Many bright memories of Ronnie's Club -- I wonder if anybody realizes how
difficult the labor laws in England made it for US players and bands to work
in England ?
One particular moment that stands out was Charles Mingus at Ronnie's --
fantastic.
THEN-- the British Jazz/Crossover group appearing on the bill, asked
Mingus's drummer, Danny Richmond, to sit in with them for a set. Danny was
originally a rock/rhythm and blues drummer when Mingus found him. It was fun
! Danny was so happy, he had a permanent grin all night -- and he took
Mingus, the band and all of us, very high.
Back then, London was a pretty good scene for getting stoned and listening
in the clubs.
By far the best place was Amsterdam and the BIM house -- a government
sponsored Jazz club which brought in very serious bands of all sorts from
the US. Chemicals and herbs were easy to get -- and pretty much legal or
left alone, at least. I remember the musicians of all sorts smoking dope at
the bar and just walking on stage and blowing the walls down. The people in
the club would sometimes dance and get into the music in ways that one did
not ordinarily find associated with jazz. I used to take Josh there as a kid
-- no problem.
Many of those musicians passed away years ago -- but for a brief stay in
Amsterdam they were in an environment of freedom that hardly existed
anywhere. Man -- it was great to MOVE !
I remember how funny the Dutch thought I was when I used to go into my
American paranoia, self-preservation routines when loaded on psychedelics.
:-) ( I started going to A'dam in 1964 and am out of the beat scene of the
1950s. John Coltrane was my favorite -- I went often to hear him at Birdland
with Miles. Got to meet him and talk to him via my friend, Varty, who ran
the Jazz Workshop in Boston ).
Funny to see a Geology guy on the list -- I would have thought you'd be into
rock.:-)
Glad to see your respect for Ronnie and his club.
Thanks
Tord ( Josh's dad)
--------------------------------
At 03:28 PM 1/6/97 +0000, you wrote:
>Dear all,
>
>The sad news of Ronnie Scott's sudden death was announced on Christmas Eve.
>He was one of the figureheads of the London jazz scene; ran probably THE
>best jazz club in London and was a rather good saxophonist to boot. He'll be
>sadly missed.
>
>Sorry the news is so late but I've been locked out of my mail account for a
bit.
>
>Yours sincerely (with peace and love),
>
> Simon Brown
> s.j.brown@ucl.ac.uk
> University College London
> Geology (3rd year)
>
>
>
>
>
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