From Orlando’s Website:

Cleveland, Ohio native Orlando Watson has established himself as a preeminent lyricist who’s soulful, baritone voice is known to weave through words with uncanny rhythmic delivery. In 2015 Watson was awarded the prestigious “Kente Cloth” by the Office of Diversity & Inclusion at Ohio State University alongside acclaimed political commentator, Dr. Marc Lamont Hill. Watson’s 2017 début EP (Everything’s Personal) peaked at #18 on iTunes R&B/Soul charts, which led him to open for Lalah Hathaway and Chantae Cann’s respective tours in 2018. His follow up, full length album (Corner Stories) was released in December 2021 and peaked at #14 on iTunes top 200 R&B/Soul charts upon its release on Watson’s independent label “Well Said Records”.

Watson has recorded with Latin Grammy award winner Linda Briceño, John Clayton, Dominick Farinacci, Braxton Cook, Damien Sneed, and Bobby Sparks II of Snarky Puppy to name a few. His knack for storytelling led him to co-write Terence Blanchard’s “Our Voices: Democracy Revisited” suite, which was live-streamed on NPR’s “Jazz Night in America” hosted by acclaimed bassist Christian McBride. Watson was selected as 1 of the top 8 national finalists to compete at the 2019 “Jazz in the Gardens” poetry slam in Miami, Florida. His poetry has been published in Linden Avenue Literary Journal as well as Five 2 One Magazine and he currently serves as the Associate Director for the Tri-C JazzFest in Cleveland, Ohio. Watson’s passion for faith, family, community and culture are always reflected in his art, as he sees himself as a bridge between social barriers built to further divide humankind.