Dave Gelly MBE (born 28 January 1938) is a British jazz critic. A long-standing contributor to The Observer, he was named Jazz Writer of the Year in the 1999 British Jazz Awards. Gelly is also a jazz saxophonist and broadcaster, presenting a number of shows for BBC Radio 2 including Night Owls for much of the 1980s.
Biography
Gelly was born in
Bexleyheath, Kent, on 28 January 1938, and grew up in south London.
[Chilton, John (ed.), "GELLY, 'Dave' David", in Who's Who of British Jazz: 2nd Edition, Continuum, 2004, p. 147.][ "Authors: Dave Gelly", Jazz Journal. Retrieved 28 April 2019.] He attended St Dunstan's College, Catford, and won a scholarship to read English under F. R. Leavis at Downing College, Cambridge.
["Cambridge Tripos Results", The Times, 23 June 1960.] Gelly played with
Art Themen,
[ Art Themen biography. David Taylor's British jazz website. Retrieved 28 July 2013. .] George Walden and
Lionel Grigson in the Cambridge University band, and from the mid-1960s co-led his own quartets and quintets with
Frank Ricotti, with Jeff Scott, and with Barbara Thompson.
[Chilton, John (2004), Who's Who of British Jazz 2nd Edition, p. 147. Continuum, via Google Books. Retrieved 28 July 2013.] Gelly was a member of the New Jazz Orchestra, directed by
Neil Ardley, which also featured
Ian Carr,
Jon Hiseman, Barbara Thompson, Mike Gibbs,
Don Rendell, and
Trevor Tomkins.
Gelly was a teacher during the 1960s and 1970s at William Penn School,
Dulwich.
Discography
- As leader/co-leader
-
2001: Strike A Light (Mainstem Records)
- As sideman
-
1968: Le Dejeuner sur L'Herbe – The New Jazz Orchestra
-
1971: A Symphony of Amaranths – Neil Ardley
-
1973: Mike Taylor Remembered (with Jon Hiseman, Barbara Thompson, Ian Carr, Henry Lowther, Norma Winstone, Ron Mathewson, Stan Sulzmann, Alan Branscombe and Chris Pyne, among others)
-
2003: John Williams's Tenorama (Spotlite Records)
Publications
-
The Giants of Jazz (Schirmer Books, 1986) with Miles Kington
-
Masters of Jazz Saxophone: The Story of the Players and Their Music (2000)
-
Stan Getz: Nobody Else But Me (2002)
-
Being Prez: The Life and Music of Lester Young (Equinox, 2007)
-
An Unholy Row (Equinox, 2014)
External links
