Throughout his career, Ernie Watts has always had his own trademark sound, uplifting sessions no matter what the genre. He remembers his beginnings. "When I was 13 and in the seventh grade, my school had instruments to lend to students who wanted to Learn. I actually wanted to play trombone but, because the music department was all out of them, I started on baritone sax. I was always self-motivated so I practiced all the time. I learned how to play jazz by listening to records. After discovered John Coltrane on Kind of Blue that was it for me. Hearing him when I was l5 or 16 really changed my life, because that is when I decided that I really wanted to play music professionally."

Watts won a scholarship to the Wilmington Music School in Delaware, where he studied classical music. Although he would enroll at West Chester University en route to becoming a music educator, he soon won a Downbeat Scholarship to the Berklee College Of Music. When Gene Quill left Buddy Rich's band, trombonist Phil Wilson (a teacher at Berklee) Was asked to recommend a replacement, and he brought up Watts' name. "I leared a lot from the experience of playing with Buddy. It was my first full time working band experience. Buddy was a masterful drummer so it was like going to school every night." Doc Severinsen heard Watts play with Rich one time, and when the Tonight Show relocated to Los Angeles, Watts was offered the orchestra's tenor spot, a position he held for twenty years. Within a short period, Ernie Watts was very busy working the studios, becoming a member of the NBC staff orchestra and playing sideman to a number of pop and rock artists.

A partial list of his credits includes Cannonball Adderley, Quincy Jones, the Rolling Stones (including their 1981 tour and film Lets Spend The Night Together), Whitney Houston, Frank Zappa, Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamond, Aretha Franklin. Diana Ross, Rickie Jones. Chaka Khan, Billy Cobham, Pat Metheny and Lee Ritenour, among many others. He has appeared on many film and television scores (including The Fabulous Baker Boys, Ghostbusters. Tootsie, Arthur, The Color Purple. Fame. Night Court, Benson and Dynasty). His own recordings in the pop/crossover field include his version of Chariots Of Fire, which in 1983 won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental. The artist went on to capture a second Grlmmy in 1985 for Best Rythm and Blues Instrumental, honoring his Warner Bros. recording, Musican.