittsburgh’s geographic foundation, the confluence of the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio. “You can’t get away from river culture,” Watkins says. “Whatever you do, wherever you go, there are always those three rivers you have to cross.” At the same time, however, the album (and its title track) also nods to Sam Rivers, the innovative Boston saxophonist who is one of Watkins’s inspirations.
Watkins also pays tribute to other musical inspirations and friends from locations far and near. The wily opener “Blues for 3-D” is dedicated to the three D’s (trombonist, composer, and Oklahoma native
David Gibson
trombone
Andre Hayward
tromboneb.1973
Steve Davis
tromboneb.1967
Ornette Coleman
saxophone, alto1930 - 2015
Don Cherry
trumpet1936 - 1995
Thelonious Monk
piano1917 - 1982
Jimmy Knepper
trombone1927 - 2003
Even so, Pittsburgh—and the life and career Watkins has built for himself there—remain a constant presence on Rivers. “Hide n Seek,” with its blissful feel and affectionate romp of a trombone solo, is an ode to his children. “Meditations,” a tune that is exactly what its title promises, nonetheless suggests the placid ebb and flow of the river waters that remain the city’s defining feature.
“I’ve just always had this connection to the city and the people and the jazz scene here,” the trombonist notes. “Musicians from Akron and Cleveland are coming to Pittsburgh and vice versa so now you have influences going in both directions.” Naturally, he expresses that bond in part through the powerful chemistry he shares with the album’s locally based band. “There’s special meaning to hooking up with talents like Eli, Michael, and Jason, who was only 23 when we first played together but played beyond his years,” says Watkins.
Taken together, Rivers is the story of all these things rolled into one—and hence, a story of Watkins himself.
Reggie Watkins was born August 24, 1971, in Wheeling, West Virginia, 60 miles outside of Pittsburgh. A music lover and aspiring brass player in his teenage years, he tried his hand at trumpet and tuba before finding the trombone in high school. He found it again, on another level, when he discovered
J.J. Johnson
trombone1924 - 2001
After graduating, Watkins worked for a few years as a musician on the cruise ship circuit before moving to Pittsburgh in 1998, where he worked with noted drummer and native Pittsburgher Roger Humphries. At that point, legendary trumpeter and big bandleader
Maynard Ferguson
trumpet1928 - 2006
Watkins recorded his first album, 2004’s A-List, while still with Ferguson, and his second, 2010’s One for Miles, One for Maynard(released in 2014), while with Mraz. His third, Avid Admirer: The Jimmy Knepper Project (featuring pianist
Orrin Evans
pianob.1975
For the last eight years, Watkins has recorded and toured with Orrin Evans and his three-time Grammy-nominated Captain Black Big Band. He is featured on their albums The Intangible Between (2020) and Walk a Mile in My Shoe (2024).
The CD release show and after party will take place Sat. 3/29 at the Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall aka The Carnegie Carnegie in Carnegie, PA (Greater Pittsburgh). Watkins will also be performing at Con Alma in Pittsburgh, Wed. 4/30 and Wed. 5/14, as well as at The Bop Stop, Cleveland, Fri. 6/20 and Smalls, NYC, Mon. 6/23.
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For more information contact Terri Hinte Publicity.
Track Listing
Blues in 3-D; Waiting; Ritual; Dawn of Peace; Meditation; Ocularity; Hide n Seek; Wizards; Dream Walker Intro; Dream Walker; Rivers; Blue Six; Shanghai Strut.
Personnel
Album information
Title: Rivers | Year Released: 2025 | Record Label: BYNK Records
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