Our guide to all the best jazz bars and clubs in London.
Looking for the best jazz clubs in London? The city’s packed with spots showcasing the best of traditional jazz and its thriving contemporary scene.
Delve beneath the city’s surface (often quite literally underground) and you’ll find a genuinely rich scene, where the city’s musical tapestry unwinds in some of its most relaxing, and coolest, venues.
From old-school classics to some of the finest improvised and innovative jazz sounds anywhere on the planet, London has you covered.
Whether you want to visit the famous Ronnie Scott’s, London’s newest arrival at Blue Note, or somewhere lesser-known, pull up a chair, grab yourself a martini, and let us guide you through the jazz spots you shouldn’t miss.
Best jazz clubs in London
Blue Note London
Covent Garden
New for 2026
London’s jazz scene has just landed its biggest new name in years. Blue Note, the legendary New York institution founded in 1981, opens its first UK venue on 23 September in the basement of the St Martin’s Lane Hotel, and it isn’t arriving quietly.
Five-time GRAMMY winner Robert Glasper headlines the grand opening on 23 and 24 September, also taking on a role as the venue’s creative ambassador, with a stacked opening season running to December, Erykah Badu, Jamie Cullum, Nubya Garcia, Yussef Dayes, SHABAKA, KOKOROKO and Hak Baker are all booked in. We’ve got the full opening lineup here.
The main room holds 250 across two sittings a night, 7pm and 9.30pm, with a second, smaller room, B-Side, arriving later in the year with a focus on emerging British talent. Given the calibre of the opening season alone, this is very likely to become the club to beat.
Tickets: Book via Blue Note’s own site.
Ronnie Scott’s
Soho
Arguably the most iconic of all London jazz clubs, Ronnie Scott’s is an institution that’s hosted high-profile jazz performances since 1959.
The main room works on reservation only, you’ll need to book a ticket in advance, for which you’re allocated a table where you can order drinks and food all night.
Once you’ve enjoyed a performance in the main club, head towards the historical staircase and make your way to Upstairs at Ronnie’s, which reopened in February 2026 after a full rebuild, a purpose-designed 140-capacity room with plush reds, greens and gold, enhanced acoustics and its own version of the club’s Late Late Show, programmed with a focus on grassroots talent and accessible ticket prices. A new members’ space, The Greene Rooms, has also opened for the first time, giving the public access to what was previously the club’s private backstage area.
Tickets: Book in advance, prices start from £37.50.
Crazy Coqs
Soho
From the snug seating in front of the red curtain to the classy cocktails poured at the bar and delivered straight to your table, every inch of Brasserie Zédel’s secret next-door jaunt, Crazy Coqs, oozes Parisian glamour.
Pair the setting with incredible live music and cabaret shows and you’re in for a real treat. Regulars include jazz artist, food critic and journalist Jay Rayner, as well as the Mario Bakuna Band.
Tickets: Book a spot in advance through their website.
Jazz After Dark
Soho
Jazz After Dark is one of those spots you accidentally stumble across when looking for somewhere to drink in Soho, tiny, gaudy and art-lined, with the owner’s own paintings of celebrity visitors covering the walls. Don’t just stare, let the soft sounds of jazz lure you in.
Amy Winehouse was a regular here long before fame, she first turned up asking for a bar job and was given a gig instead, and the club still runs nights dedicated to her. Other evenings bring up-and-coming jazz artists, trios and acoustic performers.
Hungry? They do excellent food at genuinely fair prices, including a tapas meal deal, five small plates for under £25.
Tickets: Live music plays most evenings, book a table here.
Pizza Express Jazz Club
Soho
Perhaps the strangest music venue in London by name alone, Pizza Express Jazz Club has been hosting world-class performers in its dimly lit, underground bar since 1969, and it’s still going strong under its current name, PizzaExpress Live Soho.
There are several locations around the capital, but Soho’s is the most popular. Norah Jones, Amy Winehouse and Jamie Cullum have all played here over the years, and Sting has even given an impromptu performance.
If you’re looking to attend regularly, membership costs £120 and gets you free tickets and discounts through the year, plus 10% off Pizza Express food.
The Jazz Cafe
Camden
The Jazz Cafe is no stranger to a famous face. Since opening in 1990 it’s hosted shows from some of the biggest names in jazz and soul, Amy Winehouse, D’Angelo and Bobby Womack among them.
Head there in the week for a bite to eat with live jazz in the background, or visit Friday and Saturday for a livelier club evening. The food is genuinely good, the miso marinated monkfish is a highlight, and there’s a solid range of cocktails too.
Tickets: Prices vary by show, check upcoming events and book here.
