Russell Welch Trio • Live in Asheville

It’s sure nice to have a new live album to review. We haven’t had too many of those come through in the last three years, for obvious reasons. Russell Welch’s phone was no doubt ringing off the hook, once the live venues finally reopened—there can’t be many musicians enjoying such demand for their world-renowned skill as this hard-working guitarist. (He’s a nice guy too, as I found out when I spoke to him for the Syncopated Times last year.) Live in Asheville is his trio’s most recent work, laid down during a January 2023 gig at the 13th Annual Django Reinhardt Birthday Celebration, in NC. The album opens with a recording of the compère introducing the band: he describes Welch as “one of the best gypsy jazz players in the United States” and “one of the most in-demand jazz musicians in New Orleans,” mentioning that the guitarist came highly recommended to him by manouche legend Stefane Wrembel. Some might see the monologue’s inclusion here as an act of l’auto-glorification—but why not? It’s all true, and no one can argue that Welch hasn’t worked hard to reach the top flight of gypsy-style guitarists, regularly rubbing shoulders with the likes of Wrembel, Fapy Lafertin, and Raphaël Faÿs. Besides gigging with Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns, The Hot Club of New Orleans, King James and the Special Men, and The Jumbo Shrimp Jazz Band (to name bu