BOBBY WELLINS - TENOR SAX

Event information

We are delighted to have Bobby Wellins return to the club as part of the Oxford Jazz Festival.

Bobby is, in the eyes of many, one of the greatest tenor players that this country has ever produced. He is held in huge esteem by his peers for his individual sound and unerring sense of time and in recent years has returned to the sort of form that brought him international recognition in the 1960s and 70s. It is testament to Bobby’s musicianship that a single solo – his tenor solo on ‘Starless and Bible Black’ from the Under Milk Wood suite recorded by Stan Tracey and his group in 1965 – is cited as one of the great solos in British jazz ( and probably beyond). In a 1998 poll conducted by Jazz UK magazine, this album was voted the all time best British jazz album and this must in part be due to the contribution of the tenor saxophonist.

Over the last few decades he has worked as sideman with all the biggest names in British jazz – John Dankworth, Tubby Hayes, Stan Tracey and as leader, he has continued to release a string of fine albums over the years. The combination of his acute rhythmic facility, a completely individual sound and an endless capacity for working fresh sounding improvisations from classic jazz standards makes him one of the standout players of the last 30 years or more. Not to be missed.