Chronicle of a Phantom: the Julius Watkins Story

Julius Watkins was the first prominent jazz French horn player in the history of American music. Although his performance capabilities were comparable to those of other significant performers of traditional horn repertoire, Watkins has received little attention posthumously from music scholars, jazz artists, and other performers of his instrument. The purpose of this book is threefold: to document Julius' complete life story for the first time in biographical form, to determine his performance characteristics within chamber jazz ensembles of various instrumental combinations, and to explore the development of the jazz French horn genre from 1977 to the present day. In writing this book, it is my goal to create not only awareness for this style of French horn playing, but to educate other musicians and potential audience members internationally on the subject of Julius Watkins, his professional accomplishments and performance style, and of this rare artistic form.