In memoriam: Derek Watkins

Derek Watkins, the trumpeter who began his professional career at age seventeen and played on every James Bond film soundtrack, died at the age of 68.

Watkins began playing cornet at the age of four under the tutelage of his father. He went on to play in the Spring Gardens Brass Band, which his father conducted and which his grandfather conducted and founded. He also played in his father’s dance band.

In addition to performing on all the James Bond soundtracks, he performed with the Beatles, Eric Clapton, Elton John, Frank Sinatra, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and in the BBC Big Band where he performed with jazz musicians such as Benny Goodman, Maynard Ferguson, and Johnny Dankworth.

Dizzy Gillespie described him as “Mr. Lead.” According to Philip Biggs, editor of the Brass Herald, he was “widely considered to be the foremost British Big Band trumpet player to ever grace the stage.”

He is survived by his wife Wendy and their three children.

Sources:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-21912217
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/derek-watkins-james-bond-trumpet-1781120
http://www.itv.com/news/2013-03-23/james-bond-trumpet-player-dies-aged-68/