Music not to blame for recording label collapse: Ronnie Scott's jazz club unaffected by demise of company

JAZZ'S familiar battle for solvency has been dealt another blow by the collapse of Ronnie Scott's Jazz House Records. But this time the music notorious for going in and out of fashion - and giving its practitioners a precarious living - is not being held to blame.

The company that mainly releases live recordings made at Ronnie Scott's club in Soho, central London, has gone into administrative receivership because its majority shareholder, the Direct Entertainment group, has collapsed.

Direct Entertainment's main business is Teledisc, which sold records via direct response advertisements on television and radio. Another subsidiary, Bratpack Entertainment, sold videos in the same way. The group was put into receivership by National Westminster Bank last month.

Although Direct had financed Jazz House Records under a joint venture with the club since the record company's launch two years ago, the label believes it can survive on its own.

Derek Everett, the managing director, said he was confident that the management's bid for the company would soon be accepted by administrative receivers from Coopers & Lybrand, the accountants.

A spokesman for the Reading office of Coopers, which plans to sell all the businesses as going concerns, would not give details of the collapse. But he said an announcement on Jazz House Records would probably be made 'in the very near future'.

Jazz House Records has had just 22 releases, including records by the vibes player Roy Ayers, the Cuban trumpeter Arturo Sandoval and saxophonist Ronnie Scott.

Mr Everett said it had been 'building nicely' and was supplying the main retail chains, as well as specialist shops.

He emphasised that the collapse had not affected Ronnie Scott's club, which has survived despite its own share of financial troubles in a 30-year history.