Alto saxophonist Neil Watson has been an active performer on the Winnipeg music scene for the better part of fifteen years. He graduated from the University of Manitoba in 1997 with a bachelor’s degree in saxophone performance and began to hone his jazz skills by studying with Sasha Boychuk in Winnipeg and Mike Murley in Toronto. In 2004, he returned to the U of M to pursue a master’s degree and study with bassist Steve Kirby. During this time, he made numerous trips to New York to work with various musicians and absorb the rich jazz scene. While there, he studied with legendary alto saxophonist Gary Bartz, Miguel Zenon and Sherman Irby among others. Neil graduated with his master’s degree in jazz performance in the spring of 2006 and he performs regularly with numerous groups, including the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra and his own exciting quartet. His music typically swings hard and has an infectious groove that gets audiences’ toes tapping; his passionate sound, while uniquely his own, has a lineage that can be traced back through Kenny Garrett to John Coltrane. Critics have called Watson, “a bright young player who (wears) his heart on his sleeve along with his talent” (Chris Smith, Winnipeg Free Press).