Bill Wells (born c. 1963)
[Strong, Martin C. (2003) "Bill Wells", in ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, ] is a
Scottish
Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:
*Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland
*Scottish English
*Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
bassist
A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboard bass or a low bra ...
, pianist, guitarist and composer.
Biography
Wells is completely self-taught, and began performing in clubs in Scotland in the late 1980s.
He began arranging his own work and initially offered these to Bobby Wishart, but when Wishart declined the offer, Wells formed his own Bill Wells Octet, which has included Lindsay Cooper, Alastair Morrow, Robert Henderson, John Longbotham, Phil and Tom Bancroft.
Wells' style of experimental jazz takes influences from
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often called a genius for his novel approaches to pop composition, extraordinary musical aptitude, and m ...
,
Burt Bacharach
Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; born May 12, 1928) is an American composer, songwriter, record producer and pianist who composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Gr ...
,
Gil Evans, and
Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz upright bassist, pianist, composer, bandleader, and author. A major proponent of collective improvisation, he is considered to be one of the greatest jazz musicians an ...
.
Wells has collaborated with several prominent Scottish independent rock and pop musicians, including with David Keenan of
Telstar Ponies and John Hogarty of
BMX Bandits in the group Phantom Engineer, and with
Stevie Jackson and
Isobel Campbell of
Belle & Sebastian
Belle and Sebastian are a Scottish indie pop band formed in Glasgow in 1996. Led by Stuart Murdoch, the band has released eleven albums. They are often compared with acts such as The Smiths and Nick Drake. The name "Belle and Sebastian" come ...
in live performances and also in the studio; Wells recorded the ''Ghost of Yesterday'' album with Campbell, and Jackson played on Wells' ''Incorrect Practice'' album.
During 2006 he received a
Scottish Arts Council 'Tune Up' commission for a tour of Scotland.
Discography
Stefan Schneider
*''Pianotapes''
Solo
*''The Viaduct Tuba Trio Plays The Music of Bill Wells''
*''Lemondale''
With Phantom Engineer
*''Phantom Engineer'' (1996)
With Future Pilot A.K.A.
*''The Bill Wells Octet Vs. Future Pilot A.K.A.'' (1999)
Domino
Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with gaming pieces, commonly known as dominoes. Each domino is a rectangular tile, usually with a line dividing its face into two square ''ends''. Each end is marked with a number of spots (also ca ...
The Bill Wells Trio
*''Incorrect Practice'' (2000)
Geographic
*''Also in White'' (2002) Geographic
With Isobel Campbell
*''Ghost of Yesterday'' (2002)
Creeping Bent
With Maher Shalal Hash Baz
*''Osaka Bridge''
*''GOK'' (2009) Geographic
With Tape
*''Fugue'' (2010)
Thrill Jockey
With Aidan Moffat
*''
Everything's Getting Older'' (2011)
*''The Most Important Place in the World'' (2015)
As Bill Wells & Friends
*''Nursery Rhymes'' (2015)
EP
*''Dilf_77 would like to chat''
*''Cruel summer''
References
External links
Scottish Arts Council article on Bill WellsBill Wells at Domino Records*
ttps://archive.today/20130222051144/http://immunerecordings.net/fugue/ Fugue by Tape & Bill Wells at Inmune RecordingsVideo Kama Aina & Bill Wells , Glasgow SkyVideo Bill Wells & Lorna Gilfedder & Bradien
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wells, Bill
1960s births
Living people
People from Falkirk
Scottish jazz composers
British jazz bandleaders
Scottish jazz pianists
Scottish jazz double-bassists
British jazz double-bassists
Male double-bassists
British male pianists
21st-century pianists
21st-century double-bassists
Male jazz composers
21st-century British male musicians