Richard MacQueen Wellstood (November 25, 1927 – July 24, 1987) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

pianist.

Career

He was born in

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich ( ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 63,518. It is the largest town on Gold Coast (Connecticut), Connectic ...

, United States. Wellstood's mother was a graduate of the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

who played church organ. Wellstood took piano lessons as a boy, though he was self-taught as a performer of stride and boogie-woogie. Beginning in 1946, he played boogie-woogie, swing, stride piano, and dixieland with bands led by Bob Wilber. A year later he began two years of accompanying

Sidney Bechet Sidney Joseph Bechet ( ; May 14, 1897 – May 14, 1959) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. He was one of the first important Solo (music), soloists in jazz, and first recorded several months before trumpeter Louis Ar ...

. In 1952, he toured Europe with Jimmy Archey, then worked with

Roy Eldridge David Roy Eldridge (January 30, 1911 – February 26, 1989), nicknamed "Little Jazz", was an American jazz trumpeter. His sophisticated use of harmony, including the use of tritone substitutions, his virtuosic solos exhibiting a departure from ...

. Through the 1950s, he worked with a band led by

Conrad Janis Conrad Janis (February 11, 1928 – March 1, 2022) was an American jazz trombonist and actor who starred in film and television during the Golden Age Era in the 1950s and 1960s, and continued acting right up until 2012. He played the role of Mi ...

. He also worked with

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

Buster Bailey William C. "Buster" Bailey (July 19, 1902 – April 12, 1967) was an American jazz clarinetist. Career history Early career Buster Bailey was taught clarinet by classical teacher Franz Schoepp, who also taught Benny Goodman. Bailey gained his st ...

Wild Bill Davison William Edward Davison (January 5, 1906 – November 14, 1989), nicknamed "Wild Bill", was an American jazz cornetist. He emerged in the 1920s through his work playing alongside Muggsy Spanier and Frank Teschemacher in a cover band where they ...

Vic Dickenson Victor Dickenson (August 6, 1906 – November 16, 1984) was an American jazz trombonist. His career began in the 1920s and continued through musical partnerships with Count Basie (1940–41), Sidney Bechet (1941), and Earl Hines. Life and car ...

Coleman Hawkins Coleman Randolph Hawkins (November 21, 1904 – May 19, 1969), nicknamed "Hawk" and sometimes "Bean", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.Yanow, Scot"Coleman Hawkins: Artist Biography" AllMusic. Retrieved December 27, 2013. One of the first ...

, and

Ben Webster Benjamin Francis Webster (March 27, 1909 – September 20, 1973) was an American jazz tenor Saxophone, saxophonist. He performed in the United States and Europe and made many recordings with Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Johnny Hodges, a ...

. He went to school and received a law degree, though thirty years would pass before he spent a brief time practicing law. In the 1960s, he worked with

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

and

Odetta Odetta Holmes (December 31, 1930 – December 2, 2008), known as Odetta, was an American singer, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire consisted largely of American folk music, blues, jazz, and s ...

. With Carl Warwick, he performed on military bases in Greenland. He toured South America with

Gene Krupa Eugene Bertram Krupa (January 15, 1909 – October 16, 1973) was an American jazz drummer, bandleader, and composer. Krupa is widely regarded as one of the most influential drummers in the history of popular music. His drum solo on Benny Goodman ...

, then spent two years with

Kenny Davern John Kenneth Davern (January 7, 1935 – December 12, 2006) was an American jazz clarinetist. Biography He was born in Huntington, Long Island, to a family of mixed Jewish and Irish-Catholic ancestry. His mother's family originally came from Vi ...

. During the 1970s, he played with Captain John Handy and

Punch Miller Ernest Miller, also known as Punch Miller or Kid Punch Miller (June 10, 1894 – December 2, 1971), was an American traditional jazz trumpeter. Miller was born in Raceland, Louisiana, United States. He was known in New Orleans, Louisiana, where ...

, then with Yank Lawson and

Bob Haggart Robert Sherwood Haggart (March 13, 1914 – December 2, 1998) was an American dixieland jazz double bass player, composer, and arranger. Although he is associated with dixieland, he was one of the finest rhythm bassists of the Swing Era. Music ...

. For the rest of his career, he turned his attention from big bands to small groups and solo piano, performing often at the

Newport Jazz Festival The Newport Jazz Festival is an annual American multi-day jazz music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island. Elaine Lorillard established the festival in 1954, and she and husband Louis Lorillard financed it for many years. They hire ...

and touring with Davern and Bob Rosengarden. In the 1980s, he joined the Classic Jazz Quartet with

Marty Grosz Martin Oliver Grosz (born February 28, 1930) is a German-born American jazz guitarist, banjoist, vocalist, and composer born in Berlin, Germany, the son of artist George Grosz. He performed with Bob Wilber and wrote arrangements for him. He has a ...

