Jazz clubs and jazz nights in London: a guide for dates

How this guide differs from the room-size guide

Kindrd's guide to live music by room size already covers seating, music charges and opening hours at the 606 Club and the Vortex, and the age and entry rules at the 100 Club. This guide does not repeat those. It looks at where London's best-known jazz rooms came from, how an evening at each is structured, and where jazz turns up away from the dedicated clubs: in a Kennington restaurant, a Clapton church and the November festival.

Every hour, price and date below comes from a page we fetched on 14 October 2026, mostly the venue's own site. Where a venue's own site would not load for us, we say so and rely only on Wikipedia for history, giving no prices or times. That applies to Ronnie Scott's, whose site refused our request, and to EartH in Hackney, whose site also refused it. We have left out anything we could not confirm.

Ronnie Scott's: the history

According to Wikipedia, Ronnie Scott's opened on 30 October 1959 in a basement at 39 Gerrard Street in Soho, run by two musicians, Ronnie Scott and Pete King. In 1965 it moved to a larger room nearby at 47 Frith Street, which is still its address. The original Gerrard Street space carried on as the Old Place until its lease ended in 1967.

Wikipedia records that the saxophonist Zoot Sims was the club's first transatlantic visitor, in 1962, and that later visitors included Johnny Griffin, Lee Konitz, Sonny Rollins and Sonny Stitt. Jimi Hendrix's last public performance was at the club in 1970. Live albums recorded there include Ella Fitzgerald's Ella in London (1974) and records by Sarah Vaughan, Nina Simone and Curtis Mayfield.

After Scott died in 1996, King ran the club for about nine more years. In June 2005 he sold it to the theatre producer Sally Greene and the philanthropist Michael Watt, who Wikipedia lists as the current owners. A franchised Birmingham offshoot opened in 1991 and closed in 2002.

The club's own website returned an error when we tried to read it, so this guide gives no opening hours, show times, prices or booking rules for Ronnie Scott's. Third-party listings disagree with each other on hours, which is a reason to check the club's own site before you plan around a particular set.

PizzaExpress on Dean Street

The PizzaExpress jazz club sits in the basement of a PizzaExpress restaurant at 10 Dean Street, Soho. Wikipedia's article is not consistent about when it opened: its infobox says 1969, while its history section says the club was founded in 1976 by Peter Boizot, who had started the pizza company in 1965. It records that the club presented the American saxophonist Bud Freeman in May 1975, and that from 1980 it had a house band of UK mainstream players, the PizzaExpress All Stars.

Boizot sold the company in 1993 and the club was later renamed PizzaExpress Live Soho. Wikipedia names Norah Jones, Amy Winehouse and Jamie Cullum among artists associated with the room. The company's current site, pizzaexpresslive.com, links a Leicester Square Piano Lounge among its venues, but the pages we fetched showed only menus and navigation, with no addresses, prices or seating details. We have not stated any, so check the listing directly.

The Jazz Cafe in Camden

The Jazz Cafe is at 5 Parkway, Camden Town. Its site gives a capacity of 440 over two levels: downstairs is standing, and upstairs has bookable tables with a guaranteed view. The site says the building was once a Barclays bank branch, that the venue marked 25 years in 2015, and that The Columbo Group bought it in early 2016, reopening it with a programme that puts more weight on emerging acts and on funk, soul, R&B and electronic music.

That mix matters for a date. Despite the name, many nights are not jazz in a narrow sense, and the site says club nights run every weekend, with listed hours of 7pm to 3am on Fridays and Saturdays. If you want a seated evening with a view of the stage, the upstairs table booking is the option the venue itself points to. Ticket prices and age rules were not on the page we read, so check the individual listing.

The Vortex and the 606 Club: what we have not already covered

The Vortex is at 11 Gillett Square, N16. Wikipedia says the club was founded by David Mossman, a former taxi driver who later started the Margate Jazz Festival, and that it set up its own label, Vortex Records, in 2007. That label released the Portico Quartet's debut album, nominated for the 2008 Mercury Prize. Wikipedia dates the start of the jazz club to 1988, while the club's own history page, quoted in our room-size guide, gives 1984 as the year it opened as a gallery; the two may be describing different things.

For a low-cost evening, the Vortex home page listed a Vortex Jam Session on Sunday 18 October 2026 at 7.45pm, with standard entry at £6 and free entry for members and participating musicians. A jam session is a looser format than a booked gig: musicians sit in, and the line-up is not fixed in advance.

