My friend Wally Houser, who has died aged 90, was a lawyer and sax player who had a massive effect on British jazz through his relationship with Ronnie Scott and his club.
Wally met Ronnie at a gig in Manchester in the late 1950s; he acted for him when he signed the lease on his first club in Gerrard Street, London, in 1959 and was the person who identified his body after his death in 1996. In between, he dealt with all the club’s legal affairs pro bono, played a key role in resolving the impasse between the UK and US musicians’ unions that made it difficult for Ronnie Scott’s club to book top American jazz musicians, and acted as babysitter to great artists who didn’t always make it to the stage in good nick without help.
One wonderful anecdote sums it up: Ben Webster, the great tenor sax player, was midway through a residency at Ronnie’s when he was booked for a one-nighter in Paris. Wally’s job was to meet him off the boat train at Victoria and deliver him safely to his hotel in Regent’s Park. There was no sign of Ben at the exit, however, so Wally walked the length of the train examining every compartment; eventually he glimpsed the top of a trilby hat just below window level, with Ben’s rather large body slumped on the floor. Somehow Wally got Ben awake enough to stagger to the train door – and fall into the gap between the train and the platform, where he remained stuck.
Ronnie Scott’s club moved to Frith Street, London, in 1965. Photograph: Michael Heath/Alamy
At this point a British Rail policeman appeared and began the process of arresting the man. When he got to: “Your name, please?” and Wally replied “Webster – Mr Ben Webster,” the policeman gasped and said, “Not the Ben Webster, the saxophonist?” All thoughts of an arrest disappeared, and the policeman helped Wally load Ben on to a luggage trolley and then into a taxi.
Not all challenges were resolved so successfully, especially those involving the legendarily difficult Stan Getz, but Wally’s determination to look after Ronnie, the club and the musicians who played there never wavered. The club would not have survived without him.
Born in Manchester to Isaac, a bookmaker, and Marjorie (nee Ashworth), a pianist, Wally went to school in the city and in the early 50s began to study law at Manchester University. To finance his studies he played in a band, which was managed by Jimmy Savile at one point.
Wally later worked for Philip Ross Solicitors in London, where his clients included many actors and musicians. He married the actor Geraldine Moffat in 1971 and they had two sons.
For many years Wally held the alto sax chair in the Stan Reynolds Orchestra, which rehearsed in west London every Tuesday and was greatly respected as the band’s elder statesman and linchpin. He was always entertaining, with an inexhaustible fund of jazz-related anecdotes.
Wally is survived by Geraldine and their children, Sam and Dan.