Barbican
The Barbican Estate
The Barbican isn’t a jazz club in the traditional sense, but it hosts some genuinely brilliant performances throughout the year.
The Guildhall School of Music and Drama often holds jazz showcases here, meaning you get to catch tomorrow’s stars before the rest of the world does, alongside a mix of classic performances and unusual jazz-fusion acts.
Tickets: Filter upcoming events and book here.
Nightjar
Shoreditch
As covered in our Shoreditch bars guide, Nightjar is one of the best cocktail bars in the city, full stop, and one of its most reliably good live jazz rooms too.
It can feel cramped when busy, and getting a table close to the stage takes some planning, but once you’re in, it’s genuinely one of the best places in London to hear live jazz with a serious cocktail in hand.
Tickets: Getting in takes a bit of doing, we’ve broken it down here.
Jack Solomons
Soho
Tucked underneath a restaurant on Windmill Street, Jack Solomons is not only a cool Soho speakeasy but also one of the best jazz bars in London.
The intimate space suits an eclectic programme of gigs and small festivals, and tickets are genuinely easier to come by here than at some of the bigger venues nearby.
Beyond the music, they make some of the best cocktails in Soho too, a strong combination.
Tickets: Find upcoming events and book here.
Hidden Jazz Bar
Waterloo
For an evening of secret, prohibition-style fun, head to Waterloo’s Hidden Jazz Bar inside The Vaults. The wider venue is dedicated to alternative arts, but it’s the hidden jazz bar worth seeking out for the smoothest sounds.
The venue is completely artist-run, with performers including Denys Baptiste and Vimala Rowe among the regulars. Audiences can mingle with world-class musicians between sets, a genuinely intimate set-up found nowhere else in London.
Tickets: Book here, tickets from £20.
Toulouse Lautrec
Elephant and Castle
1920s Paris comes to life at Toulouse Lautrec, a restaurant and jazz club with performance spaces across two floors, styled with genuine art deco charm rather than pastiche.
Peel yourself away from the menu to appreciate the intimate jazz club upstairs. Nightly performances are guaranteed, with regulars L’art de Jazz and Eddy Smith firm favourites.
They also host special events including a Burlesque Bottomless Brunch, Big Band Burlesque, and a run of life drawing classes.
Tickets: Check events here, tickets start at £16.
28°-50° by Night
Marylebone
Tucked away next to 28°-50°’s Marylebone restaurant is its own jazz club, 28°-50° by Night, every bit as cool and intimate as you’d hope, with fun 1920s vibes and an underground New Orleans feel.
You get all the excellent wine and food from next door, plus live jazz, soul and blues from Tuesday to Saturday, 8pm to 2am. The a la carte menu runs until midnight, so there’s genuinely good food on offer well into the night, not just bar snacks.
The Blues Kitchen
Camden
Blues and jazz is the name of the game at The Blues Kitchen in Camden. It’s not strictly a jazz club, but the atmosphere, music and drinks are too good not to mention.
The room leans vintage American, with hearty food and cocktails to match, and live performers and DJs bringing Americana to the heart of the capital. Whiskey fans are properly catered for too, well over 100 to choose from at last count.
Tickets: Entry is free, check upcoming events here.
Ricco Lounge
West Kensington
Tucked away in West Kensington, Ricco Lounge is an art deco cocktail bar decorated in warm-toned velvet and gilded accents.
Fridays are dedicated to jazz and soul, with live performers rotating weekly, Kedma and Mo, and Natalie Duncan, are popular regulars.
Tickets: Book online.
606 Club
Chelsea
A classic jazz club might sound slightly out of place among Chelsea’s expense accounts, but 606 Club has managed to sit at the upmarket-meets-down-to-earth crossroads for decades. The Guardian called it “London’s most seductive jazz cellar,” and it’s hard to argue.
Look for the illuminated 606 sign on the brick wall, easy to miss otherwise, and expect a programme that branches into Latin and soul as well as straight jazz, almost entirely British musicians on stage every night of the week.
Tickets: Check the lineup and book here, performances are also live-streamed for anyone who can’t make it in person.
Dalston Jazz Bar
Dalston
Dalston has long been one of London’s hottest areas for jazz, and Dalston Jazz Bar is a genuinely dreamy vintage spot, criminally underrated, that transports you back to the era of Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong.
Decorated in old transport signs and retro posters, it transforms into a vibrant bar Thursday to Saturday, free to enter, a rarity in the London jazz scene.
The food comes on a single, generously portioned plate, seafood or veggie, with no set price, you’re simply asked to make a donation, which also covers the cost of the live soundtrack.
Tickets: Entry is free, keep up with events on their Facebook page.
