Don Weller

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Don Weller (born December 19, 1940 in London ; † May 30, 2020 there ) was a British jazz musician ( tenor saxophone , composition).

Live and act

Weller had several years of clarinet lessons from the age of fourteen and performed Mozart's clarinet concerto as a soloist in Croydon at the age of 15 . Then he played in local Dixieland bands. He later switched to tenor saxophone under the influence of John Coltrane and played in the rehearsal band of Kathy Stobart . In the 1970s he led the rock jazz group "Major Surgery", which only played his compositions. Then he founded a quartet with drummer Bryan Spring , which also toured successfully in the 1980s and recorded with trumpeter Hannibal Marvin Peterson . He also played regularly with Stan Tracey , Harry Beckett and in the quintet with Art Themes and has also worked for Tucky Buzzard , Alan Price , Tina May , Alex Harvey , East of Eden , Count Basie and Jimmy Witherspoon .

In 1980 he took the place of Michael Brecker in the Gil Evans Orchestra during a tour of the United Kingdom. In 1983 he was also a member of Gil Evans' orchestra.

Together with his friend and colleague Dick Morrissey , he was a member of the band Rocket 88 during the early 1980s , led first by Bob Hall and then Ian Stewart ; He also played in the Charlie Watts big band that emerged from this band (album 1986). Both as a composer and as an interpreter, he was involved in the films Absolute Beginners - Junge Helden and Stormy Monday . With its own big band, which u. a. Alan Barnes , Art Subjects who included David Newton , Henry Lowther , Peter King and Malcolm Griffiths , performed his "Pennine Suite" at the 1996 Appleby Jazz Festival . In addition to his trio, he had also had an electric jazz octet since the 1990s and led a quintet with Bobby Wellins .

Weller won the Top Tenor Award in 1994, 1996 and 1998 .

Discographic notes

  • 1980: Commit No Nuisance - (with Bryan Spring)
  • 1981: Poem Song - (with Hannibal Marvin Peterson)
  • 1987: A Little Blue (Miles Music) - (with the Mick Pyne Quartet)
  • 1996: The Don Weller Big Band (33 Records)
  • 1996: Live (33 Records) (Big Band)
  • 2003: The Way You're Going to Look Tomorrow Morning (Trio)
  • 2013: The First Cut (Proper)

Lexigraphic entries

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Obituary. Jazzwise, May 31, 2020, accessed June 1, 2020 .
  2. ^ Art Subjects remembers Don Weller (1940-2020). London Jazz News, June 1, 2020, accessed June 1, 2020 .
  3. ↑ See Don Weller Spring Quartet, Commit No Nuisance (Yes to Jazz 10048).
  4. ↑ See Gil Evans, The British Orchestra (Mole 8).
personal data
SURNAME Weller, Don
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British jazz musician (tenor saxophone, composition)
DATE OF BIRTH December 19, 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH London
DATE OF DEATH May 30, 2020
Place of death London