Corky Siegel & Ernie Watts

media release: CORKY SIEGEL, legendary blues harmonica player/singer-songwriter/pianist with ERNIE WATTS, jazz saxophone icon and two-time Grammy winner:SATURDAY, MAY 20, 2023 NORTH STREET CABARET. This tour is made possible by the Johnny Carson Tonight Show Foundation.  

New album out now! stream Corky Siegel's Songs for Truth and Harmony at: http://www.corkymusic.com/folk 

"For more than half a century, Corky Siegel has brought new colors to the blues… to bridge musical genres and cultural divides, making the world slightly smaller and kinder.” - Associated Press

The dawning of an improbable encounter begins…

"I knew about my cousin Bobby Rosengarden since I was 8 years old. I knew he played drums for many greats including Miles Davis, Billie Holliday, Benny Goodman. I saw him playing drums on TV in the Tonight Show Band. But I never met him or spoke with him. Doc Severinsen, who was the leader of the Tonight Show Band was collaborating with symphony orchestras and invited me to perform as guest soloist with him many times throughout the US.  But as I approached Doc backstage for the very first time, I didn't even get a chance to say 'hello,' or even ask him about Bobby, because Doc just called out as he was approaching; 'Your cousin Bobby says hello.' I was able to speak with Bobby on the phone before he died.  At my first concert with Doc he told me he used to come home after the Tonight Show Band, light a fire, and put on my recordings and sometimes play along on his trumpet.  He told me he always wanted to perform this music with me and so he made it happen." -  Corky Siegel

For 20 years, Ernie Watts played alto saxophone with The Tonight Show Band under the direction of Doc Severinsen and also joined Doc on

Expand

Patricia Watts

Corky Siegel (left) and Ernie Watts.

Corky Siegel (left) and Ernie Watts.

his symphonic performances where Doc would conduct and perform. So both Corky & Erninehad ties to Johnny Carson's Tonight Show and to Doc, but they had never met.

In 1999  the world-renowned Indian violin virtuoso Dr. L. Subramaniam asked Corky Siegel to join him in a performance at Chicago's Symphony Center to bring a taste of blues BBQ to an evening of Indian Tandoori flavored music. This began countless performances around the world with Corky as a guest of Subramaniam.

In 1988, Ernie Watts performed on the soundtrack of the Oscar nominated Saalam Bombay, with score composed and performed by Subramaniam.  This began countless performances around the world with Ernie as guest of Subramaniam. 

So Ernie and Corky had ties to both Doc Severinsen and Dr. L. Subramaniam as they crossed countries and borders, but they never met each other.

2008: Dr. L. Subramaniam presents 'Global Fusion' at India's premier cultural institution, the National Center for the Performing Arts, featuring Chicago blues harmonica ace, Corky Siegel, Bollywood star Kavita Krishnamurti, and two-time grammy winner jazz saxophone legend Ernie Watts, as well as other top multi-international talents. This was 15 years ago in Mumbai India, an unlikely place for an unlikely meeting. 

During a break in a pre-concert rehearsal Corky crossed the stage and for some unknown reason in a very high voice squeaked out; "Mr. Watts, would you like to join me for some chai?"  Mr. Watts, still inside the music and holding a very serious focused face, looked at Siegel, and in a high squeaky voice chortled; "I'd be delighted."  Watts and Siegel became fast friends in that moment - though they knew they were always connected - and have since enjoyed frequent collaborations.

Watts is featured on Siegel's Chamber Blues 2017’s Different Voices, which received Downbeat’s Editor’s Choice, and Downbeat Magazine's Best Albums of 2022, for the September release of More Different Voices. And now they perform as a duet in two rare Chicago Area shows. 

Corky Siegel also just released Something Wrong, his first solo album in 40 years. Siegel assures everyone there is nothing wrong.  He also released an album of political works Songs for Truth and Harmony, that address the social challenges of today and answers the question; "What do I say?"  Siegel is currently working on a symphonic blues album featuring a 25 minute blues harmonica concerto he penned for full orchestra and performed all around the world, as well as another solo album of originals and another Chamber Blues album that continues the exploration of the opposing forces of blues and classical music; Even More Different Voices.

Two-time Grammy Award winner Ernie Watts is one of the most versatile and prolific saxophone players in music. It has been more than fifty years since he first picked up a saxophone, and from age sixteen on he has been playing professionally, initially while still attending school. Watts has been featured on over 500 recordings by artists ranging from Cannonball Adderley to Frank Zappa, always exhibiting his unforgettable trademark sound. In 2014, Watts received the prestigious Frankfurt Music Prize given by the city of Frankfurt, Germany. It is presented to both classical and non-classical musicians. Of the 32 current winners, only 6 have been jazz musicians. Per the Frankfurt Music Prize Foundation, Watts was "selected for his strikingly melodic saxophone style and his original tone language, with which he has already enriched several generations of musicians. "Previous jazz honorees include Chick Corea, Paquito D'Rivera, and John McLaughlin. In 2015, Watts was selected as Guest of Honor at the Telluride Jazz Festival in Colorado, and played on the Ernie Watts Main Stage with his own Quartet.

Corky Siegel is known internationally as one of the world’s great blues harmonica players, blues pianist, singer, and writer of unusual songs, a Chamber Blues progenitor, and sole pioneer/composer of award-winning revolutionary works that weave blues and classical forms together. Corky Siegel has a catalog of recordings on RCA, Vanguard, Alligator, and million-selling blues/classical recordings on the iconic classical label Deutsche Grammophon.  Siegel learned his craft – personally – at the feet of such legendary first-generation bluesmen as Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Willie Dixon, Little Walter, and Otis Spann.