Alex Welsh (9 July 1929 – 25 June 1982) was a Scottish jazz musician who played cornet and trumpet and was also a bandleader and singer,

Biography

Born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, Scotland, Welsh started playing in the teenage Leith Silver Band and with

Archie Semple Archibald Stuart Nisbet "Archie" Semple (1 March 1928 – 26 January 1974) was a Scottish jazz clarinetist and bandleader, active principally within the trad jazz idiom. Biography He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. Semple played locally in Ed ...

's Capital Jazz Band. After moving to London in the early 1950s, he formed a band with clarinetist

, pianist Fred Hunt, trombonist

Roy Crimmins Roy Crimmins, also known by the pseudonym Roy King, (2 August 1929 – 27 August 2014) was an English jazz trombonist, composer and arranger. Biography Born in London, England, of Irish and English descent, Crimmins turned professional by joinin ...

, and drummer

Lennie Hastings Leonard "Lennie" Hastings (5 January 1927 – 14 July 1978) was an English jazz drummer. Biography Hastings started out playing in military bands during World War II in the 1940s, which included Micky Bryan's Rug Cutters in 1942. He then playe ...

. The band played a version of Chicago-style dixieland jazz and was part of the traditional jazz revival in England in the 1950s. In the 1960s, Welsh's band played with

Earl Hines Earl Kenneth Hines, also known as Earl "Fatha" Hines (December 28, 1903 – April 22, 1983), was an American jazz pianist and bandleader. He was one of the most influential figures in the development of jazz piano and, according to one source, " ...

Red Allen Henry James "Red" Allen, Jr. (January 7, 1908 – April 17, 1967) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist whose playing has been claimed by Joachim-Ernst Berendt and others as the first to fully incorporate the innovations of Louis Armstr ...

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, Pee Wee Russell, and Ruby Braff. During the 1960s and early 1970s, Welsh frequently toured, including many visits to the United States. He was influenced by his fellow trad jazz bandleader Chris Barber and built up and extensive musical repertoire, working from popular music as well as jazz and building up a large mainstream following for ensembles. Welsh recorded for the British

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in We ...

label from 1955 and had four records released that year, ''I'll build a stairway to paradise'' Decca F10538, ''Blues my naughtie sweetie gives to me'' Decca F10557 and ''What can I say after I say I'm sorry'' Decca F10652 and ''Dixielanders at the RFH'' an EP (extended play single) on Decca DFE 6254. Six years later in 1961 the band's single ''Tansy'' on Columbia Records DB 4686 peaked at No. 45 in the BBC Top 50 and remained on the UK Singles Chart for 4 weeks. The single was released as music from the film ''

No My Darling Daughter ''No My Darling Daughter'' is a 1961 British comedy film directed by Ralph Thomas and featuring Michael Redgrave, Michael Craig, Roger Livesey, James Westmoreland (credited as Rad Fulton), and Juliet Mills. It was based on the play ''Handful o ...

''. The film was based on the play 'Handful of Tansy' by Kay Bannerman and Harold Brooke and follows teenager Tansy Carr (played by Juliet Mills) as she runs off with American Cornelius Allingham (James Westmoreland). In January 1963, British music magazine ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' reported that the biggest trad jazz event to be staged in Britain had taken place at

Alexandra Palace Alexandra Palace is a Grade II listed entertainment and sports venue in London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. It is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and the later Tottenham Wood Farm. Origi ...

. The event included

George Melly Alan George Heywood Melly (17 August 1926 – 5 July 2007) was an English jazz and blues singer, critic, writer, and lecturer. From 1965 to 1973 he was a film and television critic for ''The Observer''; he also lectured on art history, with an e ...

, Diz Disley, Acker Bilk, Chris Barber, Kenny Ball, Ken Colyer,

Monty Sunshine Monty Sunshine (9 April 1928 – 30 November 2010) was an English jazz clarinettist, who is known for his clarinet solo on the track "Petite Fleur", a million seller for the Chris Barber Jazz Band in 1959. During his career, Sunshine worked wit ...

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, Mick Mulligan and Welsh. Welsh toured internationally and played at the 1967 Antibes jazz festival, the 1968 Newport Jazz Festival, and 1978

Nice Jazz Festival The Nice Jazz Festival (, ), held annually since 1948 in Nice, on the French Riviera, is "the first jazz festival of international significance." At the inaugural festival, Louis Armstrong and his All Stars were the headliners. Frommer's calls it ...

. In the period 1970-1980 Welsh was a performer with his ''Alex Welsh Band'' at public house venues throughout the UK having performed at the Bell Pub in

Maidenhead, Berkshire Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England, on the southwestern bank of the River Thames. It had an estimated population of 70,374 and forms part of the border with southern Bu ...

where he was a regular in the early 1970s, and the Five Ways Pub in Sherwood,

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

in 1981 among many others. A concert was held in 2016 at the Edinburgh Jazz Festival as a tribute to him. A further festival was planned in his memory in July 2021.Remembering Alex Welsh
''Edinburghjazzfestival.com''

Death

He died in June 1982 in Hillingdon hospital in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England, at the age of 52.

Discography

* ''Dixieland to Duke/The Melrose Folio'' (1957/60) * ''Music of the Mauve Decade'' (1960) * ''Classic Concert'' (1971) With

* ''Peanuts Hucko Vol. 1 '' (Lake, 2002

967 Year 967 ( CMLXVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – Emperor Otto I (the Great) calls for a council at Rome, to present the ne ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Welsh, Alex 1929 births 1982 deaths Scottish jazz composers Scottish jazz trumpeters Male trumpeters 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century British composers 20th-century Scottish musicians 20th-century trumpeters Male jazz composers 20th-century British male musicians Black Lion Records artists 20th-century jazz composers