James Kellas

Died: September 26, 2015

PROFESSOR James Grant Kellas, who has died aged 79, was a professor of politics at the University of Glasgow and a former head of department. He was also a talented musician and composer and played at the famous Ronnie Scott's Club in London, arranged his own music and founded the James Grant Kellas Sax Section.

He was born in Aberdeen, the only child of Mary and the Reverend James Forrest Kellas and was thus, like many illustrious Scots, a son of the manse. He attended the city's Grammar School then the university, where in 1959 he graduated with a first class honours degree in history and politics. But he also, and far from incidentally, studied music as a subsidiary subject. After university, he was awarded a Carnegie scholarship and undertook doctoral graduate work in political history, working on the Liberal Party in Scotland in the late 19th century, at University College London.

He chose London not for academic reasons (indeed his relationship with his supervisor was not the smoothest) but because of the jazz scene. He not only visited the famous Ronnie Scott's Club he also played (the piano) there, arranged his own music and founded the James Grant Kellas Sax Section, which was mainly made up of fellow students. His sound was innovative and from being originally influenced by the big band style of Woody Herman and others he moved on to anticipate the more atonal harmonies and irregular metres of 1960s jazz.

The high quality of his work did not go unnoticed. He was the subject of a number of glowing articles in the music press, including a full-page article in the Melody Maker, which commented that he "has the kind of thoughtful, musicianly approach to jazz, which may … prevent our music from standing still".

His compositions were played on the radio on the BBC Jazz Club presented by Jonny Dankworth, the leading jazz musician of that era. Twenty years later, an LP of contemporary tapes from February and March 1960 was released.

Music always played a large part in his life; with his wife, Norma, he was a regular at concerts and Scottish Opera but he was open in his taste and appreciation - for example, accompanying his children to see T Rex and David Bowie. However, recognising that life as a jazz musician was not financially sustainable, he returned in 1962 to the University in Aberdeen as a lecturer in history and to marry.

Two years later, he was appointed to teach politics at the University of Glasgow, becoming in time professor and head of department. He spent his entire academic life there (apart from a year as a visiting professor at Pittsburgh) and had a distinguished career.

His first book, Modern Scotland, which was published in 1968, dealt with the history and institutions of Scotland since 1870 and its opening chapter was presciently titled The Meaning of Scotland. A second revised edition appeared in 1980.

The revised edition was stimulated not only by events but also by Professor Kellas' public profile as an analyst that had been enhanced by his most notable book, The Scottish Political System (1973), which went through four editions. Not only was it typically perceptive in its recognition that "the British system can only be maintained by accommodation with the national systems within it" but was a path-breaking work academically. No one before him had treated Scotland to a serious political science analysis – and all subsequent scholars followed in his footsteps.

He broadened his scope in later years, writing two books on nationalism. In his The Politics of Nationalism and Ethnicity (1991) he outlined an integrated theory that argued that serious analysis had to take on board the emotional appeal of nationalism, with its roots in human nature.

He neither adopted nor exhibited any partisan commitment in his academic work. Students – a number of whom went on to make their mark in the media and politics - in his classes on Scottish politics which he taught for many years were never any the wiser at the end of the course whether he was nationalist or not.

His first year lectures were a unique experience, a mixture of videos, tape recordings, snippets from that day's newspaper yet never at the expense of getting the core material (the facts) across.

He was a man of enthusiasms. He was a keen hill-walker, and, ever a passionate Scot, he had a boundless curiosity about all facets from railways to place-names to topography, all of which he was keen to share.

It was sometimes difficult in his presence to ever settle because he would always be leaping up to retrieve some nugget of information from a pamphlet or book. This was not from any sense of his own importance but because he wished others to be informed, delighted or surprised.

A generous colleague and friend he was regarded with affection (and at times some bemusement) by all those who were fortunate to know him. He is survived by his wife Norma, whom he met at university, three children and five grandchildren.

CHRISTOPHER J BERRY