Scott, Ronnie (1927-1996)

English saxophonist and philosophical humorist. Identified by the US bassist Charles Mingus as the most blues-soaked of the white saxophonists, he remained a distinctive player with a less-than-conventional approach to harmony. He formed his own group in 1953, and founded his legendary London jazz club in Gerrard Street in 1959 (in Frith Street from 1965). The album title Never Pat a Burning Dog (1991) gives a sense of his more philosophical side.

Scott was born in London, and learned his trade on the transatlantic liners. His biography Let's Join Hands and Contact the Living (1986) by John Fordham, immortalizes a famous line delivered to an unresponsive audience.