An active member of the Ottawa music scene, Linsey Wellman is known as a creative and spontaneous improvisor on the alto and soprano saxophones, the alto and standard flutes, and the bass clarinet. Ever adaptable, he has plied his trade with Sun Ra tribute Rakestar Arkestra, marching band Mike Essoudry’s Mash Potato Mashers, the Craig Pedersen Quartet, Gamelan Semara Winangun, calypso outfit Kobo Town, and Punjabi folk/fusion project Galitcha, all while taking part in countless improvised music and jazz ensembles. In 2007, he released an eponymous collaborative album with drummer Mike Essoudry, exploring a convergence of improvised and world musics, and in 2010 he released Ephemera: for solo saxophone, a suite of guided improvisations for which he received grants from the City of Ottawa and from the Canada Council for the Arts. Along the way, he has worked with such as Rob Frayne, Jesse Stewart, Pierre-Yves Martel, Petr Cancura, Yves Lambert and Ellen McIlwaine.
Some concert highlights include the Ottawa, Guelph and Vancouver Jazz Festivals, the Vancouver, Calgary and Winnipeg Folk Festivals, Festival au Désert (Mali), the Théatre Mohammed V (Morocco), the House of World Cultures (Haus der Kulturen der Welt – Berlin), the Lincoln Center Out of Doors Festival, and WOMEX 2010 in Copenhagen.
He is co-founder and co-curator of the Improvising Musicians of Ottawa/Outaouais (IMOO) concert series.
