Neil Welch
"Welch connects again with a past which one might have though was gone forever, but entirely in his own style and without a single cliche."
-P. Dulieu, French jazz critic of Dragon Jazz
Neil Welch’s music has been called “powerful, genre-defying, and spiritual” by All About Jazz and Jazz Police. His new release, Narmada, “explores the yearning of creating spiritual music, and exemplifies (his) mode of playing jazz to anarchic expressions.” -Bhasker Gupta, Muse’s Muse. Neil is creating the music representative of a new generation of musicians on the jazz scene today. With one foot humbly rooted in the tradition of those who have preceded him, he fuses artistic influences from the past and present, using jazz as a reflection of his own endless search for new artistic directions.
A devout student of classical Indian music and a highly respected member of the Seattle jazz community, Neil’s music explores raw emotional depths and new aural sounds. As a highly sought after saxophonist, Neil is revered as player of immense technical ability and knowledge, but most importantly as a truly artistic improviser. Of his own music Neil has said: “I view my music as art in motion. My compositions and improvisations are reflections of my need to push the music into new emotional territory. Jazz has always been the music of a new generation, of those open to articulate their music based on societal woes as well as the search for new musical freedom.”
Neil’s debut record, Narmada (2008) released on the Belle Records label, achieves this musical freedom. Maxwell Chandler of Jazz Police has said of Narmada: “What makes this such a compelling album is the interplay of the band. It never sounds as if someone is biding their time until a solo, there is never any slackening of tension—there is an organic feel of unity.” Narmada features world-renowned Indian sitarist Pandit Debi Prasad Chatterjee, and master tabla player Tor Dietrichson, along with a host of the Seattle jazz scenes most revered players. The album fuses Indian music with multi-meter compositions, collective improvisation, and a strong presence of Neil’s most prominent influences: Coltrane, Pharoah, and Ayler. French jazz critic P. Dulieu of Dragon Jazz, said of Neil’s musical influences: “Welch connects again with a past which one might have thought was gone forever, and manages to invoke the mystique of that era, but entirely in his own style and without a single cliché.”
With his bands Narmada, Trio Concept, and Nada Brahma, Neil has mesmerized audiences with his exploratory, yet highly accessible music throughout the United States and the world. He has performed nationally in such venues as Jazz At Lincoln Center, Benaroya Hall, the Paramount Theatre, Jazz Alley, and BB King’s, among many others. Internationally, Neil and his ensembles have performed in England, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Holland and Belgium at events including the North Sea and Montreux Jazz Festivals. He has performed on the bandstand with Wynton Marsalis, Phil Woods, John Clayton, Brian Lynch, Bobby Shew, Terrell Stafford, Ingrid Jenson, Terri Lyne Carrington, and Scott Wendholt, among others.
From a young age, Neil Welch was recognized for his prowess as a saxophonist. In 2003, he participated in the Essentially Ellington jazz festival at Lincoln Center, where he was the sole recipient of the Outstanding Tenor Sax Soloist award, presented by Wynton Marsalis. In 2003 Neil was also awarded a full performance scholarship by the Vail Jazz Association, lead by bassist John Clayton. In 2005 he received the outstanding College Tenor Saxophone Soloist award at the Lionel Hampton Jazz festival, and in 2006 received the Outstanding College Musician award at the EWU jazz festival. Neil holds a BM in Jazz Studies from the University of Washington.