Alex Welsh (9 July 1929 – 25 June 1982) was a Scottish jazz musician and vocalist, who played cornet and trumpet and led one of Britain's best jazz groups from the 1950s to the 1980s.
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| Archie Semple & Alex Welsh |
Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Welsh began his musical life in Leith on the smaller cornet, later switching to trumpet. The teenage Leith Silver Band and later gigs with Archie Semple's Capital Jazz Band represented the earliest phases of his gigging. After moving to London in 1954, 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.
Within a year the band played several times at the Royal Festival Hall, made it's first broadcasts and recordings and established a reputation for it's dedication to the Dixieland style and the excellence of its playing. From 1955 the band made several tours overseas. During the 1960s and early 1970s, Welsh continued to tour, 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) plus "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 and remained on the UK singles chart for four weeks.
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. Although Welsh's ensemble was noted for its few personnel changes, by 1966 the trombonist Roy Crimmins had been replaced by Roy Williams and the clarinestist Archie Semple by John Barnes and Al Gay, who between them played seven different reed instruments. This gave the band a greater tonal variety and although it retained its early ideals, it also began to approach other forms of jazz and became highly regarded for its versatility.
Welsh toured internationally and played at the 1967 Antibes jazz festival, the 1968 Newport Jazz Festival (at great acclaim), 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.
By the mid-'70s, Welsh's health started to fail, but the trumpeter continued reaching for the high notes as long as he could until his death on June 25, 1982 in Hillingdon hospital in London, England, at the age of 52.
(Edited from The New Grove Dictionary of Music & Wikipedia)
