George Melly RIP

George Melly has died at his home in London at the age of 80.

The flamboyant singer, writer and broadcaster had continued performing until very recently despite suffering from lung cancer and vascular dementia.

Melly had been a great friend to the Welsh jazz scene, headlining the first ever Brecon Jazz Festival in 1984 and returning several times since, including last year's event.

Away from the jazz scene Melly enjoyed fly fishing on a one mile stretch of the River Usk that he owned beside his holiday home at Scethrog.

For more details about his career see www.georgemelly.com/ or the BBC News website.

Jim Smith, festival director of Brecon Jazz paid tribute to one of the event's most significant supporters.

"Not only was George Melly one of the founding patrons of Brecon Jazz - he was an important and regular fixture in the festival's programme over the years.

"He was the first ever concert booking at the first Brecon and appeared in a group featuring Digby Fairweather and Jacqui Dankworth last year.

"George also visited and spoke at the festival's launch at the Sennedd, Cardiff in March last year (pictured above). Though obviously frail, he spoke humorously and a little outrageously for some 20 minutes of his times in Brecon over the years.

"George will always be remembered as one of the most colourful and exuberant performers in jazz. For many years he had a house, The Tower at Scethrog outside Brecon, which he frequently used for fishing trips and often 'rather bohemian' parties, sometimes to the consternation of his neighbours.

"He was a remarkable man. Generous of spirit - eccentric but loveable. He will be missed by all at Brecon Jazz and by the many thousands he entertained at the festival over the years."

Click here to listen to Jim's tribute to George broadcast on BBC Radio Wales.

Liz Elstone, founding chair of Brecon Jazz, added: "In the early days George was so very important - he would also come along to launches and promotional events.

"Once, the festival coincided with his 60th birthday when we celebrated with a very large cake. He gave a lot to the festival, particularly in the early days - we will all miss him.

"Many years ago George came along and lectured to our U3A group in Brecon on Surrealism. He never charged. He was a very generous man".

BBC Wales pays tribute by broadcasting the 1999 profile They Call Me Goodtime George on BBC 2W (digital BBC Two Wales, channel 991 on DSat if you're outside Wales) at 9pm on Friday 6 July.

Meanwhile Digby Fairweather will host a tribute show to Melly on digital radio station theJazz at 3pm on Sunday 8 July - it'll include the first plays of some early mixes of tracks from the album they finished recording together just a few days ago.