Renowned London jazz club Ronnie Scott’s is to host its own, branded jazz awards ceremony in 2007.
The Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Awards will laud some of the world’s greatest jazz artists and rising international talent. The Ronnie Scott’s bursary will also be bestowed to Britain’s most promising up-and-coming saxophonist.
Votes will be cast by the record-buying public, listeners of jazz radio stations and the venue’s club members. A date for the gala has yet to be confirmed, a spokesman for the club says.
Ronnie Scott’s, based in the heart of London’s Soho district, re-opened on June 26 following a three-month, £2.5 million ($4.6 million) refurbishment.
The venue has a long and illustrious history. In 1959, tenor saxophonists Ronnie Scott and Pete King established what was to become one of the world’s premiere jazz venues in a basement at 39 Gerrard Street in Soho. In the summer of 1965, Ronnie Scott’s relocated to nearby 47 Frith Street, where it has remained since.
King continued to run the club for nine years in the wake of Scott’s death in 1996. He sold it in June 2005 to the club’s current owner Sally Greene, the theater impresario, producer and restaurateur.
