A Hallowed London Jazz Club Comes to Life OnscreenHi

[BillF]

6 hours ago, sidewinder said:

 

I wonder if Pete King knew? 

Nobody mentioned on the premises.

[sidewinder]

33 minutes ago, BillF said:

Nobody mentioned on the premises.

And it is just heresay, at the end of the day. To be categorised under ‘myth’ until proven otherwise.

[BillF]

5 minutes ago, sidewinder said:

And it is just heresay, at the end of the day. To be categorised under ‘myth’ until proven otherwise.

Agreed.

[thirdtry]

This is coming out on blu-ray on 2/22 thru Kino Lorber.

[bertrand]

15 hours ago, sidewinder said:

Interesting - per the documentary one of the ‘patrons’ of the club was gangster ‘Italian Albert’ Dimes, who backed them in the move to Frith St and kept other gangsters away. No mention of any financial arrangement - apparently he liked them.

The ‘misterious’ bit of Ronnie was probably pinning down his character. Again, the doc mentions him being referred to as ‘a nice bunch of guys’ by club doctor Wally Hauser.

I wonder if Pete King knew? 

Ronnie also had an unholy alliance with Doug and Dinsdale Piranha which proved to be his undoing.

Edited February 11, 2022 by bertrand

[BillF]

7 hours ago, bertrand said:

Ronnie also had an unholy alliance with Doug and Dinsdale Piranha which proved to be his undoing.

Yes, they were distinctly fishy. 

[BillF]

5 hours ago, BillF said:

Yes, they were distinctly fishy. 

I wouldn't be surprised if Vincent Herring was also mixed up with them.

[mjazzg]

https://www.henleystandard.co.uk/news/home/169825/musician-buys-saxophone-that-belonged-to-jazz-hero.html

This is an idiosyncratically parochial report of a nice story. It's as if the paper has no real idea of what a stalwart Themen is. 

For our non-UK friends, Henley is an affluent, small town best known for it's annual rowing regatta 

Edited February 13, 2022 by mjazzg

[Shrdlu]

My experiences there are as follows.

I was passing through London in January 1972 and took in Ronnie's. The first time I went, Milt Buckner was finishing up. He had a certain famous bald drummer with him, who once hurled a cymbal at Charlie Parker. The next in was Bill Evans, with Eddie Gomez and Marty Morrell. I asked a waiter if I could take a flash photo of the trio, and he didn't know. Then I asked Bill if I could do it at an unobtrusive moment, and he didn't know either. So, I went ahead and took some. I still have them. My next stop was Paris, France, to buy a Selmer Mk VI soprano saxophone. I was served by M Jaques Selmer himself! As it happened, Bill Evans was now in Paris, so I got to see him again. When I went to buy the ticket, the guy said "Vous êtes étudiant?". I was finishing off my Math Ph.D., so I said "Oui" and got a discount.

The next visit to Ronnie's was either December 1973 or January 1974, and I saw Roland Kirk with his battery of hornophones. I remember Peter King announcing him as "Rowland Kirk" with his funny London accent.

Then, a year later, there was good old Zoot. He used John Taylor on piano, Ron Mathewson on bass, and Martin Drew on drums - a superb rhythm section. I remember Zoot turning his head at a wonerful solo by Ron. Later, I recommended Martin Drew to Oscar Peterson, but he already knew him..While there, I had a nice chat with saxophonist Stan Sultzman, who later played the pungent alto saxophone theme for 'Ercule Poirot (uncredited on the show). I also talked briefly with Stan Tracey. I enjoyed Zoot so much that I got my Dad and two cousins to return with me, to hear him.

I remember Ronnie's sarcastic announcements. "There's one of my waitresses, actually moving.".

[sidewinder]

2 hours ago, mjazzg said:

https://www.henleystandard.co.uk/news/home/169825/musician-buys-saxophone-that-belonged-to-jazz-hero.html

This is an idiosyncratically parochial report of a nice story. It's as if the paper has no real idea of what a stalwart Themen is. 

For our non-UK friends, Henley is an affluent, small town best known for it's annual rowing regatta 

Art has also been doing impromptu solo spots from his doorway to his neighbours in Henley at the height of the lockdown. Looking forward to seeing him and his band at Swanage.

1 hour ago, Shrdlu said:

My experiences there are as follows.

I was passing through London in January 1972 and took in Ronnie's. The first time I went, Milt Buckner was finishing up. He had a certain famous bald drummer with him, who once hurled a cymbal at Charlie Parker. The next in was Bill Evans, with Eddie Gomez and Marty Morrell. I asked a waiter if I could take a flash photo of the trio, and he didn't know. Then I asked Bill if I could do it at an unobtrusive moment, and he didn't know either. So, I went ahead and took some. I still have them. My next stop was Paris, France, to buy a Selmer Mk VI soprano saxophone. I was served by M Jaques Selmer himself! As it happened, Bill Evans was now in Paris, so I got to see him again. When I went to buy the ticket, the guy said "Vous êtes étudiant?". I was finishing off my Math Ph.D., so I said "Oui" and got a discount.

