Jim Douglas (guitarist)

Jim Douglas (born Robert James Elliot Douglas, 13 May 1942) is a Scottish jazz guitarist, banjoist, and author born in Gifford, East Lothian, Scotland. He is best known for his work with the Alex Welsh band, which saw him playing with musicians such as Red Allen, Earl Hines, and Ruby Braff. His membership of the band ran from 1962 until the group disbanded in 1981.[1]

Douglas wrote and self-published a semi-autobiographical book, Tunes, Tours and Travel-itis - Eighteen years of Facts, Faces and Fun with the Alex Welsh Band.[2] in which he cites several humorous encounters with legends of the business, as well as recounting the band's many strange and bizarre misadventures. He followed this up three years later with Teenage to Travel-itis - Growing Up in a World of Jazz.[3] The sequel chronicles his adventures in the Jazz world before and after his time with the Alex Welsh Band.

He played drums in his youth before switching to guitar. In his teens he accompanied clarinettist Pete Kerr. As part of a Dixieland band, he performed in Germany in 1960. Soon after, he began play with Alex Welsh. In 1971 he appeared on the album Freddy Randall and His Famous Jazz Band. Other than Kerr and Welsh, he worked with Alan Elsdon, Lennie Hastings, Ed Polcer, and Keith Smith.[4]

References

1. Carr, Ian; Fairweather, Digby; Priestley, Brian (1995). Jazz: The Rough Guide. The Rough Guides. p. 179. ISBN 1-85828-137-7.
2. Douglas, Jim (19 October 2013). Tunes, Tours and Travel-itis: Eighteen years with the Alex Welsh Band. CreateSpace. ISBN 978-1-49222-375-7.
3. Douglas, Jim (8 September 2016). Teenage to Travel-itis: Growing Up in a World of Jazz. CreateSpace. ISBN 978-1-51957-377-3.
4. Kennedy, Gary (2002). Kernfeld, Barry (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz. Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). New York: Grove's Dictionaries. p. 648. ISBN 1-56159-284-6.