Review - 8 Dec 1998 - by Kenny Mathieson

Bobby Wellins at the Tron Theatre Bar, Glasgow

Bobby Wellins has been based in London for most of his career, but the Glasgow-bred saxophonist is always a welcome visitor. Wellins was in town to record a new piece of music written by the young Scottish trumpeter Tom McNiven, a work commissioned by Basement Jazz and the Scottish Arts Council.

They decided, however, not to air the new work before Friday's recording date, and settled instead for an assured and highly enjoyable set of standards and classic jazz tunes, some better known than others. Wellins was joined by excellent Brian Kellock Trio for the occasion, and attracted a full house.

The saxophonist remains an impressive player. His approach is very much based in bop methodology, but with a notable concentration on melodic as well as harmonic development. The tune is never far away in even his most extended harmonic explorations, and he builds solos from phrase to phrase with a lucid, highly organic feel, employing a clean, expressive articulation and a rich, almost opulent tone on tenor saxophone.

It was heard to advantage on a set which included a fine reading of Lover, turned in its final stages in a Coltrane-like exploration over a simple vamp, as well as tunes by jazz luminaries like Benny Golson, Thelonious Monk and Bucky Pizzarelli, but none of Wellins's own compositions. It was, in other words, the lingua franca of modern jazz, and the trio of Brian Kellock, Kenny Ellis and John Rae provided impeccably imaginative support, with the pianist himself in excellent fettle even on an electric piano. Kellock's own understanding of building a solo is every bit as refined and exciting as the saxophonist's, something he demonstrated on everything he played, and nowhere more so than in his pulsating treatment of Dave Brubeck's In Your Own Sweet Way.

(c) Kenny Mathieson (First published in the Scotsman newspaper).