Ronnie Scott's will open its vaults!

Jazz goldmine unearthed at Ronnie Scott's

Saturday July 1, 2006

Famous London jazz venue Ronnie Scott's is set to sign a recording
deal that would bring previously unreleased live recordings from its
archives to a new generation.

The jazz club, which reopened this week after a ?2.5 million ($7.6
million) refurbishment by its new management, is in talks with
Universal Music Group on setting up a label to make its vast archive
of sessions available on CD and to download.

A few live performances recorded at the venue by the biggest names
in jazz have been released before.

Everyone from Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald and Chet Baker to
Miles Davis and Count Basie has played there.

The finds following the refurbishment have yet to be catalogued and
some of the labels have peeled off the tapes so the full extent of
the discovery will not be clear until experts listen to the haul and
report back.

A spokesman for the club said: "Everyone has played there but very
little has been released before. Half of it was never even released
on 78, let alone 33. There was stuff in different rooms, different
lock-ups, different places all over the country. When they bought
it, they found all this stuff. It's like finding a goldmine."

The club was founded by Ronnie Scott and business partner Pete King
in Gerrard Street, London, and moved to Frith Street in 1965.

Scott died in 1996 and King struggled on running the venue until
last year when it was bought by theatre impresario Sally Greene, who
had previously rescued the Old Vic theatre.

She took Kevin Spacey, the Hollywood star who is artistic director
of the Old Vic and a jazz fan, with her to convince Pete King she
was the person he should sell to. The ploy worked.

But while keeping key aspects of the old club, notably the low
ceiling which was widely regarded as vital for the excellent
acoustics, she has embarked on major modernisation.

The venue now has a proper restaurant, a chill-out bar and up-to-
date recording facilities and a mixing desk for the preservation of
sessions in future - whenever artists agree.

The club is also initiating regular podcasts via its website, in
conjunction with iTunes, to make jazz more accessible to modern
listeners. However, dim red lamps, red velvet banquettes and a
similar shade of nicotine-effect khaki on the walls recalls its
glory days.

One of the headaches of capitalising on the old recordings will be
tracking down who owns what rights. That will take time but should
prove lucrative for the venue once achieved.

The new club manager and booker is Leo Green, son of the bandleader
Benny and himself a former musician who has played with the likes of
Van Morrison and Jerry Lee Lewis.

The 250-seat club reopened with the Monty Alexander Trio and
forthcoming appearances include Wynton Marsalis and Chick Corea.

It has been claimed that Spacey, who has sung in a movie about Bobby
Darin, may perform there.