Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club

Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club

Logo of Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club
Ronnie Scott's in 2017
Address47 Frith Street
LocationSoho, London, United Kingdom
OwnerSally Greene and Michael Watt
TypeJazz club
Construction
Opened1959; 67 years ago (1959)
Website
ronniescotts.co.uk

Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club is a jazz club that has operated in Soho, London, since 1959.

History

The club opened on 30 October 1959 in a basement at 39 Gerrard Street in London's Soho district. It was set up and managed by musicians Ronnie Scott and Pete King. In 1965 it moved to a larger venue nearby at 47 Frith Street. The original venue continued in operation as the "Old Place" until the lease ran out in 1967, and was used for performances by the up-and-coming generation of musicians.

Zoot Sims was the club's first transatlantic visitor in 1962, and was succeeded by many others (often saxophonists whom Scott and King, tenor saxophonists themselves, admired, such as Johnny Griffin, Lee Konitz, Sonny Rollins and Sonny Stitt) in the years that followed. Many UK jazz musicians were also regularly featured, including Tubby Hayes and Dick Morrissey who would both drop in for jam sessions with the visiting stars. In the mid-1960s, Ernest Ranglin was the house guitarist. The club's house pianist until 1967 was Stan Tracey. For nearly 30 years it was home of a Christmas residency to George Melly and John Chilton's Feetwarmers. In 1978, the club established the label Ronnie Scott's Jazz House, which issued both live performances from the club and new recordings.

Scott regularly acted as the club's Master of Ceremonies, and was known for his repertoire of jokes, asides and one-liners. After Scott's death in 1996, King continued to run the club for a further nine years, before selling the club to theatre impresario Sally Greene and philanthropist Michael Watt in June 2005.

In 2009, Ronnie Scott's was named by the Brecon Jazz Festival as one of 12 venues that had made the most important contributions to jazz in the United Kingdom,[1] and finished third in the voting for the initial award.[2]

Jimi Hendrix's last public performance was at Ronnie Scott's, in 1970.[3]

House musicians

Club interior

Many of the visiting musicians appearing at Ronnie Scott's were soloists touring without their own rhythm section, or were touring as members of larger bands and they often used the house band to accompany them. On occasions, the house musicians coincided with the members of the various bands that Ronnie Scott led at one time or another.

Drums

backing visiting Americans such as Stan Getz, Art Farmer and Roland Kirk[5]
  • Tony Oxley – house drummer from 1966 until the early 1970s.
Accompanied Joe Henderson, Lee Konitz, Charlie Mariano, Stan Getz, Sonny Rollins and Bill Evans.

Piano

Accompanied Chet Baker, George Coleman, James Moody, Joe Henderson and Johnny Griffin
  • James Pearson – house pianist since 2006

Bass

Guitar

Other musicians

Other regular performers since 2006 include:

Record label

In 1978, the club established its own record label, Ronnie Scott's Jazz House. The first release was an album by Scott's quintet. Over the next 20 years, the label gained in prominence, issuing both historic live club performances and new recordings.[6]

Birmingham offshoot

During the late 1950s through to the early 1960s, Ronnie Scott had played at various venues across Birmingham including the Golden Cross in Aston.[7][8] In October 1991, a short-lived and franchised offshoot was opened at 258 Broad Street.[9][10] It hosted notable musicians and bands, such as Charlie Watts,[11] Kenny Baker's Dozen,[12] Robert Fripp,[13] Scotty Moore,[14] Helen Shapiro,[15] and Coldplay who held early concerts there during 1999 and 2000.[16][17]

Closure and final concert at Ronnie Scott's – Birmingham

In July 2001, after declining footfall with mounting debts of £1.5m and a failed rescue deal,[18] the club was gradually shut down by franchisee Allan Sartori. The final concert and shutdown ceremony featuring Satsangi was held at the club on 2 February 2002.[19] The closure of Ronnie Scott's – Birmingham was subsequently reported in The Guardian.[20] Allan Sartori claimed to have lost £800,000 on the venture and later died in July 2018 aged 68.[21] As of 2024, 258 Broad Street was reported as being closed and unused.[22]

Live albums recorded at Ronnie's

See also

Further reading

References

  1. ^ "Buckingham Palace hits right note with jazz fans". London Evening Standard. 3 August 2009.
  2. ^ "Most important jazz venue named". 7 August 2009 – via BBC News.
  3. ^ "Jimi Hendrix". Songkick. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  4. ^ David Taylor's British jazz web site Archived 16 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "Obituary in The Independent".[dead link]
  6. ^ Fox, Charles; et al. (2001). "Ronnie Scott". In Sadie, Stanley; Tyrrell, John (eds.). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2nd ed.). London: Macmillan Publishers. ISBN 978-1-56159-239-5. ‎
  7. ^ "the golden cross aston cross". Welcome to Birmingham History Forum. 10 January 2003. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  8. ^ "Jazz Clubs". Welcome to Birmingham History Forum. 11 July 2007. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  9. ^ King, Steve (18 April 2019). "Steve King Big Band, Throwback Thursday".
  10. ^ Chilton, Martin (23 October 2020). "The secret history of Ronnie Scott's: 60 years of bopping and blowing off steam". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  11. ^ Charlie Watts - Topic (31 March 2022). Bluebird (Live at Ronnie Scott's, Birmingham, 1991). Retrieved 28 October 2025 – via YouTube.
  12. ^ Kenny Baker's Dozen - The Boss Is Home, 1994, retrieved 28 October 2025
  13. ^ Two, ProjeKct. "Ronnie Scotts Birmingham England". www.dgmlive.com. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  14. ^ Arnot, Chris; Arnot, By Chris (4 May 1999). "Rock'n'roll's midwife". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  15. ^ Lennard, Derek (29 September 2000). "Review Of The Helen Shapiro Band Concert at Ronnie Scott's Birmingham". Helen Shapiro Fanclub. Retrieved 13 November 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  16. ^ "Coldplay Setlist at Ronnie Scott's, Birmingham". setlist.fm. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  17. ^ "Jul 30, 2000: Coldplay / David Mead / Carina Round at Ronnie Scott's Birmingham, England, United Kingdom | Concert Archives". www.concertarchives.org. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  18. ^ "Ronnie Scott's saved after bankruptcy". BBC News. 15 August 2001. Retrieved 28 October 2025.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  19. ^ "Satsangi Setlist at Ronnie Scott's, Birmingham". setlist.fm. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  20. ^ Gibbons, Fiachra; Gibbons (12 February 2002). "Ronnie Scott's hits bum note in Brum". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  21. ^ Lockley, Mike (26 July 2018). "Allan Sartori, Rocket Club and Ronnie Scott's boss dies". Birmingham Live. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
  22. ^ "Instagram - Dirty Brum". Instagram. 25 July 2024. Retrieved 29 October 2025.

51°30′48″N 0°07′54″W / 51.51346°N 0.13155°W / 51.51346; -0.13155

allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronnie_Scott%27s_Club