Doug Watkins died in an automobile accident at 27 years old on February 5, 1962. Traveling from Arizona to California to meet Philly Joe Jones for a gig, he fell asleep and crashed into an oncoming truck. Strangely, Watkins was a cousin by marriage to Paul Chambers, who likewise was from Detroit, likewise played the bass, and likewise died young. Watkins was among the crop of Detroit musicians that included Milt Jackson, Hank, Thad, and Elvin Jones, Donald Byrd, and Tommy Flanagan that made such an indelible and profound mark on '50s jazz. Watkins would have been the cream of any city's crop. His tone tended to be unassuming yet virile, sometimes reaching towards something beautiful or discovering someplace unforeseen. Watkins' most memorable recording might be "Saxophone Colossus", possibly the best album to come out of Prestige, in which, it might be said, his audacious poise provides a counterpoint to Rollins' tremendous ferocity of invention.
The aptly titled "Fin de l'affaire" with Hank Mobley, Art Farmer, Horace Silver, and Art Blakey, 1957:
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