The 9 best jazz clubs in London

Jazz in the 2020s isn’t just surviving, it’s booming. The UK’s resurgent scene has produced acts that have defied what anyone thought possible for British jazz artists, such as Ezra Collective winning the Mercury Prize and a Brit award.

Jazz acts grace the stages of everywhere from the Barbican to the Albert Hall and from time to time even Wembley Arena. But it’s the clubs that are the beating heart of the scene. They’re where artists cut their teeth and where fans can catch future prospects, veteran players and the odd legend.

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The clubs offering up jazz in London are just as diverse as the music itself. From the historic Ronnie Scott’s to the bohemian experimental music fan’s haven Café Oto, and a wonderful space within a French restaurant, there are venues to delight all jazz fans old and new throughout the city.

Want to know where best to head in London for your jazz fix? Below, we pick our favourite jazz clubs — and we're not alone. We've enlisted the help of UK Jazz News founder and musician Sebastian Scotney — perhaps the person most knowledgable about the London jazz scene — and selections from three jazz-loving Shortlist readers.

The best Jazz clubs in London: Sebastian's picks

Sebastian Scotney – UK Jazz News founder and editor:

1. 606 Club
90 Lots Road SW10 0QD

An anniversary is on the way, which underlines the sheer dedication of musician Steve Rubie and his team at the 606 Club in Lots Road: in October 2026, it will be 50 years since he started a club at 606 Kings Road - from which it moved to Lots Road in 1988. Why start a jazz club? “I thought it would be great to create a venue where UK musicians (including myself!) could hang out, get to play and hear and learn from each other,” Rubie says. That spirit, that precious flame, a community based around the music and the musicians, is still the motivating force.

2. Vortex
11 Gillett Square, London N16 8AZ

Everyone has a surprise on their first visit to the Vortex. How is it that a club capable of attracting the world’s top cutting-edge musicians turns out to be such a tiny room? The pin-drop silence of an audience totally concentrated on the music is unbelievable. David Mossman, a retired taxi driver, started the Vortex in Stoke Newington in 1984, and the club has been at its current location in Dalston since 2005. The defiant spirit and the collective energy of a team of volunteers are the club’s lifeblood. The recent appointment of a very smart and young General Manager, Dan Garel, is seriously good news.

3. World Heart Beat
3 Ponton Rd, Nine Elms, London SW11 7BD

This small new venue, run by a music education charity, opposite the location for Netflix’s “The Diplomat,” became a superb new addition to the scene in early 2023. You don’t just ‘hear’ the music. The first time I went there, I wrote: “The sound is so clear and immediate, you could sometimes almost be inside the piano.” Apparently, Brian Eno and Björk had a role in devising the superb acoustics and system. Pianist Julian Joseph is the resident jazz artist. Quality music in astonishingly vivid close-up, every time.

Shortlist selects...

4. Ninety-One Living Room
91 Brick Ln, London E1 6QL

Nestled in Brick Lane’s Truman Brewey complex, Ninety One Living Room is an atmospheric lounge bar that has established itself as an essential venue within London’s jazz scene. Hosting emerging artists and established acts alike, it is home to nights organised by not-for-profit music development organisation Jazz Re:freshed. The venue also plays host to a fantastic jazz brunch.

5. Pizza Express Live Soho
10 Dean St, London W1D 3RW

To anyone who hasn’t come across ‘Pizza Express Live’, the small group of jazz clubs operated by the pizza brand, the idea that they host national and international jazz stars can be a little surprising. But Pizza Express on Dean Street in Soho is indeed host to an atmospheric downstairs venue that has become an essential part of the jazz scene in London. They also have sister venues in Chelsea and Holborn.

6. Toulouse Lautrec Jazz Club
140 Newington Butts, Kennington, London, SE11 4RN

This cabaret-style venue is housed within a beautiful French restaurant. Past the brasserie and the piano bar is a top-floor floor cabaret-style space that is the backdrop to beautiful and intimate jazz shows. Run by a passionate team, this is a truly special space to see live music.

Your picks

7. Crazy Coqs. Brasserie Zedel
21 Sherwood St, London W1F 7ED

Romy Summers: Located in Piccadilly, Crazy Coqs is set in a beautiful Art Deco building. As you walk down the staircase, you feel like you are in a different time. The intimate room is ideal for watching a solo performer or a quintet. It’s a perfectly balanced space, with good views from every seat. It’s simply a great jazz lounge that is a comfortable size to enjoy amazing shows in.

8. Café Oto
18-22 Ashwin St, London E8 3DL

Syed Ali: Part of Cafe Oto’s uniqueness is that it has no stage, so there’s an intimate feel to any gig, with nothing between the artist and the audience. The decor also adds to the idiosyncratic vibe with shelves full of books with random titles. You can really feel the difference in the atmosphere when you go to a gig there.

9. Ronnie Scott’s
47 Frith Street, Soho, London, W1D 4HT

Tom Pilsworth: Founded in 1959, and often described as ‘the spiritual home of British jazz’, I first went to Ronnie Scott’s in search of what I’d experienced in places like Blue Note in New York. An intimate and atmospheric jazz venue where you can enjoy the music over a good meal. Ronnie Scott’s delivers this perfectly.

Upon entering, you immediately forget about the frenetic Soho streets below and are immersed in a world of candlelight, hearty food and perfectly balanced acoustics. Little wonder so many of the greats from Miles Davis to Ella Fitzgerald played here. The big names still visit, but the venue allows plenty of space for upcoming acts, too.

Have we hit all the right notes? Missed a club you swear by? Or committed the ultimate jazz sin and left out your favourite late-night haunt?

Drop your must-visit London jazz spots in the comments — the best reader choices might just be added to our hall of fame.

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