John Anthony Helliwell (born 15 February 1945) is an English musician, best known as the

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

, secondary

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instr ...

, backing vocalist, and occasional songwriter for the

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Supertramp Supertramp were an English rock band that formed in London in 1969. Marked by the individual songwriting of founders Roger Hodgson (vocals, keyboards, and guitars) and Rick Davies (vocals and keyboards), they are distinguished for blending pro ...

. He also served as an MC during the band's concerts, talking and making jokes to the audience between songs. Helliwell played with

The Alan Bown Set The Alan Bown Set later known as The Alan Bown! or just Alan Bown, were a British band of the 1960s and 1970s whose music evolved from jazz and blues through soul and rhythm and blues and ended up as psychedelia and progressive rock. The band a ...

, replacing Dave Green when he joined in January 1966, before joining Supertramp in 1973 along with bassist

Dougie Thomson Douglas 'Doogie' Campbell Thomson (born 24 March 1951) is a Scottish musician, born in Glasgow and raised in the Rutherglen area of the city. He was the bass guitarist of progressive rock band Supertramp during much of the seventies and eight ...

, who convinced Helliwell to make the move. In 2004, Helliwell formed the band Crème Anglaise with

Mark Hart Mark Hart (born July 2, 1953), is an American musician and multi-instrumentalist best known for being a member of both Supertramp (1986–1988, 1996–2002, 2015–present) and Crowded House (1993–1996, 2007–2019). As well as being a group mem ...

, who had joined Supertramp in 1985. This group recorded their

eponymous An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

debut album in 2005. In 1987 Helliwell played on

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

's album ''

A Momentary Lapse of Reason ''A Momentary Lapse of Reason'' is the thirteenth studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released in the UK on 7 September 1987 by EMI and the following day in the US on Columbia. It was recorded primarily on guitarist ...

''; his name was misspelled as "Halliwell". This was after Pink Floyd guitarist

David Gilmour David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined as guitarist and co-lead vocalist in 1967, shortly before the departure of founding member Syd Barrett. P ...

had played on Supertramp's album ''

Brother Where You Bound ''Brother Where You Bound'' is the eighth studio album by the English rock band Supertramp, released in 1985. It was their first album after original member Roger Hodgson left the band, leaving Rick Davies to handle the songwriting and singing ...

''. Helliwell also played on French singer

Jean-Jacques Goldman Jean-Jacques Goldman (; born 11 October 1951) is a French singer-songwriter and music record producer. He is hugely popular in the French-speaking world. Since the death of Johnny Hallyday in 2017 he has been the highest grossing living French p ...

's 1985 album '' Positif,'' and

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

Sara Hickman Sara Hickman (born March 1, 1963) is an American singer, songwriter, and artist.Houston Folk Music Archive(Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University)Guide to the Houston Folk Music Archive(Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library ...

's 1990 album

Shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

. During a professional lull in the 1990s, Helliwell began studying for a music degree at the

Royal Northern College of Music The Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) is a conservatoire located in Manchester, England. It is one of four conservatoires associated with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. In addition to being a centre of music education ...

in Manchester, but he discontinued his studies to join Supertramp on tour when '' Some Things Never Change'' was released. In 2004 he contributed saxophone work on the

Simon Apple Simon Apple is an American progressive rock band based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. History Early years The band was formed in late 1987 in the Reading, Pennsylvania area (outside of Philadelphia) as a cover band playing music of Genesis, R ...

album ''River to the Sea''. Helliwell contributed clarinet to

The Pineapple Thief The Pineapple Thief are a British progressive rock band, started by Bruce Soord in 1999 in Somerset, England. History Early years Founder Bruce Soord started The Pineapple Thief as an outlet for his music back in 1999. Soord released the ...

's song "Fend For Yourself" from their ''

Your Wilderness ''Your Wilderness'' is the eleventh studio album by British rock band The Pineapple Thief. The album features guest musicians including Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree, King Crimson), John Helliwell (Supertramp), and Geoffrey Richardson (Carava ...

'' album which was released in 2016. Helliwell fronts the Super Big Tramp Band, which has a jazz

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...

line-up of trumpets, trombones, saxophones and rhythm section. It plays versions of Supertramp tunes, arranged by members of the band, with no vocals, but with Helliwell as the chief soloist. The band first played in Manchester in June 2013. In 2019 the band played at the

Manchester Jazz Festival {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022 Manchester Jazz Festival is an annual 9-day-long festival focused on showcasing contemporary jazz from the North West of England and beyond. mjf 2017 The 2017 Manchester Jazz Festival took place from 28 July to 6 ...

in May and was scheduled to play in Hull and

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

later in the year. In October 2020, Helliwell released ''Ever Open Door'', a CD album of ballads with Helliwell on saxophone and clarinet, with a string quartet and Hammond organ.

References

External links

Helliwell's personal website

John Helliwell
biography {{DEFAULTSORT:Helliwell, John English keyboardists English rock saxophonists British male saxophonists Melodica players Supertramp members 1945 births Living people British expatriates in the United States People from Todmorden People from Topanga, California 21st-century saxophonists 21st-century British male musicians The Alan Bown Set members