Les Welch

Lesley Welch (6 August 1925 – 1 September 2014) was an Australian bandleader, singer, pianist and recording artist, popular in the 1940s and 1950s. After teaching himself piano, Welch began playing blues at parties and nightclubs during the 1940s. He toured nationally, performing jazz and appearing on radio, and in 1948 he was voted King of Swing at a Sydney Town Hall concert. and worked as A&R. In 1953 his album Tempos de Barrelhouse, was released by Festival as one of the first records by an Australian artist pressed at 33 RPM.

When he left Festival, Welch led the studio orchestra at the Seven Network in Sydney In 1950 he was described as "probably the biggest name in the Australian jazz field today."

Les Welch died in September 2014, aged 89.