I first saw Diz Watson at a gig in London's 100 Club in about 1990. Recently I purchased a record of his called 'Rhumbalero' from a local second hand dealer and I am really taken with it. Here's the blurb from the back sleeve:

Dr John says "Diz is great, you can't fool him. He can really play that piano."

Saxman Lee Allen, who's played with everyone from Fats Domino to Professor Longhair, says "Diz is one of the rockinest piano players in the world."

I say that Diz ( and of course the Doormen ) play some of the most genuine and exciting New Orleans flavoured R 'n' B around. His first album on Ace 'Bluecoat Man', was a masterpiece that received rave reviews on both sides of the Atlantic. Many observers were amazed that Diz could actually re-create the classic New Orleans R 'n' B sounds from the likes of Smiley, Fess and Fats. What is perhaps more amazing is that Diz lives thousands of miles from the city that has spawned the sound that he has so adeptly captured, as he makes his living gigging on the pub circuit of his adopted home London.

Diz was born in southern Africa in 1948. His father, a wool merchant, moved the family back to Yorkshire in 1960, where Diz finished his schooling in Ilkley until he joined the merchant navy in 1965. His knowledge of R 'n' B and the blues began while still in Africa, from listening to Little Richard and Fats Domino on the radio. However it was in Ilkley that he was put on the path to becoming a piano player, through seeing Champion Jack Dupree at local gigs, as Dupree lived nearby. Diz recalls that one of the first pieces he learned to play on the piano was 'Honky Tonk Train Blues' by Meade Lux Lewis.

Diz's career in the merchant navy lasted seven years until 1972, in which time he travelled all over the world, with frequent trips to America. There he was able to buy blues and boogie woogie records and see many of the artists performing live.

In the early seventies he was introduced to two major musical influences, Professor Longhair, via his landmark re-issued album 'New Orleans Piano' and later through Dr John's 'Gumbo' album. "There was no turning back after that" says Diz, "listening to that music was an absolute revelation. I had to play it."

Diz sharpened his technique around London with several R 'n' B groups throughout the seventies, before forming his own group, the Doormen ( so named because they dressed in Commissionaire uniforms! ) Today the line-up of the Doormen varies from gig to gig but the nucleus of talent used are the musicians that appear on this LP. Not surprisingly, Dr John usually employs Diz and the Doormen whenever he tours Britain or Europe.

With that kind of support, years of paying dues behind him and a repertoire of piano stylings that range from Longhair, Huey Smith and Archibald ( plus a few of his own ), the guy can't miss. So don't stick your head back in the Imperial 78s, move the furniture back and give this one a listen.

(Written by Jeff Hannusch)