A Random Visit to Ronnie Scott's by Annie Wu

For the first visit to Ronnie Scott’s, it was very well-liked in my opinion. When you first walk into the jazz lounge, its pretty dark and lit by the small lamps set at each table in the room. From the lighting, the mood was pretty well set for the performance. There were tables in the pit as well as tables set around the stage area. The music was loud enough to cover most people talking, though the audience were mainly enjoying their drinks and the music. Since it was also darker than normal, it was easier to forget there are others in the audience and focus mostly on the musicians. Overall, the atmosphere of the room presented a place for people to relax and enjoy some jazz music.

The performing group, which I cannot recall, also did a fine job of entertaining the crowd. As it is a jazz club, the music played was in the jazz style. The group playing were a quartet, with a tenor sax player, a pianist, a drummer, and a cello (or larger stringed instrument) player. Although I was only able to sample 3 songs from them, the overall impression of their style and skill was impressive. Since I was not accustomed to listening to live jazz performances, it felt like each song lasted longer than 5 minutes. However, there were continuous changes in melody which kept the audience entertained as repetitive melodies might bore people or create a lull in others.

The most memorable piece which I don’t know the name of had all 4 players exit into solos of one another until the last one was left alone. It was really interesting to watch and listen to as they highlight their own skill and instrument in those moments. The tenor saxophone, solely because it can, had the most improvisation and attention during his solo than compared to the cello/bass player. This might be because when people often think of jazz, they associate it with the presence of the tenor/alto saxophone. Although I did say the solos were engaging, because the saxophone player had a longer solo, I did begin to lose interest at one point. His melody did start to become repetitive. The best performance during the solo, which I could properly view from my seat was the pianist.

The pianist was the best by far, because you can see the wild movements and emotions on his face involved with his playing. He was far more entertaining to watch and listen to because of his quirky head tilts and jerky movements. The melodies he played were also very interesting and changing, with some parts that seemed like weirdly connected notes. He succeeded in grabbing my attention far more than the saxophone player. It’s not that the cello player and the drummer were not impressive, but since their instruments are more restricted in what they can do, they did not stand out compared to the other two instruments.
In all, this experience was great. The environment and music was great.