Club owner and former saxophonist Pete King, who with Ronnie Scott founded the world’s most famous jazz club exactly 50 years ago, died yesterday (Sunday) after a long illness. Exhausted and increasingly troubled with Alzheimer’s and deafness, he had been in poor health since selling the club to theatre producer Sally Greene in 2005. He leaves a widow, Stella, and son Chris.

Arguably the most significant entrepreneur in British jazz for half a century, he was the backroom brains and driving force of the club. His forceful and dedicated style of management made it possible for Londoners to hear almost all the world’s greatest jazz stars – Sonny Rollins, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Ella Fitzgerald, Bill Evans, Charles Mingus, Nina Simone and scores more – at close quarters and in a relaxed, intimate environment.

While the sax-playing, wisecracking Scott was the club’s frontman, it was Pete who handled the day to day operations. A gruff, jocular man and a true Cockney, born in Bow in August 1929, he took care of every detail, from booking the stars to calculating the waitresses’ nightly commission. Arriving at noon and working until 3am six days a week, he took care of the artists’ work permits, paying all the bills and maintaining all the necessary licences.

Ronnie, his lifelong friend and business partner, died in 1996, also shortly before Christmas, of a suspected drug overdose during a bout of depression. Pete's death completes the end of an era.

– Jack Massarik