Ronnie’s Bar – Jan. 6

 (Review by Peter Ninnim)

 I only recently discovered that there was a separate bar above the Ronnie Scott club in Soho and we made our second visit last week. The venue features resident band the Andy Davies quartet; it costs £6.00 entry and food and drinks are available from 6.30 but the music starts at 9.30. It only operates on Wednesday under Andy.

The group is led by Welsh trumpeter and flugel player Andy Davies and he is an outstanding Jazz star leading on this occasion Rob Luft on Guitar, Lorenzo Bassignani on Electric Bass and the amazing Saleem Raman on drums. The quartet personnel changes from week to week but I counted myself lucky that this was the same line up that were playing on my last visit. The band plays all types of Jazz but is funk and Latin influenced. There is no weakness in the group, all the solo playing is exciting and the large crowd of around 200 (400 on my last visit) respond with enthusiasm. The first quite long set included Dizzy Gillespie’s Bebop, Lee Morgan’s Sidewinder and I think the theme from Spiderman? Given the volume of background noise from the young audience, average age perhaps thirty, it was hard to hear the titles.

In the second set Andy invites visiting musicians on stage and several are regular. There is an outstanding Italian tenor player, first name Marco, who was a great addition to the group and even a special guest drummer!

If you are visiting London and are confidant in your playing take your horn and queue to play.

Peter N