The Bad Plus at Ronnie Scott's

Ronnie Scott's London. Monday 14-November-2022.

The trip to Ronnie's had been planned for a while unlike the two previous concerts this weekend! Our third Jazz Quartet in four days.  This was booked some while back with our friend Kathy. We sent her a list of possible dates and performers and she came back with this one as someone she had heard of. We knew nothing of them and so our expectations were modest but we have always enjoyed Kathy's recommendations in the past. Fortunately they were much better than expected.

We met Kathy for lunch at The Spice of Life and then went to an exhibition on Lucian Freud at the National Gallery. Not sure I like his work much - his view of human flesh is blotchy textured and sickly coloured. We then wandered around the main galleries for an hour or so and were reminded of the marvels therein; some of the most famous paintings in the world. We had booked for the first house at Ronnie's with doors open at 5:30 so there was just time for a mulled wine in Trafalgar square until it was time to head over.

We passed through Leicester Square which was in full Christmas market mode.

When there are two houses Ronnie’s clear the place, we all have to leave, in order for them to get ready for the second set and a fresh batch of customers. The band came on half an hour later than advertised but played for their allotted time making the second house a later start.

I was amused by the contrasting stage personas of the drummer who was suitably energetic, and seemed to be having an on-going joke with the double bass player, and the guitarist who made no eye contact with anyone but spent the entire set gazing down at his shoes.

Next to us we had a guy who showed his appreciation by whistling incredibly loudly at the end of each song. That really bugs me. I have been at some concerts where the whistle is so loud I find it painful. 

Overall we liked the band but they didn’t quite gel. We were not surprised to learn that they had a change of lineup about a year ago. The drummer and the bass player played extremely well together but we were not so sure about the saxophone player. There was some good “conversations“ between him and the guitar player but we definitely thought that he was better when he played the clarinet. 

After the concert it was still early and we went for a very delicious Thai at Patara restaurant nearby.

A very pleasant evening all in all.

Brubecks play Brubeck at Ronnie Scotts 2020

Soho, London. Wednesday 03-March-2020.

The second time we’ve seen the Brubecks play Brubeck at Ronnie's. We enjoyed it so much last year that it was well worth a second visit. The band consists of three Brubeck brothers Darius, Chris and Dan with Dave O’Higgins on sax. They played music from their father’s repertoire (clue in the name!) And they’ve clearly inherited his musical talent. Excellent musicianship.

We had superior seating and opted for a table on the raised section. It was a table we hadn’t sat at before and belatedly realised why - there is a pillar in the way! We requested a move to one of our favourite tables, lesson learned.

The set started with Blue Rondo à la Turk and ended, inevitably, with Take Five. Ronnie's seem to have taken to Live Streaming some gig's which means we can rewatch this concert:

As it was a mid-week concert we got two sets from the band - excellent value.

Yelfris Valdes at Ronnie Scott's

Soho, London. Thursday 06-Februay-2020.

Eating, drinking and having a good time again! Yelfris Valdes: with our friend Kathy. As usual we have premier seating and try to get there early enough to nab a corner table. It is a bit crowded for eating and has one seat with its back to the stage but when the music starts you can comfortably squeeze three into the corner of the banquette.

A fascinating support act from Chiminyo aka Tim Doyle a drummer, percussionist and Electronic Music producer. His set-up is one where each strike of a drum of cymbal triggers an electronic sound or sample.

Then Yelfris and his band were on. "Yelfris is a Cuban artist, composer and trumpet player, who mixes the latest electronic technics with the spiritual chants and mystic rhythms from the Orishas." [1]

He played one long set, no interval. Obviously very talented with a great band. You can actually watch the entire show we saw as it was live-streamed and is now available to rewatch:

Another fine evening of music, food and drink!

EFG Jazz Festival 2019

London. November-2019

A busy few weeks packed with music from the EFG Jazz Festival plus other gigs.

