Discover the Top 10 Jazz Clubs in London

The Vortex jazz club has built a reputation over the years as not just one of the best jazz clubs in London, but one of the best in the UK. For over a quarter of a century this intimate club has provided a stage for all forms of jazz, with the aim to make the club as accessible as possible to all music lovers.

The 100 seat venue provides the intimate atmosphere for which the Vortex is known. The club stages over 400 performances every year, championing contemporary jazz along the way and promoting up and coming jazz artists. Michael Wollny, Evan Parker, Kenny Wheeler, Polar Bear and Portico Quartet are a sample of the quality of the artists who have featured at the Vortex.

The Vortex operates as a not-for-profit business and tries to keep prices as low as possible to help make jazz accessible for all. Ticket prices will vary according to the artists, but shows can start from £12.50, with some concession prices costing just £5. The club has a full and varied calendar of jazz to suit all tastes.

The Vortex jazz club is a little off the beaten path, but well worth the effort. The venue is located on Gillett Square in Dalston town centre in the borough of Hackney. There is a downstairs bar at the Vortex where you can enjoy a coffee during the day or a pre-show drink. Home cooked Thai food is also available in this bar, with mains starting from £7.

This intimate basement club in Chelsea is one of the busiest in London, serving up live music seven nights a week to eager music lovers. At least 10 artists a week perform at the 606 club, largely consisting of British based jazz. The club has been under its current ownership for over 30 years and remains one of the go to venues for jazz in the capital.

The 606 club aims to offer the best in British jazz, with top quality music enjoyed in a comfortable environment. The 120 seater venue is intimate, but great for meeting and talking to like minded jazz fans. The club has helped provide a stage for up and coming jazz artists, with Jamie Cullum, Liane Carroll and Polly Gibbons among those who played here early in their careers.

Food is an integral part of the venue too. The a la carte menu has meals priced from £12.95, while there are four fixed price menu options for group bookings. These start from £37 per head for two courses, with prices being slightly higher when dining on Friday and Saturday. You can add wine to the menu from around an extra £10 per head.

The 606 Club can be found on Lots Road in Chelsea. Although a members club, non-members are welcome. However, license restrictions mean non-members can only purchase alcohol when they dine at the club. Evening music ticket prices are £14, but on the weekends non-members may only attend if they book for dinner too.

You could not offer a list of London’s top jazz clubs without including the world famous Ronnie Scott’s. New and established artists feature at this legendary club in Soho, which first opened its doors in 1959.

Ronnie Scott’s manages to retain an intimate feel, with artists playing to capacity audiences most nights.

The list of artists who have played at Ronnie Scott's is a who’s who of world jazz. Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Chet Baker, Count Basie and Stan Getz are among those who have graced the staged at Ronnie Scott’s. Among the up and coming artists you will see at the club could be the next great of jazz.

Ronnie Scott’s has an a la carte menu offering a choice of mains and meals from the grill from £17.50. There is a separate Sunday lunch menu, where among the tempting offerings is traditional roasted chicken priced at £19.50. Upstairs from the main club is Ronnie’s Bar, a sophisticated cocktail bar which has its own bar menu.

This world famous jazz club can be found at 47 Frith Street in Soho. The box office is open every day of the week except Sunday, and booking for shows is highly recommended. Ticket prices vary according to artists. Be sure to check out the live music available in Ronnie’s Bar too, where ticket prices can cost just £10.

This award winning venue in the heart of Camden Town is known for its array of music styles, set against a friendly laid-back atmosphere. Green Note was launched by two friends in 2005 and has since built a reputation as one of the capital’s finest venues for world and acoustic music.

With a cosy main venue room, and an even more intimate basement bar, Green Note hosts gigs every night of the week.

Jazz and blues music is an important part of the mix at Green Note. The venue has hosted many famous artists including Amy Winehouse and prides itself on the quality of artists the club attracts. This is a club created by music lovers for music lovers, where the closeness of the audience to the performers helps create a feeling of musical intimacy.

Green Note has a fully stocked bar and is also a vegetarian cafe. The owners work with local food producers and chefs to offer visitors a selection of vegetarian snacks and tapas served from the bar. Organic teas and coffees are also stocked, as are smoothies and fresh juices if you prefer a non-alcoholic drink while enjoying the music.

Green Note opens every day of the week from 7pm. The venue has seating and standing space, but you would be advised to arrive early if you wish to grab a seat or table. The live music tends to start around 8.30pm in the main venue and a little earlier at 8am in the basement bar. Green Note is just a five minute stroll from Camden Town tube station.

Good food and good music combine at Toulouse Lautrec, where the feel of 1920’s Paris is brought back to life. The jazz club is found on the second floor, with a restaurant on the ground floor and a piano bar in between. All styles of jazz is delivered at Toulouse Lautrec, another of London’s wonderfully intimate jazz venues.

Why not treat yourself to a pre-show dinner in the restaurant. The menu offers a modern take on classic French cuisine, where a breast of French guinea fowl or the cassoulet from the main menu are priced at £18. A separate jazz club menu offers hot and cold snacks, sharing boards and bar snacks.

The Piano room is another popular venue in its own right, where customers can also enjoy the array of musical talent attracted to the venue. The room has a true cabaret feel with classic interior décor, including the red carpet which separates the tables. The extensive drinks menu allows you to enjoy wines, champagne, cocktails, aperitifs or specialist Belgian beers.

Toulouse Lautrec jazz club can be found at 140 Newington Butts in Kennington, south-east London. Tickets for shows at the jazz club start from around £16, with the venue and its restaurant open every day. For those arriving on the underground, Kennington and Elephant & Castle tube stations are a short walk from the club.

