Sebastian writes: I had the very good luck to occupy the chair next to Wally Houser in the saxophone section of the Barnes Big Band (formerly Stan Reynolds Orchestra), and to get to know him over most of two decades. I was deeply saddened to learn of his death a couple of weeks ago at the age of 90.
In his role as alto saxophonist, he was the soloist/ dedicatee of the last chart ever written by the much-missed Eddie Harvey, the pianist in the band, an arrangement of Irving Berlin’s “How Deep is the Ocean”, which he always played with tremendous heart – even if he did sometimes descend after it was over into a bout of self-criticism.
For the band, Wally was also the one who took responsibility for booking the hall where we played; he would always be the first to arrive and to start setting up. Organisations need a linchpin; we were lucky to have Wally in that role.
Wally, born in Manchester, was a solicitor and his main involvement in the UK jazz sector was as the in-house legal counsel for Ronnie Scott and Peter King at Ronnie Scott’s Club, until King sold the club in the summer of 2005. The legal role is one in which the detail was almost always confidential – Wally knew a lot, and was never indiscreet. And yet what always shone through was that he had justifiably earned the complete trust, friendship and respect of many members of the community, and of the musicians in particular. That friendship and warmth comes through in the one piece he wrote for this site – a tribute to organist Mike Carr (brother of Ian Carr) which he wrote for us in 2017 (link below). It is written with such respect and admiration, and demonstrates the sincerity and depth with which Wally valued the craft of musicians.
The warmth and friendship combined with deep trust also come through in the stories he told – Spike Wells has two collections of them (links below) and also in the lively contributions he made to Oliver Murray’s fascinating film “Ronnie’s”, released in 2020 (link to my review below).
My sincerest condolences to Geraldine and to Wally’s children and grandchildren. In sadness.
Tributes from members of the Barnes Big Band (formerly Stan Reynolds Orchestra) and others:
Amanda Rowlatt: Wally was a wonderful band member. His dry sense of humour was legendary, offered with a delightful twinkle in his eye.
Andy Butcher: Wally was an elder statesman of the Stan Reynolds Orchestra when I joined in 2007. Since then he has been a key player in the band’s evolution and ongoing development as the Barnes Big Band. I was flattered when he asked me to take over running the band in 2019, after which he pushed me hard with his strong views on repertoire, but always with a twinkle in his eye. He stopped playing with us regularly a couple of years ago due to poor health, but only 2 months ago he was in touch with me about practicing hard for a come back. He was always enthusiastic and committed. We will miss him greatly
Jim Trimmer: Wally was a founder member of the St Margaret’s Embroidery Circle, set up by Eddie Harvey as a weekly Friday afternoon meet-for-a-drink at the St Margaret’s Tavern in Twickenham. Other regulars were Mike Hogh, Robin Gardner and Pete Hurt. I was honoured with an invitation to join in about 2008. These were afternoons of relaxed discussion and anecdotes – mostly from Eddie and Wally – about the jazz scene over their 50-odd year careers. Wally was a warm, dry, witty companion who would nurse a small Grouse and water while the rest of us refreshed ourselves with pints of Young’s
Jonathan Parker: Wally I remember as always on time and ever laid back. Respectfully.
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Walter Maurice (Wally) Houser. Born 26 November 1934. Died 17 May 2025
One Response
Wally often spoke about writing a book: “memories of a Jazz lawyer”. I hope he did.
He was a goldmine of anecdotes and jokes.
The London jazz scene has lost an important piece of history