Jan Garbarek Group at the Royal Festival Hall
London. Sunday 17-November-2019.

John Lewis in The Guardian writes: "Amid celebrations of the ECM label’s 50th anniversary, the Norwegian saxophonist delivered some compelling exploratory solos"

This gig, however, was a marked improvement on his performance seven years ago with a similar quartet, largely because the band is now dominated by its charismatic percussionist, Trilok Gurtu. His entertaining solo spots (on tabla, cymbals, gongs, squeaky toys and even a bucket of water) take centre stage, but he also pushes Garbarek into his most garrulous and exploratory solos, both on tenor sax and on bamboo flute. It’s closer to the ECM spirit, and all the more compelling for it. Full review...

We had good seats in a box just above the aforementioned entertaining percussionist.

Antony Gormley at the Royal Academy.
Piccadilly, London. Tuesday 19-November-2019.

We enjoyed this exhibition, I find his work playful and accessible, slightly tongue-in-cheek.

Skye Sherman in The Guardian writes: "From its primordial gloop to the iron baby in the courtyard, Gormley’s show chronicles human progress. But is he really the right person to tell the story of us all?"

This is a seriously handsome show with plenty of crowd-wowing art that aims to put “the visitor centre stage”, yet also underlines his project’s sticking points. [...] It turns out there’s something in here for everyone, and that’s a problem. Gormley’s musings about bodies and being are too unfocused, and ultimately too polite, to land the political punches they attempt. Where’s the tension? Where’s the real debate? Full Review...

Hermeto Pascoal at Ronnie Scott's
Soho, London. Tuesday 19-November-2019.

We were due to go straight from the Gormley exhibition to Ronnie Scott's but Mary was feeling unwell so we wimped out. The concert was sold out so there was no problem in returning our tickets, getting a credit note and going home straight from the Royal Academy for a quiet night in.

Chrissie Hynde at the Royal Festival Hall.
South Bank, London. Sunday 24-November-2019.

Not the Chrissie of "... and the Pretenders" but a more ballady, crooner Chrissie of "... and the Valve Bone Woe Ensemble". We listened to her latest album as preparation and were not that enthused. Live we had the same reaction, great voice but just not really our style. Sorry, Chrissie.

Emeli Sande (Ben Monteith) at the Eventim Apollo
Hammersmith, London. Monday 25-November-2019.

We had seen Emeli before so were looking forward to her set. What took us by surprise was the excellent support act, Ben Monteith. A busker from Glasgow, a talented singer / songwriter with great stage presence. He was discovered as part of a TV series on BBC Scotland hosted by Emeli. Apparently she was sufficiently impressed with Ben to invite him to be her support act for her European tour.

Mario Biondi at Ronnie Scott's
Soho, London. Tuesday 26-November-2019.

Our third time of seeing Mario.

This time along with our friend Cathy who originally introduced us to this performer. Excellent seats and an excellent concert.

Phew, that's a fair bit of concert going!

Arturo Sandoval at Ronnie Scotts

Soho, London. Thursday 07-March-2019.

Packing in visits to Ronnie's while we were in the UK. This time, as it is a weekday, we got a support act as well as the main act.

The support act was the Kate Williams trio: Piano, bass and drums. They were fine but didn’t really excite. We have heard a number of similar trios and they’re all good and competent musicians playing jazz standards well but what makes one stand out from the other. I couldn’t put my finger on it but they did not really do it for me although the Guardian thinks otherwise: "Kate Williams is a very good jazz pianist anyway – crisp, incisive and totally at one with the rhythmic ebb and flow."

The drummer had the most minimal drum kit I have ever seen: A snare drum, bass drum, normal (crash?) cymbal and a hi-hat. I have realised that I am, for some reason, irredeemably biased against the wire brush approach to jazz. I tend to associate it with late night, easy listening jazz. Not that it’s lazy drumming, it goes back to the 1920's and clearly involves a lot of skill and technique but it just doesn’t appeal to me.

