Richard MacQueen "Dick" Wellstood (November 25, 1927 – July 24, 1987) was an American jazz pianist.
He was one of the two great stride pianists (along with Ralph Sutton) to emerge during the 1940s when members of their generation were generally playing bebop. He kept an open mind toward later styles (he loved Monk) while sounding at his best playing classic jazz. A little more subtle than Sutton, Wellstood was also a powerful pianist who was a superb interpreter of the music of James P. Johnson and his contemporaries.
Wellstood was born in Greenwich, Connecticut. He studied the piano in Boston and New York and made his professional debut in 1946 at Jimmy Ryan's, on what was once a haven for jazz in Manhattan, 52d Street which was then known as Swing Street. He played with Bob Wilber's Wildcats in 1946, and became a mainstay on the trad jazz scene, playing with Sidney Bechet in 1947 and in the 1950s with Jimmy Archey, Conrad Janis, Roy Eldridge, Rex Stewart, Charlie Shavers, and Eddie Condon.
During those years, Mr. Wellstood played the piano to pay his way through college. He later worked his way through the Columbia University Law School, from which he graduated in 1958. He was the house pianist at New York City clubs Metropole and Nick's in the late 1950s and 1960s. he did session work as well playing on albums such as The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (1963) and Odetta & The Blues (1962)
He played locally in the 1970s playing solo concerts, performing at jazz parties, and recording quite a few memorable albums. In 1977 completed a tour of the UK with the Dutch Swing College Band. In the 1980s he played often with Kenny Davern. From 1980 to 1986,
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he was the house pianist at Hanratty's restaurant at 92nd and 2nd in Manhattan for 6–8 months a year. In 1985, a slow summer for him, Mr. Wellstood decided to put his law degree to use. He spent 10 months with a law firm and returned to Hanratty's.
he was the house pianist at Hanratty's restaurant at 92nd and 2nd in Manhattan for 6–8 months a year. In 1985, a slow summer for him, Mr. Wellstood decided to put his law degree to use. He spent 10 months with a law firm and returned to Hanratty's. ''The firm liked my work, and I could have stayed there,'' he said. ''But I realized that all those years in music had ruined me for something like the law.'' John S. Wilson, a music critic of The New York Times, noted that despite the layoff, ''Mr. Wellstood's stride piano-playing was as energetic and virtuosic as ever.''
In 1987 he died of a heart attack in Palo Alto, California where he went to attend the Peninsula Jazz Party. At the time of his death he was the pianist for Bemelman's Bar of the Carlyle Hotel in New York City.
(Compiled and edited from Wikipedia, AllMusic and NY Times)