William Russell Watrous III, born June 8, 1939 and died July 2, 2018, was an American jazz trombonist. Casual jazz music fans are most familiar with his rendition of Sammy Nestico’s arrangement of Johnny Mandel’s ballad, “A Time for Love,” that he recorded on an album of the same title in 1993. He was a “bop-oriented” trombonist who was well-known among his fellow players for being a master technician and his mellow sound. Watrous was introduced to the trombonium by his father, a trombonist. Watrous was a Navy veteran and studied with Herbie Nichols, a jazz pianist and composer. Watrous’ first professional performance was in Billy Butterfield’s band. In the 1960s, Watrous’s career took off. He recorded and played with many jazz legends including Woody Herman and Quincy Jones, Johnny Richards and Kai Winding. From 1965-1968, he was also a member of the Merv Griffin Show’s house band. He was a member of the jazz fusion band Ten Wheel Drive in 1971. In the 1970s, Watrous also formed his own band, The Manhattan Wildlife Refuge Big Band. This band recorded two albums for Columbia Records. When Watrous moved to Southern California, Refuge West was formed. He worked as a musician, bandleader and performer in jazz clubs. Watrous and Alan Raph collaborated to publish Trombonisms in 1983. This instructional manual covered performance techniques for trombone. He has recorded solo, as a bandleader, and with small ensembles. This includes a Japanese Import album from 2001 that contains material recorded with Carl Fontana in 1984. Watrous has often referred to Fontana as his favorite trombonist. He regularly travels to San Diego to play with Dave Scott, his former student and a well-known jazz musician and TV broadcast host. Waltrous was a professor at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. Maryanne Waltrous, his wife, had one son with him, Jason. Watrous, who was 79 years old, died in Los Angeles July 2, 2018. He was 79.
