Celebrating 60 years of Ronnie Scotts

 Ronnie Scott’s, the legendary club, from the world of jazz, is turning 60. The noted Soho establishment is celebrating its bus pass by announcing its own “definitive” list of the 60 greatest jazz albums – and you don’t need to be a jazz aficionado to recognise many of the titles.

It includes such well-known names as Courtney Pine, Dave Brubeck, Ella Fitzgerald, someone called Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, George Benson and Gregory Porter.    

It is a something-for-everyone accessible playlist, a word which of course is now synonymous with internet music site, Spotify, where you will find a singles list drawn from the same collection.

The albums were compiled by an impressive list of luminaries from the world of music, including musicians Georgie Fame, Courtney Pine and Pee Wee Ellis, together with broadcasters Jez Nelson (Jazz FM) and Robert Elms.

“With such an incredible array of artists to choose from,” Ronnie Scott’s MD Simon Cooke told me at last week’s glitzy launch, “selecting the most significant jazz albums of the last 60 years was never going to be straightforward.” 

“Our 40 aficionados nominated over 800 albums which have been whittled down to a definitive list that not only reflects the jazz of the past 60 years, but looks to the future too; just as we do at Ronnie Scott’s.”

Cooke has been at Ronnie’s since 2008. “Lot of people don’t know that Ronnie and Pete [King, the then joint owner] were actually invited to open a club in Belgravia by the Kray Twins before they moved to this address. They managed to put them off. They were brave men in those days.”

Established in 1959 by saxophonists Ronnie Scott and Pete King, the club opened its doors in a small basement at 39 Gerrard Street in London’s West End. It was the place where local musicians could jam, and showcased the best of British jazz talent as well as introducing many top American and international jazz artists to British jazz fans later on.

Scott’s inspiration was a trip to New York in 1947 to see the jazz scene. On one memorable night Ronnie heard Charlie Parker play with Miles Davis at the Three Deuces. Playing next door was the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band and, late into the night, Davis also played with Gillespie. Scott vowed to set up his own club in London.

In the summer of 1965, the club moved to its current home at 47 Frith Street and there it remains to this day. 

Since the early days of Sarah Vaughan, Count Basie and Miles Davis, the club has continued to present the biggest names in jazz as well as supporting and presenting hotly-tipped rising stars.  

In the early days of the club, Scott the saxophonist infused the club with a nice line in self-deprecation. 

He was famous for taking to the stage with gems like this: “You should have been at the club last Monday — somebody should have been here last Monday. We had the bouncers chucking them in.”

One jazz fan rang to the club, so the story goes, to ask what time the show started: “What time can you get here..!” came the reply.

He even joked about the old kitchens in the club: “A thousand flies can’t be wrong!”

Scott was the son of a Jewish refugee band leader, while his business partner Pete King was the son of a London bus driver. 

In Scott’s memoir he was surprised the establishment had lasted so long. “When Pete and I look back at 20 years of trial and error, of guesswork and gambling, bluff and blunder and all shades of luck, from appalling to lousy, we can only wonder at how we ever had the cheek and temerity to plunge headlong into what has been described as a sure-fire recipe for financial disaster and mental breakdown.”

But of course it became the place to be seen for the London nightlife set. Back in the Sixtes, Princess Margaret used to drop by with actor Peter Sellers, while Sonny Rollins asked to be locked in overnight so he could finish writing the score to the film, Alfie. And all the great names graced the stage there, too, including Benny Goodman, Miles Davis and Ella Fitzgerald. It would also host Tom Waits, Elkie Brooks and Mark Knopfler.

Ronnie Scott died in 1996, aged 69, from a mixture of painkillers and alcohol, but left an unrivalled legacy.

Impressario Sally Greene, who also owns The Old Vic, bought Ronnie’s in 2005 for £3m. She also spent £2.38m on a refurbishment. “I used to go to Ronnie’s Scott’s with my father,” she said, so it seemed like destiny that one day she would own it.

But looking back it was Scott’s personality that drove the success of the club, believes Cooke.

“They had a love for jazz, and jazz musicians. The whole spirit of the place was based on that fantastic passion they had for the place. It wasn’t an easy ride, they went broke a couple of times, at least.

“And of course, all the celebrities then piled in…Princess Margaret, Spike Milligan, The Beatles had birthday parties down here, and it became the place to be. It seemed that in a non-digital world it was able to spread itself across the globe. And it became this famous thing.

“And it still attracts big names. Prince Edward was in the building last week for some reason. Rob Brydon was here a few weeks ago, and sang the Welsh national anthem. We threw him out! Johnny Depp and Jeff Beck did a late night blues session recently. It just keeps rolling. It has a life of its own.”       

And may it roll on for another 60 years. https://www.amazon.co.uk/shop/thetellyrocket