Arturo Sandoval and his Cuban band were superb. Arturo gave us a masterclass in trumpet playing and general band leading. The band were certainly high energy especially the drummer who was doing his best to resemble Animal from the Muppets.

Photo by ataelw - https://www.flickr.com/photos/8053388@N06/2637400031/in/set-72157605980580646/, CC BY 2.0, Link

At some point they played a tune which I eventually recognised as "The windmills of your mind". I only knew it as a novelty single from Noel Harrison (1968). I was surprised to learn that it has some heritage being written by prolific French composer Michel Legrand as the theme tune to The Thomas Crown Affair.

Another song which I recognised but could not have named until now was The Peanut Vendor which I had to look up on Wikipedia:

"Together with "Guantanamera", it is arguably the most famous piece of music created by a Cuban musician. "The Peanut Vendor" has been recorded more than 160 times, sold over a million copies of the sheet music, and was the first million-selling 78 rpm single of Cuban music." 

You live and learn.

I hadn’t fully appreciated how steam punk an instrument the saxophone is. All those levers and valves and certainly this band's sax was not a gleaming and polished example of the instrument. It looks straight out of some typically Steam Punk themed anachronistic Victoriana.

Another fine evening. Ronnie's never disappoints.

Bokanté at Ronnie Scott's

Soho, London. Friday 01-February-2019.

Another visit to Ronnie's for another band we knew nothing about but the write-ups sounded interesting. And another surprise support act.

The support act was Vula Viel with the lead musician, Bex Burch, playing a giant wooden xylophone, I assume a Ghanaian instrument since she trained there. She seemed to be thoroughly enjoying herself with a permanent smile on her face. Even when the xylophone fell off its stand she reassembled the kit and carried on. Very hypnotic and reminded me a little of Balinese Gamelan.

Vinyl duly purchased from the front desk.

The main stage got pretty busy when the main act came on with, in effect, two groups on the stage at the same time. Fortunately not the full Metropole Orkest.

Neil Spence in the Guardian writes: World music Bokanté and Metropole Orkest: What Heat review - righteous and clever:

There is commendable ambition and skill behind this collaboration between Bokanté, the self-styled “super group” founded by Michael League of the New York jazz-funk outfit Snarky Puppy, and the renowned Dutch big band Metropole Orkest (active since 1945). [...] For this second album, League has added cinematic heft to Bokanté’s melange of Caribbean, Middle Eastern and jazz influences, helped by the arrangements of the Orkest’s Jules Buckley. Full review...

As always the acid test is do we rush to buy the CD. And we did.

Both acts had a definite world music vibe with and Bokante's lead singer, Malika Tivolien, from Guadalupe and Vula Viel's lead having trained in Ghana. An interesting and enjoyable evening.

Lucky Peterson at Ronnie Scott's

Soho, London. Wednesday 28-November-2018.

We first saw Lucky Peterson earlier this year at the Great British Rock and Blues Festival 2018. When his name came up on the Ronnie's mailing list we were right there.

Lucky Peterson at Great British Rock and Blues Festival 2018 

We went with another couple, Suzanne, who Mary had met at a fitness Boot Camp, and her husband James. It turns out they are respected, published authors on the topic of requirements management, a methodology area of expertise we share, me having spent many years on structured methods for IT development. We didn’t talk shop fascinating though I’m sure it would’ve been. Instead we had an excellent evening of music.

Once again Ronnie's introduced us to an superb support act that we had never heard of and that we were greatly impressed by. In this case Martin Harley a singer-songwriter who plays Weissenborn lap slide guitar. As well as playing some excellent blues he also had a wickedly dry sense of humour. Fortunately his album Live at Union Chapel was available on vinyl as well as CD so we snapped them up at the interval.

As luck would have it he is appearing at the great British rock and blues festival in Skegness later this month, whichwe have tickets for, so we will get to see him all over again.

