Archie Semple


Archibald Stuart Nisbet "Archie" Semple was a Scottish jazz clarinetist and Bandleader active principally within the trad jazz idiom.

Biography

Semple played locally in Edinburgh at the start of his career, often with his trumpeter brother John. He moved to London and led several of his own bands before joining Mick Mulligan in 1952.
He then worked with Freddy Randall in 1953-54, Roy Crimmins and Alex Welsh from 1955 to 1963, becoming one of Welsh's most important sidemen. He recorded as a leader in the late 1950s and early 1960s as well, but retired due to health problems caused by heavy drinking in the middle of the decade. His influences included Edmond Hall and Pee Wee Russell.
He has been regarded as a 'very distinctive player with a rich and quirky musical imagination'. Many regarded Semple as a strong presence on the British traditional jazz scene at the time.
He made very few recordings under his own name although a session was recorded which comes mainly from the archives of the 77 Records label, a British record company and label set up in 1957 by Doug Dobell, the proprietor of 'Dobell's Jazz Record Shop' at 77 Charing Cross Road, London. The recordings did not enjoy wide circulation which helped Semple's 'cult status'.
In 1964 whilst on the stage of the Richmond Jazz Festival, Archie suffered a catastrophic nervous breakdown. Semple retired from playing aged 36 in 1965 and died nine years later in London aged 45 in January 1974.