Michael "Spike" Wells (born 16 January 1946) is an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
drummer and
priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...
.
Biography
Born in
Tunbridge Wells
Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks. T ...
,
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
, Wells was a
chorister
A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...
at
Canterbury Cathedral Choir School. He became interested in jazz after coming across a recording by
Dizzy Gillespie, which he found "very exciting".
He took up playing drums in his early teens: "I suppose the thing that really knocked me out about jazz was the rhythm, so I thought if I'm going to be in a jazz band I want to be the drummer."
[Peter Vacher, "Priest who plays, drummer who prays", ''Jazz UK'', 77 (October/November 2007), pp. 23–24.] He later had lessons from former
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of musi ...
drummer
Philly Joe Jones
Joseph Rudolph "Philly Joe" Jones (July 15, 1923 – August 30, 1985) was an American jazz drummer.
Biography Early career
As a child, Jones appeared as a featured tap dancer on ''The Kiddie Show'' on the Philadelphia radio station WIP. He wa ...
, who lived in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
in 1967–69, and Wells was also very influenced by another of Davis's drummers,
Tony Williams.
Wells read
Greats at
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...
, where he put together a quartet with tenor player
Pat Crumly and pianist
Brian Priestley
Brian Priestley (born 10 July 1940)Many sources list Priestley's year of birth as 1946, but this is inaccurate. See Priestley's entry in ''The Rough Guide to Jazz'' anon his revised Charlie Parker study. is an English jazz writer, pianist and a ...
that played with visitors including saxophonists
Bobby Wellins
Robert Coull Wellins (24 January 1936 – 27 October 2016) was a Scottish tenor saxophonist who collaborated with Stan Tracey on the album '' Jazz Suite Inspired by Dylan Thomas's "Under Milk Wood"'' (1965).
Biography
Robert Coull Wellins was ...
,
Tony Coe
Anthony George Coe (born 29 November 1934) is an English jazz musician who plays clarinet, bass clarinet, flute as well as soprano, alto, and tenor saxophones.
Career
Born in Canterbury, Kent, England, Coe started out on clarinet and was self- ...
and
Joe Harriott
Joseph Arthurlin Harriott (15 July 1928 – 2 January 1973) was a Jamaican jazz musician and composer, whose principal instrument was the alto saxophone.
Initially a bebopper, he became a pioneer of free-form jazz. Born in Kingston, Harriott ...
, and blues singer
Jimmy Witherspoon
James Witherspoon (August 8, 1920 – September 18, 1997) was an American jump blues singer.
Early life, family and education
Witherspoon was born in Gurdon, Arkansas. His father was a railroad worker who sang in local choirs, and his mot ...
.
In 1968 Wells began a
PhD course in
philosophy at
London University
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree- ...
, living in a house that was also home to bass player
Ron Mathewson
Rognvald Andrew Mathewson (19 February 1944 – 3 December 2020) was a British jazz double bassist and bass guitarist. During his career, Mathewson performed with Ronnie Scott, but also recorded with Stan Getz, Joe Henderson, Joan Armatrading, ...
, alto sax player
Ray Warleigh
Raymond Kenneth Warleigh (28 September 1938 – 21 September 2015) was an Australian alto saxophonist and flautist.
Biography
Ray Warleigh was born in Sydney, Australia, and migrated to England in 1960, where he quickly established himself as a ...
, trombonist
Chris Pyne and pianist
Mick Pyne
Mick Pyne (2 September 1940, in Thornton-le-Dale – 23 May 1995, in London) was an English jazz pianist. His brother was jazz musician Chris Pyne.
He learned piano from a very early age and could also play cornet and violin. He and his brother C ...
. Mathewson was then playing in the quartet of tenor player
Tubby Hayes
Edward Brian "Tubby" Hayes (30 January 1935 – 8 June 1973) was an English jazz multi-instrumentalist, best known for his tenor saxophone playing in groups with fellow sax player Ronnie Scott and with trumpeter Jimmy Deuchar.
Early life
...
, and asked Wells if he would be interested in joining the group. He arranged an audition with Hayes and guitarist
Louis Stewart, at which "We played a blues, and Tubby looked at Ron and Louis and then said, 'Do you want the job?' Want the job. With the greatest jazz quartet in England?"
Wells abandoned his PhD and became a professional musician. He played in the quintet of pianist
Lionel Grigson
Lionel Grigson (12 February 1942 – 14 June 1994) was an English jazz pianist, cornettist, trumpeter, composer, writer and teacher, who in the 1980s started the jazz course at the Guildhall School of Music. As Simon Purcell wrote in ''The Ind ...
, who had a regular weekly gig at
The Troubadour coffee house in
Old Brompton Road
Old Brompton Road is a major street in the South Kensington district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London.
It starts from South Kensington Underground station and runs south-west, through a mainly residential area, until i ...