On to the main act and Lucky Peterson did not disappoint. He was as excellent as last time and, in the more intimate venue of Ronnie Scotts, you get to see the man close up and personal. Good stuff.

Macy Gray at Ronnie Scott's

London. Saturday 10-November-2018.

A contrasting pair of of performances, a cheerful and enthusiastic support act and a slick, professional but dour main act.

Being booked for the first house we get a support act. This is Ronnie's opportunity to introduce us to bands we may not otherwise have heard of, in this case the excellent Braxton Cook, a young saxophonist, and his band.

In marked contrast to the Macy Gray he was clearly thrilled to be appearing at the legendary Ronnie Scott's. He smiled, he chatted, he introduced himself and the songs, giving a little background to each number. Sure the music should speak for itself but some context adds to the enjoyment.

In the interval I rushed out to reception but there were no CD's on sale, Fortunately his manager came to the rescue and produced a pile. I thought cash from physical sales at gigs was an important source of revenue for all but the biggest artists. The few thousandths of a cent per stream that Spotify pay won't cover the mortgage. We have listened to the CD several times now with great pleasure - well done Ronnie's for a great support act!

And then we have Macy Gray.  She came on 25 minutes late. With only 1 hour 15 minutes for the set and a second house to follow I was not impressed. Any band should be set up, sound checked and ready to roll at the appointed time. To be fair they did finish late so we got our allotted time but that might have given the house a rushed changeover to prepare for the second house.

The music was superb but the chat was minimal and a smile would have helped.

The reviewer at The House that Soul Built writes:

"‘All the crazy bitches say “yeah”!’ A thoroughly packed audience whooped and hollered to Ms Macy Gray’s encouragement. However, I’m sure Gray wouldn’t be offended by the suggestion that she was probably the craziest presence at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club last night. And it’s a craziness and peculiarity she’s always embraced. She’s had no choice but to with that shredded, breathy, and frankly quite odd voice of hers. [...] Armed with a fully-decked band including two backing vocalists (clad in feathery red dresses and purple wigs), Gray delivered a set balanced between her greatest hits and her new material." Full review...

So that was nice.

Nubya Garcia at Ronnie Scott's

London. Saturday 28-April-2018.

One of the (many) good things about Ronnie Scott’s is that we get to discover new musicians that we might otherwise not hear. With the larger venues you know already who you are going to see, that’s why you’ve booked. With Ronnie’s we look at the programme and think “they sound interesting, we’ll go see them”. For the weekend, early shows you get a double dose of discovery as there is a support act as well.

This time the support act was a classical string quartet called String Ting, part of Tomorrow’s Warriors initiative aiming to encourage diversity in jazz. It made for a very interesting and intriguing listen; "St James's Infirmary" given a new twist.

Nubya Garcia fell into the category of new-to-us musicians so we went with an open mind. Mind you, you can’t go far wrong with a quartet led by a saxophonist. Apparently she is winner of The JazzFM Award “Breakthrough Act of the Year”.

I can do no better than quote from Jazz in Europe’s review:

“With an incredible line up, the young saxophonist delivered a sound show.”

“Performing some pieces from her last album [...] Nubya Garcia demonstrated what a major talent she is. The chemistry between her and her fellow musicians was superb.”

“This thing we call jazz is definitely alive and well and Nubya Garcia is one musician we need to thank for this!” Full review... 

Another good thing about Ronnie Scott’s is that the artists usually come out from the green room to have a drink at the bar afterwards so you can mingle and thank them in person for an excellent set. Here we have three members of String Ting chatting to Nubya right next to our table; you don’t get that at the O2 Arena!

Yet another excellent evening.

Brubecks play Brubeck at Ronnie Scott's

Soho, London. Sunday 14-January-2018.

