Born in the East End of London,
Virtuoso vocalist, Actor and composer Cleveland Watkiss Studied the voice at ‘London school of singing’ With Opera Coach ‘Arnold Rose’ and at the Guildhall School Of Music And Drama. Cleveland was also one of the co-founders of the vastly influential Jazz Warriors big band. His vocals can be heard on there debut album, Out of Many People which won a video award in Japan.
Cleveland was then entered for the Wire/Guardian Jazz Awards and was voted best vocalist for three consecutive years, and was the opening act of choice for two of the worlds greatest femail jazz vocalists 'Cassandra Wilson' And 'Abbey Lincoln'.... John Fordham, the Guardian music journalist accurately describes Cleveland as ‘arriving on the scene with a bang”.
He’s amazing vocal experiences has seen him perform with many diverse artists from around the world like: 'The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra',‘Dusseldolf Symphonic Orchestra‘,'Bob Dylan',Jackie Mittoo,'Keith Richards','James Taylor Quartet',Art Blakey,
Sly & Robbie, Abdullah Ibrahim, 'Stevie Wonder', 'Patife',‘Lepaja Symphonic Orchestra‘, 'Carlinhos Brown', 'Robbie Williams','Joe Cocker','Bobby McFerrin', ‘The Who’'Branford Marsalis', 'George Martin',Art Blakey', ‘Julian Joseph‘,'Bocato Big Band','Lisa Stansfield', ‘Courtney Pine’, 'Janet Kay','Maxi Priest','Soul ii Soul', 'London chamber orchestra', 'Kassa Mady', 'Goldie','Cassandra Wilson', 'Kenny Wheeler big band', 'Sugar Minot','Talvin Singh', 'Bjork','Pete Townshend', 'London Community Gospel Choir' (LCGC), And many many More.....
Cleveland watkiss is also a very keen Music Educator,
Working as a voice instructor for Singup, with workshops in Venues/Schools, colleges and Universities around the UK.
He also designed the vocal curriculum for BA Students at
The ‘Weekend Arts college’ (WAC) in north london.
And is a regularly facilitator and voice coach for the ‘Artist Development Programme’ (ADP) at the Hackney Empire Theatre in east London.
PRESENT:
More recently, demonstrating great versatility Cleveland watkiss was cast the Starring role In Julian Joseph’s groundbreaking Jazz Opera as ‘BRIDGETOWER’ to considerable acclaim.
Click for Bridgetower Video link
Cleveland has and continues to performed in many of the major concert halls, Festivals and clubs around the world with VocalSuite
which is a solo voice performance, Click for VocalSuite Review
and his new Trio 'CWT' with two exellent accompanists: Shaney Forbes (drms) and Mark Hodgson (bass)
"Was'nt he awesome? what it takes us 6 to do he does it all by himself"... Take 6
"Cleveland Watkiss was voted best vocalist in the wire/guardian awards
three years running and there is no doubt he arrived on the scene with a bang”…Hackney Gazette
“Best male jazz singer in Britain”…Evening standard
“ A possibly unique unit of voice,bass,and drums,the group nevertheless manages to convey the entire jazz aesthetic by musical implication, while at the same time having all the internal spaciousness you’d expect”. JazzUK
"Watkiss’ larger than life stage presence and highly original scatting brought the band into the desired higher gear, bringing out great solos"...Jazzwise
"The trio live is such a great experience - that's about the bravest line-up any singer can put them self in, and you played it like you lived there :o) That, my dear man, is class".....steve lawson
“A jazz legend“.....Telegraph
“Cleveland Watkiss was simply made for the lead of Bridgetower..it could be a career high to date”....Jazzwise
“Watkiss has been acknowledged as one of the worlds most outstanding male jazz singers”…The Guardian.....
For all Bookings and more info Send Email To:clevelandwatkiss@aol.com
Tel:+44 (0) 7718 918697 Or +44 (0) 20 8133 6596
Hey Cleveland, my project is playing at the Creative Jazz Club Auckland - beautiful sounds from traditional Judeo Spain, some wild originals and works by Luciano Berio, de Falla, Ralph Towner. Poster below
Great cover man, congrats, and thanks for relevant vocal posts!
I hope all's well with you. It's all good at this end. I see you're taking care of business and trailblazing as you do.
When will we see a new Solo album from the Mighty Watkiss? You know it's been a minute and some of us don't always have time to get to concerts (which is why recorded music is still popular).
We've got to link soon though...
FiNN
P.S.
Have you heard the Robert Mitchell Trio album? Or The new Robert Glasper album? You've got to make a new album King...cho...
Dans le cadre de la Techno Parade 2009, Comme chaque année depuis 3 ans l'équipe BLACK LABEL investit l'Elysée Montmartre. C'est l'évènement incontournable pour tous les amateurs de Drum'n'Bass, le RENDEZ-VOUS à ne pas rater. J-6 SAMEDI 12 SEPTEMBRE 2009 - 23H30> 6H00 @ ELYSEE MONTMARTRE BLACK LABEL présente "A NIGHT OF" Jungle-Drum'n'Bass
Bluddy awesome Cleveland! Your bass player is groovy mamma too! ha! Great to hear you again after all this time. Am coming home for Xmas - will keep an eye out for you. XX Caro
Cleveland, I keep coming back to your new trio tracks - outstanding. Such a great sound, so much space, awesome musicianship. Looking forward to seeing you live again soon! :)
