Bill Watrous, whose crisp and graceful playing made him one of the world’s most respected trombonists, died July 3 at a hospital in Los Angeles. He was 79. His sister, Sheila Watrous Wright, confirmed ...

Bill Watrous, a jazz trombonist who came up in the 1960s just as jazz was fading and the trombone was transitioning into studio orchestras and funk-soul groups such as the Jazz Crusaders and Kool and ...

While an organ trio plus trombone isn’t unheard-of, it is uncommon, so much so, says Bill Watrous, that when friend and fellow trombonist Rob Stoneback approached him with the idea, he was skeptical.

Bill Watrous, whose crisp and graceful playing made him one of the world’s most respected trombonists, died July 3 at a hospital in Los Angeles. He was 79. His sister, Sheila Watrous Wright, confirmed ...