Bobby_Wellins
Robert Coull Wellins (24 January 1936 – 27 October 2016) was a Scottish tenor saxophonist who collaborated with Stan Tracey on the album Jazz Suite Inspired by Dylan Thomas's "Under Milk Wood" (1965).
Robert Coull Wellins (24 January 1936 – 27 October 2016) was a Scottish tenor saxophonist who collaborated with Stan Tracey on the album Jazz Suite Inspired by Dylan Thomas's "Under Milk Wood" (1965).
George Chisholm OBE (29 March 1915 – 6 December 1997) was a Scottish jazz trombonist and vocalist.
In the late 1930s he moved to London, where he played in dance bands led by Bert Ambrose and Teddy Joyce. He later recorded with jazz musicians such as Coleman Hawkins, Fats Waller and Benny Carter during their visits to the UK.In 1940, during the Second World War, Chisholm signed on with the Royal Air Force and joined the RAF Dance Orchestra (known popularly as the Squadronaires), remaining in the band long after he was demobbed. He followed this with freelance work and a five-year stint with the BBC Showband (a forerunner of the BBC Radio Orchestra) and as a core member of Wally Stott's orchestra on BBC Radio's The Goon Show, for which he made several minor acting appearances, for example as 'Chisholm MacChisholm the Steaming Celt' in the 1956 episode 'The Macreekie Rising of '74'.
Chisholm had roles in the films The Mouse on the Moon (1963), The Knack ...and How to Get It (1965) and Superman III (1983). He was also part of the house band for the children's programmes Play School and Play Away. He also sang and was a storyteller on Play School occasionally.
During the 1980s Chisholm continued to play, despite undergoing heart surgery; working with his own band the Gentlemen of Jazz and Keith Smith's Hefty Jazz among others, and playing live with touring artists. He was appointed an OBE in 1984.In the mid-1990s, Chisholm retired from public life suffering from Alzheimer's disease. He died in December 1997, aged 82.
Alastair Fairweather (12 June 1927 – 21 June 1993) was a British jazz trumpeter, born in Edinburgh, Scotland. Educated at the city's Royal High School and Edinburgh College of Art, Fairweather served his National Service in Egypt.
In 1949 Fairweather started a band with his school friend Sandy Brown. In 1953 the pair went south to London with Stan Greig recorded several sides for Esquire Records as the Sandy Brown and the Fairweather-Brown All-Stars. They performed at the Royal Festival Hall.
When Brown went back to Scotland to finish his architecture studies, Fairweather joined the Cy Laurie Jazz Band. From 1966 to 1968, he worked for clarinetist Acker Bilk. Following a second career as a teacher in Harrow, London, Fairweather returned to Edinburgh in 1987, where he remained and played until his death in 1993 at the age of 66.
James Deuchar (26 June 1930 – 9 September 1993) was a Scottish jazz trumpeter and big band arranger, born in Dundee, Scotland. He found fame as a performer and arranger in the 1950s and 1960s. Deuchar was taught trumpet by John Lynch, who learned bugle playing as a boy soldier in the First World War, and who later was Director of Brass Music for Dundee.
Ian Shaw (born 2 June 1962) is a Welsh jazz singer, record producer, actor and stand-up comedian.Shaw was born in St. Asaph, Wales, and took his music degree at the University of London. His career in performance began in the 1980s on the alternative cabaret circuit, alongside such performers as Julian Clary, Rory Bremner, and Jo Brand. At the same time, he was playing in piano bars and at festivals in London and throughout Europe.
In 1990 he toured Europe and recorded with fellow singer Carol Grimes. Since this time, Shaw has regularly worked in duo settings with other singers, including Claire Martin, Linda Lewis, Liane Carroll, and Sarah Jane Morris. By the mid-1990s, he was regularly performing at the Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club and in 1995 released two albums on the club's Jazzhouse label: Ghosthouse and a tribute to Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart Taking It to Hart. In 1996, Shaw led his own 'Very Big Band' on a UK tour, and by the late 1990s he was performing regularly in the U.S. In 1999, he released In a New York Minute, the first of two albums on New York's Milestone Records label. This and Soho Stories, released in 2001, featured American musicians, including Cedar Walton, Lew Soloff, and Eric Alexander. On the album A World Still Turning (2003), he worked with Billy Childs and Peter Washington, and guest vocalist Mark Murphy.
Shaw has continued to work regularly with singer Claire Martin, co-hosting the 2004 BBC Jazz Awards with her and appearing with her on the BBC Radio 2 show Big Band Special, a show that he has also presented. Shaw also presented a jazz show on BBC South with Charlie Crocker. He won in the Best Jazz Vocalist category at the BBC Jazz Awards in 2004 and 2007.
A 2006 album on Linn Records saw Shaw paying tribute to songwriter Joni Mitchell. Drawn to All Things: The Songs of Joni Mitchell was followed in 2008 by an autobiographical album, Lifejacket, which showcased his songwriting for the first time. Somewhere Towards Love from 2009 was an intimate album of voice and piano release by Splash Point Records. The title song, written again by Shaw, was chosen by Molly Parkin as one of her Desert Island Discs. In 2011, Splash Point released The Abbey Road Sessions where Shaw is again joined by a band, this time including bass player Peter Ind. Shaw has continued to perform regularly at festivals and jazz clubs in the UK, including regular shows at the Vortex Jazz Club, Ronnie Scott's, 606 Club and the PizzaExpress Jazz Club. International appearances have included Canada, U.S., Dubai, Belarus, France, Italy, and Germany.
As an actor, Shaw performed in Jerry Springer: The Opera in the role of warm-up man/devil, which was created for him by Richard Thomas. In 2005, Shaw appeared as Percy in the film Pierrepoint.