Joe Muranyi Joseph P. Muranyi (January 14, 1928 – April 20, 2012) was an American jazz clarinetist, producer and critic. Muranyi studied with Lennie Tristano but was primarily interested in early jazz styles such as Dixieland and swing. After playing ...

, and

Dick Sudhalter Richard Merrill Sudhalter (28 December 1938 – 19 September 2008)Biography ''AllMusic'' was an American jazz trumpeter and writer. Biography Born in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, Sudhalter was inspired to pursue a musical career by his ...

, worked again in a duo with Davern and in a piano duo with

Dick Hyman Richard Hyman (born March 8, 1927) is an American jazz pianist and composer. Over a 70-year career, he has worked as a pianist, organist, arranger, music director, electronic musician, and composer. He was named a National Endowment for the Arts ...

. In 1987, he died of a heart attack in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

, at the age of 59.

Discography

As leader

* ''Uptown and Lowdown'' (Prestige Swingville, 1961) * ''From Dixie to Swing'' (Music Minus One, 1971) * ''From Ragtime On'' (Chiaroscuro, 1971) * ''Jazz at the New School'' (Chiaroscuro, 1972) * ''Plays Ragtime Music of The Sting'' (Pickwick, 1974) * ''Rapport'' with Billy Butterfield (77 Records, 1975) * ''Live at the Cookery'' (Chiaroscuro, 1975) * ''This Is the One'' (Audiophile, 1977) * ''The Music of Scott Joplin'' (Pickwick, 1977) * ''Some Hefty Cats!'' (Hefty Jazz 1977) * ''Live at Hanratty's'' (Chaz Jazz, 1981; reissued by Chiaroscuro, 2000) * ''I Wish I Were Twins'' with Dick Hyman (Swingtime, 1983) * ''The Bob Wilber Dick Wellstood Duet'' (Parkwood, 1984) * ''Live at Cafe des Copains'' (Unisson, 1986) * ''Live Hot Jazz'' with Kenny Davern (Statiras, 1986) * ''Ragtime Piano Favorites'' (1988) * ''This Is the One...Dig!'' (Solo Art, 1977) * ''Take Me to the Land of Jazz'' with Marty Grosz (Aviva, 1978) * ''In the Jazz Tradition'' (Fat Cat's Jazz, 1980) * ''The Classic Jazz Quartet'' (Jazzology, 1985) * ''Never in a Million Years'' with Kenny Davern (Challenge, 1995) * ''Alone'' (Solo Art, 1997) * ''Live at the Sticky Wicket'' (Arbors, 1997) * ''A Night in Dublin'' (Arbors, 2000) * ''Stridemonster! The Duo Pianos of Dick Hyman and Dick Wellstood'' (Sackville, 2005)

As sideman

With

* ''Creole Reeds'' (Riverside, 1956) * ''The Grand Master of the Soprano Saxophone and Clarinet'' (Columbia, 1956) With

* ''I Hope Gabriel Likes My Music'' (Aviva, 1982) * ''Marty Grosz and The Keepers of the Flame'' (Stomp Off, 1987) With

* '' Odetta and the Blues'' (Riverside, 1962) * '' Sometimes I Feel Like Cryin' '' (RCA Victor, 1962) With Bob Wilber * ''Bob Wilber and His Jazz Band Volume 1'' (Circle, 1949) * ''Spreadin' Joy'' (Classic Jazz, 1976) * ''Evolution of the Blues'' (Music Minus One, 1976) With others *

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

, Sidney Bechet, Kid Ory, ''Voyage a La Nouvelle Orleans'' (CBS, 1972) * Bob Barnard, ''Class!'' (Calligraph, 1988) * Dan Barrett, ''Strictly Instrumental'' (Concord Jazz, 1987) * Dick Cary, ''Dick Cary and the Dixieland Doodlers'' (Columbia, 1959) *

Doc Cheatham Adolphus Anthony Cheatham, better known as Doc Cheatham (June 13, 1905 – June 2, 1997), was an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and bandleader. He is also the grandfather of musician Theo Croker. Early life Doc Cheatham was born in Nashvi ...

, ''The Fabulous Doc Cheatham'' (Parkwood 1984) *

, ''Swingin' Dixie'' (Bear, 1962) *

, ''

The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan ''The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan'' is the second studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on May 27, 1963, by Columbia Records. Whereas his self-titled debut album ''Bob Dylan'' had contained only two original songs, this a ...