Boisdale of Canary Wharf
Canary Wharf
When Jools Holland is a regular performer, you know it’s a serious jazz club. Boisdale of Canary Wharf is a tartan-clad gentlemen’s club styled space, featuring some of the biggest names in showbiz alongside rising talent.
Holland doesn’t just play here, he’s the patron in charge of curating the music, which tells you plenty about the quality on offer. Boisdale also runs a second location in Belgravia, both with regular live music.
Tickets: Reserve a spot in advance, shows sell out fast.
Vortex Jazz Club
Dalston
Dalston’s other jazz gem, Vortex Jazz Club, might be slightly better known than its neighbour, but the 100-seat club still manages a genuinely intimate atmosphere, and puts on around 400 concerts a year, the majority self-programmed.
Expect everything from classic jazz trios to improvised scat and big band swing, with a judicious balance between the accessible and the genuinely avant-garde.
Tickets: Book in advance.
Brilliant Corners
Dalston
Brilliant Corners is typically Japanese in spirit: pared-back interior design, a genuinely excellent range of drinks drawing on Japanese ingredients, and a killer menu of izakaya snacks to nibble on as you soak it in.
The near-perfect soundsystem is the real draw, DJ sets six nights a week, spun entirely from vinyl, with a strong leaning towards the neo-jazz and contemporary jazz end of the spectrum rather than straight live shows.
Mu
Dalston
From the same team behind Brilliant Corners, Mu takes its name from an early record by jazz trumpeter Don Cherry and sits a few doors down on Kingsland Road, focused on live music and fireside cooking from a robata grill.
Open Wednesday to Sunday for dinner and drinks, with jazz musicians setting the tone most nights, a genuinely good pairing of food and music that neither shortchanges.
The Palm Tree
Mile End
This fantastic East London pub is a favourite of ours, and that’s before factoring in the great jazz sessions on weekends.
The vibe inside mixes bohemian salvaged furniture with faded Victorian grandeur, a lovely spot for a quiet pint any night of the week. Turn up on a Friday or Saturday, though, and it’s far from quiet, local jazz musicians run through classics from the Great American Songbook, tunes you’ll likely recognise even if you’re more of a pub-goer than a hardened jazz fan.
The Piano Bar
Soho
Part of the Soho Live Music Club, The Piano Bar is one of London’s finest piano-based jazz spots, live jazz from 6.30pm, prohibition-style cocktails, and skilled mixologists shaking everything from classic whisky blends to rum infusions.
Members get 50% off reserved seating and walk-in access to the cocktail lounges. Annual membership runs to £35 and unlocks a decent range of discounts and offers if you’re planning to become a regular.
606 sibling and further afield: The Bull’s Head
Barnes
You don’t need to dress up for a night of jazz, one of southwest London’s best jazz clubs is held in a genuinely humble old-school boozer.
The Bull’s Head in Barnes is a traditional riverside pub with stunning Thames views, particularly good in summer, but it’s the weekend jazz club that keeps us coming back. Opened in 1959 alongside Ronnie Scott’s, it earned the nickname “the suburban Ronnie Scott’s” in its early years, and the music room still runs Friday to Sunday, from big band swing to modern grooves and pared-back duos, with proper pub drinks and food to match.
Jazzlive at The Crypt
Camberwell
This Friday-night jazz club began in 1995 in the crypt of St Giles Church, Camberwell, and has quickly become a genuine staple of the London jazz scene.
Jazzlive at The Crypt is a haven for some of the UK’s finest experimental and improvised jazz musicians. Food is served by local businesses and chefs in rotating residence, though you can’t reserve tables, so arriving early is worth it, alongside a wide range of beers, wines and house cocktails.
Tickets: Book in advance.
Hampstead Jazz Club
Hampstead
This leafy North London suburb hides one of the city’s best jazz gems, Hampstead Jazz Club, based out of the Duke of Hamilton pub.
The team behind it part-own the pub itself, and put on a regular roster of jazz talent alongside the odd soul, blues and musical theatre performance. The pub’s own past is fairly illustrious too, once a drinking den for Oliver Reed, Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole, and it still serves some of Hampstead’s best food and drink today.
The London x London Take: Blue Note’s arrival changes the calculus for London jazz properly for the first time in years, but it’s worth remembering the city’s strength has always been its range, Ronnie Scott’s for the big room experience, the Vortex or Jazzlive at The Crypt for something rawer, and a genuine pub like The Bull’s Head or The Palm Tree for jazz with your pint rather than a ticket. Don’t let the new arrival crowd out the smaller rooms that made London’s scene worth bragging about in the first place.