The 606 Club at 90 Lots Road, Chelsea, has a daytime option. Its Sunday lunch page gives hours of 12.30pm to 4pm, music from about 1.30pm, and a music charge of £16 per person unless otherwise noted, with mains listed from £16.50 and an optional 12.5% service charge.

The club is marking its 50th anniversary with a festival from Monday 12 to Sunday 25 October 2026. Its event page lists nightly sets starting between 7.30pm and 9pm, with Sunday afternoon sets at 1.30pm, and notes a cancellation list for the Jamie Cullum Band night on 13 October. Ticket prices were not on that page.

Toulouse Lautrec in Kennington

Toulouse Lautrec, at 140 Newington Butts, Kennington, SE11 4RN, describes itself as south London's home of live jazz and French cuisine and says it has operated since 2008. Live music in its Piano Room runs from Thursday to Saturday, from 7pm. Listings on its home page for the week of 15 October 2026 included Gypsy Dynamite's 15th anniversary show and a Black History Month show with the Houston Patton Quartet.

Its stated opening hours are 12pm to 10pm Monday to Thursday, 12pm to midnight on Friday, 10am to midnight on Saturday and 10am to 10pm on Sunday, with the kitchen closing at 9.30pm Sunday to Thursday and 10.30pm on Friday and Saturday. The home page did not list prices or music charges, so ask when you book.

Church of Sound and jazz away from the clubs

Church of Sound is a jazz night whose usual home is St James the Great church in Clapton, according to a ShortList feature, which names its founders as Lex Blondin of the Total Refreshment Centre and the multi-instrumentalist Spencer Martin. We could not find an official site that loaded: churchofsound.com redirected elsewhere when we tried it. Dates and tickets are best checked through the organisers' own channels.

The Barbican's press release for the EFG London Jazz Festival lists Church of Sound 10th Birthday: British Jazz Songbook on Friday 20 November 2026 at 7.30pm in the Barbican Hall, with tickets from £20 plus booking fee. The announced line-up includes Byron Wallen as musical director, Norma Winstone on vocals and Cassie Kinoshi on alto. The same release says the festival's long-running FreeStage performances in the Barbican's Level G foyers are free to attend, with the line-up to be announced later.

EartH in Hackney was on our list, but its website refused our request, so we have nothing confirmed to say about its programme.

The EFG London Jazz Festival

The festival's own site gives the 2026 dates as 13 to 22 November, ten days of performances, and says it is produced by Serious with EFG as title sponsor. The site promotes a programme of interactive, free and family events, and listed four events marked free when we checked, including Tarana, Mix & Move and Homegrown. It did not state a total number of events or venues.

Festival shows run across many rooms in the city, including clubs covered above, so a festival week is a practical time to try a venue for the first time. Popular shows can sell out, so book early if a particular night matters to you.

Before you go

• Check the listing for your exact date. Set times, prices and seating differ by night and venue sites change weekly.
• At restaurant venues such as the 606 Club and Toulouse Lautrec, ask about music charges and minimum food orders when you book.
• If you want to sit together at the Jazz Cafe, book an upstairs table; downstairs is standing.
• For Ronnie Scott's, use the club's own site for times and prices; this guide could not verify them.
• Plan the journey home before a late set, especially on Friday and Saturday when some venues run past midnight.

Questions people ask

When did Ronnie Scott's open?

According to Wikipedia, Ronnie Scott's opened on 30 October 1959 in a basement at 39 Gerrard Street, Soho, and moved to 47 Frith Street in 1965. It has been owned by Sally Greene and Michael Watt since June 2005.

What is the cheapest jazz night in London?

Of the nights we could verify, the Vortex Jam Session was the cheapest: £6 standard entry, free for members and participating musicians, listed for Sunday 18 October 2026. The Barbican's FreeStage performances during the jazz festival are free to attend.

When is the EFG London Jazz Festival in 2026?

The festival's site gives 13 to 22 November 2026. It is produced by Serious and includes some free and family events.

Is there daytime jazz in London?

Yes. The 606 Club's Sunday lunch runs 12.30pm to 4pm with music from about 1.30pm and a £16 music charge per person, according to its site.

Is the Jazz Cafe seated?

Partly. Its site says downstairs is standing and upstairs has bookable tables. Capacity is given as 440.