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COCA Spotlight: Band member Aaron Watson brings the spirit to Havana Reggae Festival

Musician Aaron Watson was transfixed by the saxophone in the Florida Governor’s Mansion. A fifth grader at the time, he had been invited to a ball at the mansion to celebrate winning an essay contest…

Musician Aaron Watson was transfixed by the saxophone in the Florida Governor’s Mansion. A fifth grader at the time, he had been invited to a ball at the mansion to celebrate winning an essay contest and receiving a scholarship. He was honored to be invited, but what he remembers the most from that night was the jazz combo that performed during dinner. 

“I sat there and listened to the saxophonist playing while the governor was calling up everyone who received awards,” remembers Watson. “My dad came over to tell me to go up. I told him, ‘I want to play that,’ and pointed at the saxophone.” 

That summer his parents bought him his very own saxophone. Watson attended Raa Middle School the following year and joined the school band. He went on to earn a degree in music from Florida A&M University.

Watson grew up listening to the Marching 100 and had been exposed to many instruments, but it wasn’t until he heard the sax by itself that he was sure of the direction he wanted to take as a musician. 

Watson is part of local band, The Disciples of Music, which will play at the Havana Reggae Fest on Saturday, May 8.

Read the rest of the story by visiting the Tallahassee Democrat

or read more by downloading the article here.