, with such musicians as Chris Bateson (trumpet),
Pete Burden or Paul Zec on alto, and John Hart or
David "Happy" Williams on bass.
[Spike Wells]
"From 'Happy' Williams to Cedar Walton"
17 December 2018.
The pianist
Gordon Beck
Gordon James Beck (16 September 1935 – 6 November 2011) was an English jazz pianist and composer. At the time of his death, 26 albums had been released under his name.
Early life
Beck was born in Brixton, London, and attended Pinner Coun ...
has stated that in his opinion: "The union of Ron Mathewson and Spike Wells in Tubby's quartet with Stewart is the single greatest rhythm section in all of British jazz."
In 2004 Wells reflected on his hiring by Hayes:
It was an intuitive thing, a bit like people say about Miles Davis. He hired you because he heard something about your playing that he wanted, and as long as you provided it, he let you do what you wanted.… There were new freedoms opened up in the concept of how to play together rather than just accompanying. We were all spinning ideas off each other in a rather more democratic way and that was what Tubby liked to get into at that point. I think he was intent of freeing up the overall concept. And he found that inspired his own playing.["Spike Wells", on Woodville Records website.]
As well as playing with Hayes, in both his quartet and his big band, until the saxophonist's death in 1973,
he spent a year in
Humphrey Lyttelton
Humphrey Richard Adeane Lyttelton (23 May 1921 – 25 April 2008), also known as Humph, was an English jazz musician and broadcaster from the Lyttelton family.
Having taught himself the trumpet at school, Lyttelton became a professional ...
's band, and also worked with many visiting soloists at
Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club
Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club is a jazz club that has operated in Soho, London, since 1959.
History
The club opened on 30 October 1959 in a basement at 39 Gerrard Street in London's Soho district. It was set up and managed by musicians Ronnie Sc ...
, including
Stan Getz (with whom he toured
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...
),
Roland Kirk
Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the ...
,
Art Farmer,
Johnny Griffin
John Arnold Griffin III (April 24, 1928 – July 25, 2008) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Nicknamed "the Little Giant" for his short stature and forceful playing, Griffin's career began in the mid-1940s and continued until the month of ...
and
James Moody.
After five years' study Wells qualified as a
solicitor, and then practised law for 22 years, eventually working as in-house legal adviser for
Lloyds Bank
Lloyds Bank plc is a British retail and commercial bank with branches across England and Wales. It has traditionally been considered one of the " Big Four" clearing banks. Lloyds Bank is the largest retail bank in Britain, and has an exte ...
. He had drifted away from his faith in his teens, but in his early forties he had a "reconversion experience" and then developed a strong sense of vocation that led him to become a
deacon
A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...
in the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...
when he was 49 and a year later to take early retirement from the bank and become a
stipend
A stipend is a regular fixed sum of money paid for services or to defray expenses, such as for scholarship, internship, or apprenticeship. It is often distinct from an income or a salary because it does not necessarily represent payment for work p ...
iary
curate at
St Peter's Church, Brighton. As his music-making was still important to him, he later went into non-stipendiary ministry, and now works as both a priest and a musician.
Selected discography
*
Alan Barnes, ''Blessing in Disguise'' (2005)
*
Ian Hamer, ''Acropolis'' (1966–74)
* Tubby Hayes Quartet, ''Live 1969'' (1969)
* Tubby Hayes Big Band, ''England's Late Jazz Great'' (1969)
*
John Horler
John Douglas Horler (born 26 February 1947) is an English jazz pianist. He is the younger brother of jazz musician David Horler and the uncle of Natalie Horler, lead singer in the band Cascada.
Horler was born in Lymington. He began on piano a ...
, ''Gentle Piece'' (1993)
* John Horler, ''Not a Cloud in the Sky'' (2010)
*
Peter King, ''East 34th Street'' (1983)
* Mike Pyne, ''Live at Ronnie Scott's'' (1990)
*
Don Weller and
Bobby Wellins
Robert Coull Wellins (24 January 1936 – 27 October 2016) was a Scottish tenor saxophonist who collaborated with Stan Tracey on the album '' Jazz Suite Inspired by Dylan Thomas's "Under Milk Wood"'' (1965).
Biography
Robert Coull Wellins was ...
, ''Nine Songs'' (2007)
* Bobby Wellins, ''Making Light Work'' (1983)
* Bobby Wellins, ''Birds of Brazil'' (1989)
* Bobby Wellins, ''Nomad'' (1992)
* Bobby Wellins, ''Fun'' (2004)
* Bobby Wellins, ''When the Sun Comes Out'' (2005)
* Spike Wells,
Gwilym Simcock,
Malcolm Creese, ''Reverence'' (2006)
References
External links
* Official website
"Spike Wells, Jazz Drummer & Priest"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wells, Spike
1946 births
Living people
English jazz drummers
British male drummers
21st-century English Anglican priests
British male jazz musicians