This is one of the larger jazz venues in London with a capacity of 400 spread across its two levels. The Jazz Cafe is recognised internationally for the quality of music on show, with many acclaimed artists having graced its stage. The club is split in to a standing only main area downstairs plus a mezzanine seating area, where you can sit and watch the performances on the stage below.

While the club hosts many established acts thanks to the size of its capacity, you will also see up and coming artists at the Jazz Cafe. Amy Winehouse, Jamiroquai, Don Cherry and Jimmy Smith are a flavour of the talent to have played at the Jazz Cafe over the years. Whatever your taste in jazz, you will find it performed on the stage at the Jazz Cafe,

The first floor restaurant is an ideal spot to dine while listening to great jazz. Mains, including vegetarian options, start from £15 with the sea bass and Thai herb salad priced at £18.50. If you fancy the grass fed burger this is priced at £16. A selection of cocktails and draught or canned beers are available to accompany your meal.

The Jazz Cafe is located at the Parkway in Camden Town, just a very short walk from Camden Town tube station. You can enjoy live shows every night from 7pm, with ticket prices varying according to artist. Tickets for the first floor restaurant usually cost between £5 and £10 more than the tickets for the standing areas.

Admittedly this may sound an odd mix, but this basement jazz club in Soho is firmly established on the capital’s music scene. Launched in 1976, the venue attracts top name artists as well as promoting up and coming jazz musicians. The success of this odd combo has seen further venues open, but the historic Soho venue has become internationally renowned.

This award winning venue has played host to the likes of Gregory Porter, Amy Winehouse, Benny Carter, Brad Mehldau and more. Patrons can enjoy jazz seven nights a week in this intimate setting which has a capacity of 115. Some of the modern artists to feature at the Pizza Express jazz club include Jackson Mathod and Tom Ford, plus the Alex Wilson trio.

The venue’s name gives away the dining options for visitors to the jazz club. Music has long played a role at Pizza Express, with 20 restaurants in the UK regularly hosting music nights. Founder Peter Boizot was a big jazz fan who was keen to incorporate music and particularly jazz in to his restaurant business.

The Pizza Express jazz club is located on Dean Street in Soho, a stones throw from Ronnie Scott’s. As you would expect, the Pizza Express menu is available for those looking to dine while enjoying the music. Ticket prices vary and start from around £15.

This exciting pop-up style jazz club is, as the name suggests, a hidden gem of a London venue. Based in the unique and atmospheric setting of a disused railway arch beneath Waterloo station, the hidden jazz club promotes the very best in London’s vibrant jazz scene.

The Waterloo Hidden jazz club is located within The Vaults, an underground haven for immersive and performance art. The jazz club takes over one of the former railway arch spaces to deliver a fun and intimate venue for artists and audiences. The club is artist-run and spontaneous, so keep an eye open for when the next performance dates are due.

Denys Baptiste, Binker Golding, Ife Ogunjobi and the BBC 2020 young jazz musician of the year, Deschanel Gordon, are among those who regularly play at the Waterloo Hidden jazz club. Tickets are priced at £20 and the dates of shows will be announced through the course of the year. 

The Vaults venue can be found near Waterloo station. To access the jazz club you need to use the entrance on Lancelot Street. This is a unique, subterranean jazz club where you can relax and mingle with world class jazz musicians.

Kansas Smitty’s have built a reputation as a stand-out, virtuoso jazz band, recreating the authentic sound of the American prohibition era. The band is packed full of talented young British musicians and provides a modern and fresh interpretation of swing and blues. In 2015 they launched the Kansas Smitty’s bar where they are the house band.

The Kansas Smitty’s bar is an intimate basement venue, designed around the principle of bringing real music to real people. The club hosts an array of top local jazz talents alongside the house band, who go from strength to strength following the release of studio album number five. One of their recent performances was with Jamie Cullum on the Chris Evans Breakfast show.

The Kansas Smitty’s bar is a small but friendly place to hang out over a few drinks and listen to great jazz. With a capacity of just 60, table sharing is often inevitable, but that just adds to the social and inclusive feel of the club. This is a club founded by music lovers for fellow music lovers. Having worked the London jazz scene, including Ronnie Scott’s, the house band know all about producing top quality jazz.

This East London jazz club can be found in the middle of Broadway Market in Hackney. Head downstairs to the basement of the Off Broadway cocktail bar to sample the energetic vibe created at Kansas Smitty’s. Drinks follow the theme of 1930’s Kansas, with bourbon inspired drinks to the fore.

Nightjar is a speakeasy bar that combines great cocktails with great jazz. Nightjar brings you old school jazz and glamour every night of the week, with each set lasting 45 minutes. The evenings kick off at 6.30pm with the free early evening piano sessions, followed by the main music acts from 9pm.

The famous cocktails share centre stage with the music at Nightjar. The extensive cocktail menu has a range of revived and original drinks, including pre-prohibition and prohibition era classics, priced from £12. The club also has a selection of vintage spirits, allowing you the very rare chance to sample from historic bottles which equate to liquid time capsules.

It is advisable to book ahead for tables, where a selection of small plate food and bar snacks are also available. With the exception of the piano sets, a minimum spend of at least £20 is required for all live music bookings, as well as a cover charge which is added to the bill and paid directly to the performers. You can enjoy a different jazz performer or band each night of the week.

Nightjar can be found at 129 City Road in Shoreditch. The club stages jazz every night of the week with additional late sets on Friday and Saturday from 12am. The cover charges applied for the performers ranges from £4 on Mondays up to £10 on Fridays and Saturdays. These charges only apply to the main music act, with the two early evening piano sets free of this charge.