Digby Fairweather
| Digby Fairweather | |
|---|---|
| Born |
April 25, 1946 Rochford, Essex, England |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, broadcaster, author |
| Instruments | Cornet |
| Years active | 1977–present |
| Website | www |
Digby Fairweather (born 25 April 1946, Rochford, Essex, England) is a British jazz cornettist, author and broadcaster.
Before becoming a professional musician, Fairweather was a librarian and has retained a strong interest in jazz bibliography and archiving.
He has been a full-time jazz musician since 1 January 1977, and Fairweather worked part-time for seven years before that with local jazz bands in Essex and London. He recorded his first album in 1975 with trumpeter Alex Welsh's band, as deputy for Welsh. After turning professional, Fairweather helped found pianist Keith Nichols' "Midnite Follies" Orchestra, also performing with Nichols in his "Ragtime Orchestra" and on a tribute show to Fats Waller. He performed with several other bands, including one led by drummer Lennie Hastings. Starting in 1978, he recorded solo albums, and joined a quartet known as Velvet, with guitarists Denny Wright and Ike Isaacs plus bassist Len Skeat.
In 1979, Fairweather became co-director of the non-profit charity Jazz College with pianist Stan Barker. He also joined the Pizza Express All Stars (l980–82). In 1983, he began leading groups of his own and helped to revitalise the Kettners Five, co-leading the group with double-bassist Tiny Winters. Fairweather and Winters collaborated in 1983 on a touring tribute to trumpeter Nat Gonella, and they worked on various other projects together over the next decade. Fairweather's musical style has been influenced by a number of artists, particularly Louis Armstrong, Ruby Braff, Billy Butterfield, Bobby Hackett, Red Nichols and Gonella. Digby's Half Dozen was formed in 1995, and they toured and recorded with singer George Melly in the later years of his career (2003–2007). Thereafter, Fairweather's group toured with former Manfred Mann lead singer Paul Jones in their presentation titled 'Rocking in Rhythm' (2007–present).
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