London's jazz clubs

London jazz happens mostly below street level: a basement under the Polish cultural centre in Hammersmith, a cellar bar under Greenwich with a real fire, a Soho room under a working recording studio. This list covers the whole range, from Soho's ticketed rooms and a Chelsea club that has run since 1976 to a volunteer-run, not-for-profit space in Dalston and a 45-seat former theatre in New Cross. Each entry gives the door policy and the nights that actually have music, because those vary more between these rooms than the music does.

Places in this collection

  • Alfie's — A Soho jazz bar run by the Soho Live Club group, with guests seated at candle-lit tables. The house drink is a Soho vodka martini, and the…
  • Quaglino's — A St James's restaurant where you arrive down a grand staircase into the dining room, and where Princess Margaret once had a table permanen…
  • Nightjar — A speakeasy behind an unmarked door near Old Street. It plays 1920s to 1940s jazz, swing and blues every night, and its cocktail list bring…
  • The Piano Bar — A members' jazz and cocktail bar underneath a working recording studio. Non-members need a ticket booked in advance, and walk-ins are not a…
  • The Spice of Life — A three-storey brick McMullen's pub on Moor Street. The ground floor serves real ale, and the live music bar is downstairs. Jazz is on ever…
  • Jazzbourne — This basement used to be The London Theatre and now seats a maximum of 45, at cabaret tables in front of red velvet curtains and a piano. A…
  • Jazz Cafe Posk — The basement of the Polish Social and Cultural Association in Hammersmith, a centre set up about half a century ago for earlier waves of Po…
  • 606 Club — A basement club on Lots Road that has had live music since 1976. It is holding a 50th anniversary festival from 12 to 25 October. The booki…
  • Toulouse Lautrec — A French brasserie in Kennington split into two music rooms: a jazz club and a piano bar, with capacity for 150. Many London jazz singers p…
  • Oliver's Jazz Bar — A Greenwich cellar bar that has hosted live jazz since 2003. You reach it down a tiny, steep staircase, so there is no step-free entrance.…
  • The Vortex Jazz Club — A not-for-profit club run by volunteers, which is why tickets cost less than in Soho. The room seats about 100 and puts on up to 400 perfor…
  • Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club — The Frith Street club is the name most people think of first for London jazz, and one of the oldest jazz clubs still running anywhere. Tick…

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