Another fantastic evening of music at Ronnie Scott's. This time "Brubecks play Brubeck" - three of Dave Brubeck's sons plus Dave O'Higgins on sax. Going on any night but Friday or Saturday means you get a double dose of music. Instead of a support act, one set from the main act and thrown out for the second crowd, you get two sets from the group.

I was impressed how Chris managed to make an electric bass sound like an acoustic double bass. I was even more impressed with Dan whose drum solos were controlled, elegant and precise. Too many drummers seem to think that a solo should either be as fast as possible or as loud as possible. This was how it should be done. I don't understand time signatures but apparently "their father invited listeners to start counting in odd numbers".

Reviews from previous years:

“Darius, Chris and Dan, augmented by British saxist Dave O’Higgins, are rekindling the old magic. The four cantered affectionately through the hit list, but shrewdly didn’t try to clone the original sound.”
John Fordham, The Guardian

“At the end of a joyous second set the pianist Darius Brubeck and his brothers cued in the audience’s handclaps on Unsquare Dance. More than half a century after their father invited listeners to start counting in odd numbers, the music has lost none of its poise.”
Clive Davis, The Times
[www.dariusbrubeck.com/]

Omar Puente Cuban Jazz Quintet at Ronnie Scott's

Soho, London. Friday 17-March-2017.

Mary and I went with her friend and ex-colleague, Cristina. Another person we have introduced to Ronnie's.

An evening of energetic Latin music with eating and drinking. What more can I say.

Jon Cleary & The Absolute Monster Gentlemen at Ronnie Scotts

Soho,London. Thursday 26-January-2016.

A birthday treat for Mary - some New Orleans jazz

The Times had this to say about Jon Cleary's first appearance at Ronnies:

"It was the kind of sultry, groove-drenched New Orleans masterclass you always hope the fabled voodoo master Dr John will deliver, but which, sadly, he seldom does nowadays. And, irony of ironies, it was an English expat from deepest Kent whooping it up at the keyboard.
[...]
Cleary himself, who has a confident blue-eyed soul voice, switched between electric and acoustic keyboard on songs that often slipped into a sanctified gospel beat. His version of Junker’s Blues gave him the opportunity to stretch out at the piano and demonstrate his mastery of the New Orleans tradition." [Full review...]

Happy Birthday!

Claire Martin at Ronnie Scotts

Soho, London. Monday 16-January-2017.

With the James Pearson Quintet and the Tippett Quartet - celebrating Shirley Horn.

The Times writes:
"The best British singer of her generation brought together a quintet and a poised string section to pay tribute to the American singer and pianist.
[...]
Her Soho set, which brought together a quintet led by the house pianist James Pearson and a poised string section, was often more affecting than some of the overly lush recordings that Horn made in her final years." [Full review...]

Though obviously a class act in her chosen genre personally I found it a bit too schmaltzy, crooner ballad-like. Still you don't know till you've tried it.

Liane Carroll's Cold Turkey! at Ronnie Scotts

Soho, London. 26-December-2016.

A Boxing day treat to relax after the not-so-excesses of Christmas.Mary and I spent Christmas apart, she with her Mum, me with mine. They are both getting on and getting frailer. Best to spend quality time with them while we can.

This was our belated Christmas meal. Mary flew down from Glasgow and straight to Ronnie Scotts to see Liane Carroll.

No photos because I obey Ronnie's "no photography" request so here is one from Liane's Facebook page.

I remember we enjoyed the show but the memory all gets a bit fuzzy now.

Hugh Masekela at Ronnie Scotts

Soho, London. Tuesday 22-November-2016.

The Guardian writes: "...watching South Africa’s most celebrated musician return to this intimate venue 16 years after he last played here was a rare treat." [Full review...]

Pretty funky music.

That's all.

Average White Band at Ronnie Scotts 2016

Soho, London. Thursday 14-July-2016.

Introducing another friend to the joys of Ronnie's, this time Christine Low.

