ronnie scott club

Born Ronald Schatt in East London, Scott began playing in small jazz clubs at the age of sixteen. he toured with Johnny Claes, the trumpeter, from 1944 to 1945, and with Ted Heath in 1946, as well as working with Ambrose, Cab Kaye, and Tito Burns. He was involved in the short-lived musicians' co-operative Club Eleven band and club (1948–1950), with Johnny Dankworth and others, and was a member of the generation of British musicians who worked on the Cunard liner Queen Mary (intermittently 1946–c. 1950) in order to visit New York and hear the new music directly.

In 1952 Scott joined Jack Parnell's orchestra, then led his own nine-piece group and quintet featuring among others, Pete King, with whom he would later open his jazz club, Victor Feldman, Hank Shaw and Phil Seamen from 1953 to 1956. He co-led The Jazz Couriers with Tubby Hayes from 1957 to 1959, and was leader of a quartet including Stan Tracey (1960–1967).

From 1967–69, Scott was a member of The Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band which toured Europe extensively and which also featured fellow tenor players Johnny Griffin and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, at the same time running his own octet including John Surman and Kenny Wheeler (1968–1969), and a trio with Mike Carr on keyboards and Bobby Gien on drums (1971–1975). He then went on to lead various groups, most of which included John Critchinson on keyboards and Martin Drew on drums.

Scott was among the earliest British musicians to be influenced in his playing style by Charlie Parker and other bebop musicians. His playing was much admired on both sides of the Atlantic, Charles Mingus saying of him in 1961: "Of the white boys, Ronnie Scott gets closer to the negro blues feeling, the way Zoot Sims does."[1]

Despite his central position in the British jazz scene, Scott recorded infrequently during the last few decades of his career. He suffered periods of depression and, while recovering slowly from surgery for tooth implants, died accidentally from a mixture of brandy and prescription sleeping tablets - at the age of sixty-nine. At the subsequent inquest into his death, the coroner's verdict was "death by misadventure". (Wikipedia)

Video Of The Victor Feldman Trio featuring Ronnie Scott ~ Summer Love

Duke Ellington at the Cotton Club

An incredible recording of Duke Ellington & His Cotton Club Orchestra, made in 1929. It recreates the atmosphere of a real concert situation at the Cotton Club. The band plays a medley, including:
1. Cotton Club Stomp
2. Misty Morning
3. Goin' To Town
4. Freeze And Melt

duke ellington it don't mean a thing

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899–May 24, 1974)
The Duke was a jazz composer, pianist, and band leader, heo has been one of the most influential figures in jazz. Duke Ellington's reputation has increased since his death and now more than ever, with youtube, people who would never have heard of duke ellington. There are of course many albums by duke ellington but one of the biggest duke ellington hits has to be 'it don't mean a thing'

So below is a true duke ellington classic jazz video.
it don't mean a thing by duke ellington

Cleveland "Cleve" Eaton With The Count!

Cleveland Josephus "Cleve" Eaton II was raised with an intense comprehensive musical background. He was playing his mother’s piano at the age of five, and turned his efforts toward the saxophone by the time he was eight. Eaton took up the trumpet two years later, and when he reached the age of fifteen, music teacher John Springer introduced him to the tuba and string bass.

Cleve played in a jazz group in college at Tennessee A & I State University (now Tennessee State University), where he earned his bachelor’s degree in music in 1960. He then moved to Chicago and toured with the Ike Cole Trio. He later performed memorable concert tours with top-notch jazz bands led by Larry Novak, Ramsey Lewis, and the legendary Count Basie.

Over the years, Cleveland Eaton became a consummate bassist, producer, composer, publisher, arranger, and head of his own Birmingham-based record company. As a recording artist, Mr. Eaton’s version of Bama Boogie Woogie became a phenomenal best seller in the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, France, and Australia.

Honors

Cleveland Eaton is scheduled to be inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame on February 22, 2008. He was nominated to the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 1993 and has a Bronze Star in the Walk of Fame. Eaton’s other numerous honors include his induction into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, the Playboy Jazz Poll, Canada’s Cultural Enhancement Award and the Achievement Award at the Count Basie Tribute Concert. He received the Governor’s Arts Award 1995 (Alabama) and the Don Redman Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004.

Cleve Eaton is a recognized name in the jazz world, as a producer, composer, arranger, and for his incredible performances with the Ike Cole Trio, Donald Byrd-Pepper Adams Quintet, the Larry Novak Trio, and over thirty recordings in his ten years with the Ramsey Lewis Trio, which included four gold singles, including Hang on Sloopy and Wade in the Water. There were four gold albums, including Solar Wind and Sun Goddess. (extract from Wikipedia.com)


Below~ A video of Cleavland Eaton, with Count Basie , Roy Eldrige, Duffy Jackson and Zoot Sims from the 1979 Kansas City 5 Special

Bassist Cleveland Eaton To Be Inducted Into The Alabama Music Hall Of Fame

Cleveland Eaton In my Opinion Is The Worlds Best Jazz Double Bassist In the World

Jazz bassist Cleveland Eaton, a veteran of the Count Basie Orchestra, the Ramsey Lewis Trio and innumerable sessions with other artists, will be inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in February.

The Alabama Music Hall of Fame induction banquet and awards show for Eaton and four other nominees will take place on Friday, February 22, 2008, at the Renaissance Montgomery Hotel and Spa at the Convention Center in Montgomery, Alabama. For more information about the ceremony: 256-381-4417 or www.alamhof.org.

A native of Fairfield, Alabama, Eaton now lives in Birmingham, where he performs with his group, Cleve Eaton and the Alabama All Stars. He began playing piano at age five, took up the bass at fifteen, and after earning a degree in music from Tennessee State University, he embarked on a career that has spanned more than four decades.

Eaton was nicknamed “The Count’s Bassist” during his six-year stint with the Basie band. He joined Lewis in the 1960s and appeared on 30 of the band’s recordings, including hits like “Hang On Sloopy” and “Wade in the Water.” Eaton’s own recording of “Bama Boogie Woogie” became a major hit in Europe and Australia. He has accompanied scores of other performers, including Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Minnie Riperton, Bunky Green, the Ike Cole Trio, and the Donald Byrd-Pepper Adams Quintet.

Eaton is also known as a producer, arranger, composer, publisher, and head of his own Birmingham-based record company. His other honors include: the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, the Playboy Jazz Poll, Canada’s Cultural Enhancement Award, and the Don Redman Lifetime Achievement Award.

For more information about Cleveland Eaton, visit http://www.clevelandeaton.com

Below is an awesome performance with legends, Cleveland Eaton, William Count Basie and Ella Fitzgerald. Enjoy!

The Power Of Count Basie

One of the greatest jazz musicians of all time, has to be william count basie.

His music lives on with the count basie orchestra,I have added a recent video of the count basie orchestra, playing the beautiful, april in paris.

The video is very recent, it isn't the best, but it just amazes me what Count Basie has left behind.

The history of count basie has always fascinated me and i'm finding more and more information on the life of count basie.