Charlie Watts' 'Live at Fulham Town Hall': The Rolling Stones drummer's bebop debut

Most people know Charlie Watts as the stone-faced backbone of the Rolling Stones. But in 1986, he released his first solo jazz album, Live at Fulham Town Hall, a live recording that had nothing to do with Mick Jagger or Keith Richards. It came straight from his teenage obsession with bebop, specifically Charlie Parker and the jazz of the 1940s and 50s.

The album happened because of Watts’ friendship with British saxophonist Peter King. The two met in the early 1980s through London’s jazz circles, and King became a key figure in Watts’ post-Stones musical life. Watts had already formed the Charlie Watts Big Band in 1983, but for the Quintet he wanted a tighter, more intimate bebop sound. The Fulham Town Hall shows were essentially the band live, no overdubs, capturing the fire of a group that had been gigging for a few years.

Watts played drums on the album himself, and it’s a revelation for anyone who only knows his rock drumming. He swings hard, keeps the ride cymbal dancing, and stays out of the way of the horn players. The setlist is full of jazz standards like “Cherokee” and “Lester Leaps In.” King’s alto sax is the lead voice, and Watts pushes him like a sideman who happens to be one of the most famous drummers in the world. The whole thing is a testament to how seriously he took his jazz passion—he once said being in the Rolling