Al Fairweather

Who was Al Fairweather?

Alastair Fairweather was a British jazz musician, born in Edinburgh, Scotland. Educated at the city's Royal High School and Edinburgh College of Art, Fairweather served his National Service in Egypt.

It was after being demobbed in 1949 that Fairweather started a band with his old schoolfriend Sandy Brown, and in 1953, the pair went south to London along with Stan Greig. There they recorded a number of sides for Esquire Records as the Sandy Brown and later Fairweather-Brown All Stars, and played amongst other places at the newly built Royal Festival Hall.

When Brown went back to Scotland to complete his architecture studies, Fairweather joined the Cy Laurie Jazz Band. His powerful, Louis Armstrong-inspired lead was a perfect foil for Laurie's Johnny Dodds approach. From 1966 to 1968, he worked for clarinetist Acker Bilk.

Following a second career as a teacher in Harrow, London, Fairweather returned to Edinburgh in 1987, where he remained and played until his death in 1993 at the age of 66.