Two time Grammy winning saxophonist Ernie Watts has been quietly playing the part of an influential saxman for over 20 years. His expressive solos have graced the recordings of countless greats in nearly every genre of music. ''Music is a language,'' says Watts, ''and with language there are all these dialects - Rock, Classical, Jazz, Be-Bop and R&B among others. As for me, I'm interested in speaking all those dialects.'' On The Long Road Home, Watts returns to his favorite dialect...jazz. The results are simply glorious. Joining Watts on this blues tinged release are Kenny Barron on piano, Reggie Workman on acoustic bass, Mark Whitfield on electric guitar and Carmen Lundy, who performs two vocal numbers. This outstanding release was recorded direct to two track by XRCD co-creator Akira Taguchi and excellently showcases the superiority of the XRCD technology. Recorded live directly to two-track!
