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.
Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Welsh started playing in the teenage Leith Silver Band and with Archie Semple’s Capital Jazz Band. After moving to London in the early 1950s, he formed a band with clarinetist Archie Semple, pianist Fred Hunt, trombonist Roy Crimmins, and drummer Lennie Hastings. 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, Red Allen, Peanuts Hucko, 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 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. 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 reported that the biggest trad jazz event to be staged in Britain had taken place at Alexandra Palace. The event included George Melly, Diz Disley, Acker Bilk, Chris Barber, Kenny Ball, Ken Colyer, Monty Sunshine, Bob Wallis, Bruce Turner, 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. 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 where he was a regular in the early 1970s, and the Five Ways Pub in Sherwood, Nottingham in 1981 among many others.
A concert was held in 2016 at the Edinburgh Jazz Festival as a tribute to him.[6] A further festival was planned in his memory in July 2021.
He died in June 1982 in Hillingdon hospital in London, England, at the age of 52. (wikipedia)
This superbly recorded set features a little recorded line-up by the Welsh band.
Archie Semple had left and John Barnes was yet to join and so the reed chair was occupied by the hugely underrated and hugely talented Al Gay.
Al was only with the band just over a year and moved on to Long John Baldry’s Hoochie Coochie Men.
He contributes some magnicent playing on this album which includes tunes rarely recorded by the Welsh band.
As the booklet points out they couldn’t have bettered this set if they’d done it in a studio.
British Jazz at its very best. (propermusic.com)
Any new Welsh Band material is good news in my book and this proves to be no exception. The material derives from the vast collection of material recorded by Alan Gilmour at that famed locale, the hard-to-find Dancing Slipper in Nottingham. It was taped in 1963 and features an unusual, little known line up of the band given that the pianist is Bert Murray, who recorded seldom with the group. Fred Hunt was temporarily absent.
The Welsh-Crimmins front line was augmented by Al Gay, who proves a versatile, articulate reedsman from the outset, with a good clarinet solo on Beale Street Blues. Crimmins follows with a typically suave statement with Lennie Hastings driving the band in exemplary fashion – and I’ve always agreed with sleeve note writer Ralph Laing that the Welsh band rhythm section was just about the best in the business in its field. I didn’t detect any Hastings “oo-yahs” however.
Gay’s influences included Hawkins on tenor and he pays oblique tonal homage on Memphis Blues where Welsh shows some Buck Clayton inspired work. The leader sings, Armstrong-style, on Up A lazy River where Crimmins ventures some wa-wa ‘bone and by Stan’s Dance the band is cooking nicely – note Murray’s good solo here. Gay stretches out on Soft Winds, swinging with verve strongly aided by that crisp, tight and propulsive rhythm section; a good arrangement sees a trombone-and-percussion passage. Gay takes the soprano saxophone honours on On The Sunny Side Of The Street ensuring variety in the front line whilst Welsh takes amongst his best solos on Fidgety Feet where Hastings lays down an insistent beat.
Good arrangements, one or two surprising song selections and a rare band line-up are the principal features of this latest outing from Lake. It’s a good live session, enjoyable and entertaining. (Jonathan Woolf)
Recorded live at The Dancing Slipper, Nottingham, 13 April 1963
Personnel:
Roy Crimmins (trombone)
Al Gay (reeds)
Lennie Hastings (drums)
Bert Murray (piano)
Tony Pitt (guitar, banjo)
Bill Reid (bass)
Alex Welsh (trumpet, vocals)
Tracklist:
01. Beale St Blues (Handy) 5.16
02. Memphis Blues (Handy) 6.21
03. Up A Lazy River (Carmichael/Arodin) 5.07
04. Stan’s Dance (Clayton) 7.14
05. Serenade In Blue (Warren/Gordon) 8.35
06. Soft Winds (Goodman/Royal) 7.46
07. On The Sunny Side Of The Street (Fields/McHugh) 4.35
08. Lester Leaps In (Young) 6.25
09. On The Alamo (Kahn/Jones) 7.11
10. Exactly Like You (McHugh/Fields) 4.36
11. My Blue Heaven (Whiting/Donaldson) 5.59
12. Fidgety Feet (Shields/LaRocca) 4.44
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