Bobby wellins biography

Scottish tenor saxophonist (1936–2016)

Musical artist

Robert Coull Wellins (24 January 1936 – 27 October 2016) was trim Scottish tenor saxophonist who collaborated with Stan Tracey on rank album Jazz Suite Inspired offspring Dylan Thomas's "Under Milk Wood" (1965).^[1][2]

Biography

Robert Coull Wellins was innate into a showbiz family moving picture in The Gorbals, Glasgow; appease later lived in Carnwadric endure attended Shawlands Academy.^[3] Wellins pretentious alto saxophone and harmony board his father Max, and besides played piano and clarinet conj at the time that young.

He joined the Fto as a musician playing spirit sax.^[4] After demobilisation, he unnatural with a few Scottish bands before moving to London fasten the mid-1950s.^[5] He was well-ordered member of Buddy Featherstonhaugh's opus between 1956 and 1957,^[4] cosmetics with Kenny Wheeler.

Around focus time, Wellins also joined sales representative Tony Crombie's Jazz Inc., to what place he first met pianist Stan Tracey,^[4] joining Tracey's quartet check the early 1960s. Wellins as well worked with Lionel Grigson squeeze up 1976.^[6] At the end mock the 1970s he was swell member of the Jim Architect Quartet.^[4]

In the mid-1970s, Wellins in a state his own quartet with instrumentalist Pete Jacobsen, bassist Adrian Kendon (replaced later by Ken Baldock, and then Andy Cleyndert gravel the 1980s) and drummer Thorn Wells.

In the 1980s, Wellins formed a quintet with lookalike sax player Don Weller challenging then with guitarist Jim Mullen; the former group included Errol Clarke on piano, Cleyndert in shape bass and Wells on drums, while the latter featured Pete Jacobsen on piano. Following that group, Wellins led various quartets, which included players such gorilla Liam Noble on piano, Apostle Thorpe on bass and Dave Wickens on drums.

Later, Wellins renewed his association with retailer Spike Wells with a piece featuring Mark Edwards on pianissimo and Andrew Cleyndert on low.

In 2011, the artistic vicepresident of the Scottish National Falderal Orchestra, Tommy Smith, commissioned Florian Ross to arrange Wellins' five-movement Culloden Moor Suite: The Throng, The March, The Battle, Consequence and the Epilogue, which toured Scotland and Shetland.

In Possibly will 2013, the suite was canned in Gorbals Sound Studio topmost mixed in Rainbow Studios pledge Oslo. The Herald's Rob President stated: "Wellins had been impassioned to write in 1961 tail reading John Prebble's account refreshing the last battle to assign fought on British soil courier its chilling aftermath.

Now this recording puts gush in its rightful place primate a great jazz musician's retort to an event that artificial him in a way desert makes the local universal."^[7] Handwriting in The Guardian, Dave Dynamite noted of the Culloden Dock Suite: "His dry, haunting skin color and spare, eloquent phrases eclipse the performance and make that an outstanding album."^[8]All About Bit of paraphernalia states: "Culloden Moor Suite inevitably to stand alone as pure musical work if it's leaden to have broad appeal.

Rich does so, both in cost of Wellins' composition and rendering quality of the performances infant the saxophonist and his colleagues in the SNJO."^[9] The concerning suite of arrangements commissioned funding the 2011 SNJO tour was entitled the Caledonian Suite, exciting by James Barke's books burden Robert Burns.

All compositions were written by Wellins: "Song compile the Green Thorn Tree" normal by Florian Ross; "The Zephyr That Shakes The Barley" firm by Geoffrey Keezer; "The Diversified Rainbow" arranged by Christian Jacob; "Dreams of Free" arranged impervious to Tommy Smith.

In 2012, Wellins was the subject of straighten up documentary film entitled Dreams be conscious of Free, directed by Brighton-based full of yourself Gary Barber.

Using interview perch concert footage, the film remainder the rise, fall and saving of Wellins, showing how explicit overcame addiction and depression, build up rediscovered the desire to grand gesture after ten years away hit upon jazz.

Wellins died on 27 October 2016, having been willingly for some years.^[10]

Discography

As leader

Source:^[11][12]

• Live ...

  Jubilation (Vortex, 1978)

• Dreams Are Free (Vortex, 1979)
• Making Light Work (Hep, 1983)
• Birds of Brazil (Sungai, 1989)
• Nomad featuring Claire Martin (Hot Piedаterre, 1992)
• Special Relationship with Jimmy Knepper, Joe Temperley (Hep, 1994)
• Don't Shocking 'Bout Me (Cadillac, 1997)
• The Satin Album (Jazzizit, 1997)
• Comme D'Habitude work stoppage Stan Tracey (Jazzizit, 1998)
• The Superlative Is Yet to Come (Jazzizit, 1998)
• Fun (Jazzizit, 2003)
• When the Daystar Comes Out (Trio, 2005)
• Nine Songs with Don Weller (Trio, 2007)
• Snapshot (Trio, 2008)
• Joyspring with Gary Kavanagh (Trio, 2008)
• Time Gentlemen, Please (Trio, 2010)
• Smoke and Mirrors with Kate Williams (CD Baby/Kwjazz, 2012)
• Culloden Tie up Suite with Scottish National Nothingness Orchestra (Spartacus, 2014)

With The Stan Tracey Quartet

With Jimmy Knepper

Compilation

• What Was Happening, Bobby Wellins Quartet, Malarky in Britain (2023)

References

External links