'' (Columbia, 1963) *

Harry Edison Harry "Sweets" Edison (October 10, 1915 – July 27, 1999) was an American jazz trumpeter and a member of the Count Basie Orchestra. His most important contribution was as a Hollywood studio musician, whose muted trumpet can be heard back ...

, Roy Eldridge, Red Allen, Buck Clayton, ''Swing Trumpet Kings'' (Verve, 1996) *

, ''Swing Goes Dixie'' (Verve, 1956) * Jim Galloway, ''Walking On Air'' (Bitter Sweet Jazz 1979) *

Leonard Gaskin Leonard Gaskin (August 25, 1920 – January 24, 2009) was an American jazz bassist born in New York City. Gaskin played on the early bebop scene at Minton's and Monroe's in New York in the early 1940s. In 1944 he took over Oscar Pettiford' ...

, ''At the Jazz Band Ball'' (Prestige Swingville, 1962) * Nancy Harrow, ''Wild Women Don't Have the Blues'' (Candid, 1961) *

, ''Conrad Janis and His Tailgate Five'' (Jubilee, 1954) *

Henry Jerome Henry Jerome (November 12, 1917 – March 23, 2011) was an American big band leader, trumpeter, arranger, composer, and record company executive. Jerome formed his first dance band in 1932 in Norwich, Connecticut. His bands flourished throughou ...

, ''Strings in Dixieland'' (Decca, 1962) * John Letman, ''The Many Angles of John Letman'' (Bethlehem, 1960) *

Marian McPartland Margaret Marian McPartland Order of the British Empire, OBE ( Turner;Hasson, Claire, . PhD Thesis. Retrieved 12 August 2008. 20 March 1918 – 20 August 2013), was an English and American jazz pianist, composer, and writer. She was the host of ...

, ''Piano Jazz with Dick Wellstood'' (Jazz Alliance, 1993) * Tony Parenti, ''Tony Parenti and His Downtown Boys'' (Jazzology, 1965) *

Cynthia Sayer Cynthia Nan Sayer (born May 20, 1962) is an American jazz banjoist, singer and a founding member of Woody Allen's New Orleans Jazz Band. Career A native of Waltham, Massachusetts, Sayer spent her early childhood in Wayland, Massachusetts and t ...

, ''The Jazz Banjo of Cynthia Sayer Volume One'' (New York Jazz, 1987) *

Janis Siegel Janis Siegel (born July 23, 1952) is a multiple grammy-winning American jazz singer, best known as a member of the vocal group The Manhattan Transfer. Musical career In 1965, Siegel made her recording debut with a group called Young Generation ...

, ''At Home'' (Atlantic, 1987) *

Jack Six Jack Six (July 26, 1930 – March 14, 2015) was an American jazz double-bassist and composer. Six was born in Danville, Illinois, and initially learned trumpet as a teenager before switching to bass. He studied at Juilliard School, Juilliard in 19 ...

, ''Bacharach Revisited: Bacharach for Instrumentalists'' (Music Minus One, 1969) * Andy Stein, ''Goin' Places'' (Stomp Off, 1987) *

Joe Venuti Giuseppe "Joe" Venuti (September 16, 1903 – August 14, 1978) was an American jazz musician and pioneer jazz violinist. Considered the father of jazz violin, he pioneered the use of string instruments in jazz along with the guitarist Eddie Lan ...

and

Zoot Sims John Haley "Zoot" Sims (October 29, 1925 – March 23, 1985) was an American jazz saxophonist, playing mainly tenor but also alto (and, later, soprano) saxophone. He first gained attention in the "Four Brothers" sax section of Woody Herman's big ...

, ''Joe & Zoot'' (Chiaroscuro, 1974)

References

Bibliography

* Scivales, Riccardo, ed. ''Dick Wellstood Jazz Piano Solos: Seven Historic Solos''. San Diego, California: Neil A. Kjos Music, 1994 * Scivales, Riccardo, ed. ''Dick Wellstood: The Art of Jazz and Blues Piano''. Vol. 1. London: Soliloquy Music, 2001

External links

Dick Wellstood
at the Institute of Jazz Studies, Rutgers University {{DEFAULTSORT:Wellstood, Dick 1927 births 1987 deaths Jazz musicians from Connecticut Musicians from Greenwich, Connecticut American jazz pianists American male jazz pianists 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians Chiaroscuro Records artists Challenge Records (1994) artists Jazzology Records artists Arbors Records artists