Published by Reel Art Press. Introduction by Simon Whittle.
Ronnie Scott’s in London is one of the world’s most celebrated jazz clubs. Freddy Warren began photographing Ronnie Scott’s when it was still a construction site, and went on to photograph every major happening at the club for more than ten years. Warren’s appreciation and love of jazz and its characters suffused his photos, as he sought to capture “the atmosphere—the ‘aurora’ as I call it—the movement … the fantastic communication between the players, that makes jazz what it is.”
Ronnie Scott's 1959–69, published to celebrate the club’s 60th anniversary, is the first time Warren’s vast archive of jazz photos has been accessed; nearly all the images included in this publication are completely unseen.
In this volume you will find photographs of Ronnie warming his hands around a fire on the construction site and inspecting the walls as they went up, followed by performance shots of the greats of jazz including Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Stan Getz, Zoot Sims, Duke Ellington, Nina Simone and many more. Powerful on-stage portraits are accompanied by relaxed off-stage moments, such as Yusef Lateef holding an impromptu meeting around soup pots in the kitchen. Ronnie Scott’s 1959–69 is a warm and intimate portrait of a legendary jazz venue.