The next visit to Ronnie's was either December 1973 or January 1974, and I saw Roland Kirk with his battery of hornophones. I remember Peter King announcing him as "Rowland Kirk" with his funny London accent.

Then, a year later, there was good old Zoot. He used John Taylor on piano, Ron Mathewson on bass, and Martin Drew on drums - a superb rhythm section. I remember Zoot turning his head at a wonerful solo by Ron. Later, I recommended Martin Drew to Oscar Peterson, but he already knew him..While there, I had a nice chat with saxophonist Stan Sultzman, who later played the pungent alto saxophone theme for 'Ercule Poirot (uncredited on the show). I also talked briefly with Stan Tracey. I enjoyed Zoot so much that I got my Dad and two cousins to return with me, to hear him.

I remember Ronnie's sarcastic announcements. "There's one of my waitresses, actually moving.".

First time I saw the Scott group at the club it was a Quartet with Louis Stewart, Ron Mathewson and Martin Drew. Then around 1980 John Critchinson on piano came in for Stewart. A few years later Dick Pearce was added on trumpet/flugelhorn then they added Mornington Lockett on second tenor.

One early appearance I remember was the group backing the singer Julie Amiet, who I believe was an Australian expat.

Edited February 13, 2022 by sidewinder

[BillF]

The last time I saw Ronnie was in about 1993 at Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester. His quintet included Gerard Presencer on trumpet and the first half hour of the first set was joke telling by Ronnie which I enjoyed as much as the music - which was good, by the way.

But my strongest memory of Ronnie is from 1965 at Leeds University where Ed Dipple had invited the Scott quintet featuring none other than Freddie Hubbard. I stood next to the unfortunate Ed as Ronnie declared, "Whoever organised this gig deserves to have a pineapple shoved up his arse"!!!   But I thought the gig was great, especially when I was asked to keep Freddie company as he did his pre-gig warm-up in a backstage room. (Stories that he eventually lost his chops as he never warmed up are clearly in question.) 

[Shrdlu]

When I saw Zoot at Ronnie's, Jackie Cain and Roy Kral were also featured.

I, too, have enjoyed long joke-telling sessions by Ronnie, but that comment at Leeds wasn't funny.

[sidewinder]

3 hours ago, BillF said:

But my strongest memory of Ronnie is from 1965 at Leeds University where Ed Dipple had invited the Scott quintet featuring none other than Freddie Hubbard. 

Freddie H. seems to have spent a fair bit of time over this side of the pond in 1965. Simon S’s essay confirms that he was touring Europe with Friedrich Gulda’s Orchestra (along with Tubby Hayes and JJ Johnson) and got stuck between flights in London, facilitating an impromptu Bull’s Head gig with Tubby.

Talking of Ronnie and jokes - he used to occasionally get comedians into the club. Prof. Irwin Corey was one - and I caught one of those occasions where he shared the bill with Cedar Walton. Pretty surreal - Ronnie was watching from stage left and laughing his head off, can picture it now.

Edited February 13, 2022 by sidewinder

[Shrdlu]

On one of my trips to London, I went to the Bull's Head. There, I bumped into Bob Bertles, a superb alto saxophone player whom I used to hear in Adelaide, Australia when i lived there. I also bumped into Ernest Mothle, a South African bass player with whom I played when I lived in Jo'burg (1972-1976). It can be a small world at times.

6 hours ago, BillF said:

The last time I saw Ronnie was in about 1993 at Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester. His quintet included Gerard Presencer on trumpet and the first half hour of the first set was joke telling by Ronnie which I enjoyed as much as the music - which was good, by the way.

But my strongest memory of Ronnie is from 1965 at Leeds University where Ed Dipple had invited the Scott quintet featuring none other than Freddie Hubbard. I stood next to the unfortunate Ed as Ronnie declared, "Whoever organised this gig deserves to have a pineapple shoved up his arse"!!!   But I thought the gig was great, especially when I was asked to keep Freddie company as he did his pre-gig warm-up in a backstage room. (Stories that he eventually lost his chops as he never warmed up are clearly in question.) 

Ha. Leeds University. I heard the great Swedish house music DJ Eric Prydz there. He has produced some superb tracks, including the minimalist "Pjanoo" (brilliant), and "Proper Education", a remake of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick In The Wall". His presentation was terrible: he just stood motionless, with a scruffy beanie hat on, and, at the end of his set, he turned the music right off, rather than keeping it going for the next DJ to mix in his first track. Very poor. But I love his creations.