Bobby Watson to perform Friday, May 11 & Saturday, May 12 at Robbie's House of Jazz

Saxophonist Bobby Watson (pictured), once part of the front line of drummer Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and now an elder statesman of the Kansas City jazz scene, is returning to St. Louis to perform at 8:30 p.m. Friday, May 11 and Saturday, May 12 at Robbie's House of Jazz.

Watson last played St. Louis in December 2009 at Robbie's. In addition to his work with Blakey from 1977 to 1981, he has performed and recorded with many other well-known musicians, including Max Roach, George Coleman, Branford Marsalis, Sam Rivers, Wynton Marsalis, Joe Williams, Dianne Reeves, Lou Rawls, Betty Carter, Carmen Lundy, Carlos Santana, Rufus featuring Chaka Khan, Bob Belden, and John Hicks.

Since 2000, Watson has taught jazz studies at the University of Missouri-Kansas City's conservatory of music, serving for the past six years as head of the jazz department. In addition to numerous collaborative recordings, he has made 18 albums as a leader, the most recent of which, From the Heart, came out in 2008 on Palmetto Records.

For his St. Louis gig, Watson will be accompanied his frequent collaborator, bassist Curtis Lundy, as well as St. Louis' own Montez Coleman on drums and Bryan Harrison on piano. Admission to Bobby Watson at Robbie's House of Jazz will be $20; the club's website exhorts potential buyers to "Please reserve Your Seat Early!" - presumably by calling Robbie's at 314-968-5556 - but, absent any other ticketing information, there apparently are no advance sales as such.