Cleveland Watkiss

Cleveland Watkiss
Background information
Born	October 21, 1959 (1959-10-21) (age 50) Hackney, London, UK
Genres	Rock music Jazz Nu jazz Funk Soul Lounge Reggae Drum and bass
Occupations	Singer Composer
Instruments	Vocals Piano Guitar

Cleveland Watkiss (born 21 October 1959) is a versatile English singer who performs in a variety of musical genres, including jazz, reggae, rock music and drum and bass. Watkiss also performs on piano and guitar. His extensive career launched in the 1970s while performing in local reggae and funk music bands, with Watkiss forming his own band known as Alumni in 1981. In 1982 he joined Simon Purcell's Jazz Train, and shortly after began touring with Norma Winestone, Kenny Wheeler and John Taylor.^[1] He is probably most remembered for being the co-founder of the Jazz Warriors along with Courtney Pine in 1985, an outfit which was awarded the Best Band Award by The Wire/Guardian in 1987.^[2] Additionally, Watkiss has performed throughout his career frequently with the London Community Gospel Choir and has done stints with The Who and side projects with Pete Townshend. In the drum and bass genre he formed Project 23 with Marque Gilmore and DJ Le Rouge. ^[1] He was also featured on the track "Time" from Makoto (artist)'s first album, "Human Elements".

Discography

• Watkiss, Cleveland (1991). Green Chimneys. Verve Records. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:gxfoxq8gldfe. 

• Watkiss, Cleveland (1991). Blessing in Disguise. Polydor

• Watkiss, Cleveland (2001). Victory's Happy Song. Via. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:apfqxqrrldse. 

References

• Carr, Ian; Digby Fairweather; Brian Priestley (2004). The Rough Guide to Jazz. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 1843532565. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/59279592&referer=brief_results. 
• Walker, Klive (2005). Dubwise: Reasoning from the Reggae Underground. Insomniac Press. ISBN 1894663969. http://books.google.com/books?id=0UW6r3mE3gsC&dq=Cleveland+Watkiss&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0. 

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