Bobby Wellins
Bobby Wellins (born January 24, 1936 in Glasgow ; † October 27, 2016 ) was a Scottish tenor saxophonist of modern jazz .
Live and act
Bobby Wellins' mother sang in a dance band; his father was a saxophonist. At the age of twelve he started playing the saxophone. After finishing school in Uxbridge, he worked in London's jazz scene, such as in the Dorchester with Tommy Wittle. He finally became known in the late 1950s for his membership in the quintet of Buddy Featherstonhaugh , which also included Kenny Wheeler . During this time he also played in Tony Crombies Jazz Inc., where he met the pianist Stan Tracey , whose quartet he belonged to in the early 1960s. He is u. a. heard on his albums With Love from Jazz and Under Milk Wood (1965). According to writers Richard Cook and Brian Morton, he built his reputation on the British hardbop scene with his solo in Starless and Bible Black.
In the mid-1970s he led his own quartet or a quintet to which Don Weller belonged. Due to illness, he had to take more breaks during these years. In 1978 he worked on Jimmy Kneppers album Special Relationship with; in the 1980s he had a band with Jim Mullen . 1989 came with Kenny Wheeler the comeback album Birds of Brazil; In the 1990s, pianist John Critchinson , bassist Andy Cleyndert and drummer Martin Drew (or Spike Wells ) played in his quartet . In particular with his Satin Album (1996) - a tribute to Billie Holiday's tragic late work Lady in Satin - he earned a reputation as an excellent ballad player. In 2000 he played with Liam Noble an album dedicated to the singer Tony Bennett (The Best Is Yet to Come); In 2004 the album The Bad and the Beautiful followed with the trio of Pete Churchill and in 2011 the album Smoke & and Mirrors with the pianist Kate Williams .
In the film Grand Prix (1966) with Paul Newman and James Garner he made a short appearance in a jazz quartet of the pianist Harry South .
Discographic notes
- Birds of Brazil (Sungai, 1989 with Pete Jacobsen )
- Nomad (Hot House, 1992) with Jonathan Gee
- Don't Worry 'bout Me (Cadilliac, 1996) with Alec Dankworth
- The Satin Album (Jazzizit, 1996)
- The Best Is Yet to Come (Jazzizit, 2000)
- Fun (Jazzizit, 2004)
- Songs for Quintet (ECM, 2014) with Kenny Wheeler
literature
- Ian Carr , Digby Fairweather , Brian Priestley : Rough Guide Jazz. The ultimate guide to jazz music. 1700 artists and bands from the beginning until today. Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 1999, ISBN 3-476-01584-X .
- Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings . Penguin, London, 8th edition, 2006, ISBN 0-141-02327-9 .
swell
- ↑ Peter Vacher: RIP Bobby Wellins (1936-2016) . Jazzwise Magazine, October 28, 2016, accessed October 29, 2016.
- ^ See Cook & Morton, 6th edition, p. 1535
Web links
- Bobby Wellins at Discogs (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Wellins, Bobby |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Wellins, Robert |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Scottish jazz musician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 24, 1936 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Glasgow |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 27, 2016 |