Bill Wells - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Bill Wells is a Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

bassist

Bass guitar

The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

, pianist, guitarist and composer.

He is best known for his group the Bill Wells Octet, since the early 1990s, but he has performed and recorded in a wide range of settings, including collaborations with The Pastels

The Pastels

The Pastels are a group from Glasgow, Scotland, UK.Their early records for labels like Whaam!, Creation, Rough Trade, and Glass Records, had a raw and immediate sound, melodic and amateur, which seemed at odds with the time...

, Maher Shalal Hash Baz

Maher Shalal Hash Baz

Maher Shalal Hash Baz is the artistic alter ego of Tori Kudo, a Japanese naivist composer and musician. The name is taken from Maher-shalal-hash-baz in the Book of Isaiah verses 8:1 and 8:3, and translates roughly as "Hurrying to the spoil, he has made haste to the plunder." Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz...

, Future Pilot A.K.A.

Future Pilot A.K.A.

Future Pilot A.K.A. is the nom de plume of Glasgow indie musician Sushil K. Dade, a former member of the Soup Dragons, BMX Bandits and Telstar Ponies...

, Lol Coxhill

Lol Coxhill

Lowen Coxhill, generally known as Lol Coxhill is a free improvising saxophonist and raconteur...

, Isobel Campbell

Isobel Campbell

Isobel Campbell is a Scottish singer, cellist and composer in the indie and rock genres.-History:Campbell was a member of Belle & Sebastian from their formation in Glasgow in 1996 until 2002, when she departed the band for personal reasons. She played cello and keyboards with the band, and sang...

, Barbara Morgenstern

Barbara Morgenstern

Barbara Morgenstern is a German electronic music artist who has released seven full-length albums and seven EPs.-Biography:...

and recently Aidan Moffat

Aidan Moffat

Aidan John Moffat is a Scottish vocalist and musician, best known for his work with Malcolm Middleton in Arab Strap.-Early life:...

. He has also played on tracks by Kevin Ayers

Kevin Ayers

Kevin Ayers is an English singer-songwriter and was a major influential force in the English psychedelic movement...

, V Twin and Duglas T. Stewart

Duglas T. Stewart

Duglas T. Stewart has been leader and the main composer of Glaswegian indie pop band BMX Bandits since they formed in 1985....

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., and his Big Band that entered the BBC Big Band contests of 1992 and 1993 recording one CD at the Society of Musicians in Glasgow. Wells' style of experimental jazz takes influences from Brian Wilson

Brian Wilson

Brian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...

, Burt Bacharach

Burt Bacharach

Burt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...

, Gil Evans

Gil Evans

Gil Evans was a jazz pianist, arranger, composer and bandleader, active in the United States...

, and Charles Mingus

Charles Mingus

Charles Mingus Jr. was an American jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and civil rights activist.Mingus's compositions retained the hot and soulful feel of hard bop and drew heavily from black gospel music while sometimes drawing on elements of Third stream, free jazz, and classical music...

. The Octet's releases have primarily been live recordings sold by Wells at gigs.

Wells has collaborated with several prominent Scottish independent rock and pop musicians, including with David Keenan of Telstar Ponies

Telstar Ponies

Telstar Ponies are a rock band formed in Glasgow, Scotland in 1994. They were signed to Fire Records Their musical style varies considerably but displays obvious influences from Krautrock, folk , and experimental noise.-History:...

and John Hogarty of BMX Bandits

BMX Bandits (band)

BMX Bandits are a Scottish 1960s-influenced guitar pop band who have been making music from 1986 to the present day. They have shared members with other Bellshill bands Teenage Fanclub and The Soup Dragons....

in the group Phantom Engineer, and with Stevie Jackson

Stevie Jackson

Stevie Jackson is a Scottish musician and songwriter. He plays lead guitar and sings in the Glasgow based indie band Belle & Sebastian. Jackson's guitar playing is distinctively retrogressive and melodic, with a heavy use of reverb and minimal effects...

and Isobel Campbell

Isobel Campbell

of Belle & Sebastian

Belle & Sebastian

Belle and Sebastian are an indie pop band formed in Glasgow in January 1996. Belle and Sebastian are often compared with influential indie bands such as The Smiths, as well as classic acts such as Love, Bob Dylan and Nick Drake. The name Belle & Sebastian comes from Belle et Sébastien, a 1965...

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

Scottish Arts Council

The Scottish Arts Council is a Scottish public body that distributes funding from the Scottish Government, and is the leading national organisation for the funding, development and promotion of the arts in Scotland...

'Tune Up' commission for a tour of Scotland with a group of Japanese musicians Maher Shalal Hash Baz

Maher Shalal Hash Baz

.

In 2007 Wells formed, the semi-ironically titled, The National Jazz Trio of Scotland.

With Future Pilot A.K.A

The Bill Wells Octet Vs. Future Pilot A.K.A. (1999) Domino

The Bill Wells Trio

Incorrect Practice (2000) Geographic
Also in White (2002) Geographic

External links

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