The West End is about to gain a major new late-night venue. Earlier this year, Blue Note Jazz Club – a world-renowned live music venue in NYC’s Greenwich Village – announced that it would open a sister venue in London, following other offshoots in Los Angeles, Milan, Tokyo and beyond. Today, Blue Note unveiled its first slate of headliners, and it’s a blend of top-tier international talent and younger British names leading the nation’s current jazz resurgence.
The grand opening on September 23 (a significant date in the jazz world, being the 100th birthday of the legendary musician John Coltrane) will be headlined by Robert Glasper. The American five-time Grammy-winning pianist and producer (who is also a creative ambassador at Blue Note) will play two consecutive nights, before returning in November for another run of dates.
More big names include Erykah Badu, also known as the Queen of Neo Soul, as well as jazz pianist and singer Jamie Cullum, London-born saxophonist Nubya Garcia, jazz drummer Yusse Dayes, afrobeat collective Kokoroko, and east London rapper Hak Baker.
“[London has] a deep love for music that pushes boundaries, and Blue Note has always been a home for that same spirit,” Robert Glasper said in a statement. “Starting this new club is about creative a space where jazz, R&B, hip hop, and everything in between can meet, evolve, and surprise people.”
Tickets for the first programme go on general sale on Friday, August 14. Membership options are available for pre-sale access, too.
Blue Note London will be located in the basement of St Martins Lane hotel in Covent Garden. There’ll be two performance spaces: one with a 250-person capacity hosting two shows each night, and a more intimate, 100-person space that will open later in 2026 and focus on emerging British talent. It’ll be open until 1am from Monday to Saturday, and midnight on Sunday.
Design (by New York-based Legeard Studio) will echo the original Manhattan venue, with the same blue tables, plus drapery, and jazz photography on the walls. Alongside a drinks menu of signature cocktails and wines, dinner will be available throughout the week.
Blue Note Jazz Club was founded in New York in 1981, and has hosted jazz giants including Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Charles and Sarah Vaughan. Its director of music and programming for London, Nick Lewis, hopes that its counterpart across the pond will become just as storied. “Bringing Blue Note to London is a real landmark moment, not only for our team but for the city’s rich musical history,” he said in a statement. “We’ll be welcoming some of the greatest jazz artists worldwide whilst shining a light on our exceptional emerging homegrown UK jazz scene which has been on fire in recent years.”
Blue Note London will open on September 23 at 42-49 St Martin’s Lane, WC2N 4EJ.