Couldn't find a picture or a review of this specific gig so here is a picture from an earlier Ronnie's show:

This was the third time I have been to see AWB. We were even closer to the stage than this picture as we went for priority seating. Really good view and the show much the same as the last two AWB gigs - a rollicking good evening with all the hits.

Madeline Bell at Ronnie Scott's 2016

Saturday 04-June-2016.

Third time of seeing this irrepressible singer and just as much fun as the previous two occasions. Her shows always sell out fast so we nabbed our tickets as soon as they were announced. We persuaded our friends Tim and Sarah to come up to London for the weekend and join us for this.



She was joined by Tommy Blaize, the lead singer with the Strictly Come Dancing Band, for a couple of great duets.



She always has a good chat with the audience. As a reviewer on Trip Advisor remarked "I hope I have as much lust for life, energy and kindness when I reach my golden years." I'll second that.

Snowboy and The Latin Section at Ronnie Scott's

Soho, London. Thursday 17-March-2016.

Mary's membership of Ronnie's includes one free, standard price gig. We went for this one and treated ourselves to an upgrade to premier seating. Not sure what to expect musically, we don't really know Cuban music, but you can never go wrong at Ronnie's. It turned out to be most excellent funky Latin jazz delivered with energy and enthusiasm.

Doors Open for: Snowboy at the Latin Section 'New York Afternoon' Album Launch. Garnering rave reviews for the album, “...
Posted by Official Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club & Ronnie's Bar on Thursday, 17 March 2016

There were various dignitaries in the audience who Snowboy introduced and was kind enough to photograph afterwards: Jazz FM broadcaster and Snarky Puppy manager, Mike Chadwick, broadcaster Tony Minvielle, Professor Robert Farris Thompson, Tobias Tak, Nico and Davide.

Posted by Snowboy Mark Cotgrove on Friday, 18 March 2016

The joy of a weekday show is that you get two sets from the band so you really get a full quota of music. We treated ourself to the vinyl of Snowboy's new album. It seems that Ronnie's is a becoming regular source of additions to our shiny black disc collection.

Ruby Turner at Ronnie Scott's

London. Wednesday 03-February-2016.

At the recommendation of our friends Grant and Helen we booked for this gig although Ruby is not an artiste I am familiar with. Boy, can she belt it out! A real down to earth person with a good line in audience banter.

The excellent sound system meant we could hear every thing perfectly; I was ungracious enough to contrast it with the Paul Weller gig which had been organised by Grant but it really does make an huge difference.

Ruby Turner paying a tribute to Terry Wogan
Posted by Official Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club & Ronnie's Bar on Monday, 8 February 2016

She concluded the second set with a heart-rending version of "I'd Rather Go Blind" which brought the audience to their feet. A powerful performance all round.

Honourable mention should be given to The Al Cherry Quartet who, like any support band, do not always get the full attention their musicianship deserves. They played some fine classics while we dined.

Ronnie Scott's four times in a week. It's a good life if you don't weaken!

Mary Coughlan at Ronnie Scott's 2016

London. Sunday 31-January-2016.

Last time we saw Mary Coughlan at Ronnie's she had dragged herself off her sick bed and was swigging Benylin. This time she was in good health and on top form. She positively bounced on stage to an energetic version of "Meet me where they play the blues". The first set continued in similar vein with superb music interspersed with anecdotes and background to the songs which added an extra layer of understanding to the lyrics.

Posted by Official Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club & Ronnie's Bar on Monday, 1 February 2016

This was the second time I had the pleasure of being able to show my ex-colleague Delton the best that London has to offer. The concert was sold out and returns were unlikely. We had four tickets but Sunday engineering works diverted one of our friends. Fortunately we were able to find a substitute at the last minute to Delton's delight and good fortune.

The second set was more of the same with Mary pogo-ing to the more upbeat songs. This was easily the best Mary Coughlan concert we have ever been to. Top evening :-)