Rep Your Favorite Jazz Clubs

CousinLarryCousinLarry 4,618 Posts
edited August 2005 in Strut Central
Sometimes you have to leave the records on the shelf and go out and hear some live music. I love jazz clubs and when I want to see live musicians that???s generally where I go. Here are a couple of my favorite clubs in the three cities where I have spent the most time.Ortlieb's Jazz House ??? This was my favorite place to go for live Jazz when I lived in Philly. Its located in Northern Liberties in what used to be the Ortlieb brewery. From the outside it looks like a dumpy corner bar, but don???t be fooled its really nice and comfortable inside. There is no cover on weeknights and Sunday night is a free jam session if you have chops. The jazz is generally your standard bop, but the players are always on point. Don???t front on the food either. The ribs are off the fuckin hook.Alexanderplatz ??? When I first moved to Rome I went looking for this place. Sadly, it was August and they don???t open until October because it is just too hot in the summer. It was well worth the wait though. It???s in a catacomb/wine cellar type basement. You feel like you are stepping back in time. Most of the acts that come through are Italian, but some international acts come through too. It???s a little confusing because to get in you have to pay like $13 for a membership and around $5 for a cover, but once you have the membership you just have to pay the cover when you go. If you don???t speak Italian just give them money until they let you in its worth it trust me. They also demand respect for the musicians if anyone gets loud or talks above a whisper during the performance they tell them to shut up. Be sure to check out the scotch selection. Like most places in Rome the food is great.Bogart???s Back Room ??? I haven???t been in Richmond that long, and I haven???t had the funds to go out as much as I would like, but my favorite spot so far is Bogart???s. You have to walk through Bogart???s restaurant to get to the club, but don???t stop for the food it sucks. The back room is big and open. There are some booths in the back that are nice if they are open, but if not you will have to sit at shared tables. The cover is always $7, which isn???t too bad. There is also a 1-drink minimum, but they have a good beer selection. They do blue grass one night a week as well so you can get you moonshine on.What are some of your favorite spots to hear Jazz?

  Comments


  • Mr_Lee_PHDMr_Lee_PHD 2,042 Posts

  • Big_ChanBig_Chan 5,088 Posts
    Blue Note club in Tokyo is dope. They always have a lot of good artists playing there. The club is very nice, clean and well run with a great staff. Wifey and I have seen Jackie McLean and Lonnie Liston Smith there. Blue note has four clubs in Japan and artists will often do a week at each club. Iridium in mid town Manhattan is pretty good. Saw Ron Carter there twice on two different trips to New York. Both times we got to sit right in front of him and his band. We met Mr. Carter both times and he was a very nice guy. That foll Paul Nice was with us at one of the shows.

  • djsheepdjsheep 3,620 Posts
    Blue Note club in Tokyo is dope.

    That club is the sickest! Dope food, dope decor... Japan is sick... I saw Terry Callier there and have tickets booked for Maceo Parker in a couple of weeks... anyone else goin' ??

    peace.

  • YOSHI'S, OAKLAND[/b]

    its an upscale sushi joint with a jazz club in the back and theyll serve you unfiltered sake and shit but its really about the acoustics. anywhere you sit in this joint is good. plus, if you go to the earlier show, theyll usually let you in for a second time during the last show.

    anthony braxton
    art ensemble of chicago lester [RIP]
    cecil taylor
    pharoah sanders
    roscoe mitchell
    andrew cyrille & famoudou don moye
    joseph jarman & leroy jenkins
    max roach
    billy higgins [RIP]

    um, yeah, i was on a free jazz kick.

  • 33thirdcom33thirdcom 2,049 Posts
    YOSHI'S, OAKLAND[/b]

    its an upscale sushi joint with a jazz club in the back and theyll serve you unfiltered sake and shit but its really about the acoustics. anywhere you sit in this joint is good. plus, if you go to the earlier show, theyll usually let you in for a second time during the last show.

    anthony braxton
    art ensemble of chicago lester [RIP]
    cecil taylor
    pharoah sanders
    roscoe mitchell
    andrew cyrille & famoudou don moye
    joseph jarman & leroy jenkins
    max roach
    billy higgins [RIP]

    um, yeah, i was on a free jazz kick.

    Cosign that place is the dopest spot I have been to.

    Also the Bluenote in Cincinnati. Small little dive in the basement of a building downtown. Was a quiet spot for a long time that used to have free (no cover) Jazz nights on Tuesdays with the Phil DeGreg trio and various artists sitting in.

  • jjfad027jjfad027 1,594 Posts
    Yoshis is way cool. I went there for the first time the other night to see Robin Ford. Big props to the killer Meyer set up. Sounded super good

  • seriously. my people put some science into that sheeeeiit. and the sushi aint bad either.

  • mandrewmandrew 2,720 Posts
    yoshi's... you all like that place? i think its way too overpriced and large and kind of institutionalized. i'd rather see lesser quality musicians at a hole in the wall type of spot, such as...
    i remember going to nyc when i was 16 for the first time, my friends took me to small's (i think it was called), this tiny packed jazz club that had a bring your own beer policy. great music, great atmosphere.

    and i went to guy's sunday night in l.a. i guess danny masterson (ashton's boyfriend from that 70's show) promotes a jazz night there. you can tell he's trying to bring some retro class to the la club scene - he enforces a collar shirt and tie policy. some folks dress up and do it right, then there's a bunch of rich kinds in there who are just getting wasted and hitting on hot beverly high girls. regardless, the music was excellent, intimate setting, and bijou phillips, who i've never heard before, got up and sang lovely on a couple tracks. anyone else ever been here?

  • well, i'll agree that yoshi's is a steep ticket, but the sound quality in that room is excellent. and if im going to see some skronked out free jazz, it helps to have the acoustics down. i'll shell out some extra $ for that. smalls is alright. i mean, its the middleground between yoshi's and the world cafe in leimert park as far as sound quality.

    any bay family remember beanbenders? that place was a straight up dump. i saw roscoe mitchell there too and it sounded like a mess. i mean, more of a mess than usual.

  • I was in Chicago a couple of years ago and always seemed to end my night at the Green Mill - it was free after midnight (I think- it may have been later) and was always great.

  • wonkawonka 84 Posts
    cosign Greenmill


  • Michael Garrick Quartet at the Vortex (Stoke Newington) in London with about 6 other people. Redefined the phrase "intimate gig" for me.

  • cosign Greenmill


    cosign, went there last week to see swing gitan. nice no talking during the music policy.

    the old crawford street grill in pittsburgh in the hill. best music and chicken in pgh. last i heard though it was still closed. Dowe's on 9th is o.k.

  • DJ_NevilleCDJ_NevilleC 1,922 Posts
    Blues Alley in DC. A bit pricey but such a nice cozy venue. Saw the JB Horns, Danilo Perez, War and Pancho Sanchez there and even got high with Lonnie Jordan in the dressing room once.


  • edith headedith head 5,106 Posts
    YOSHI'S, OAKLAND[/b]

    its an upscale sushi joint with a jazz club in the back and theyll serve you unfiltered sake and shit but its really about the acoustics. anywhere you sit in this joint is good. plus, if you go to the earlier show, theyll usually let you in for a second time during the last show.

    anthony braxton
    art ensemble of chicago lester [RIP]
    cecil taylor
    pharoah sanders
    roscoe mitchell
    andrew cyrille & famoudou don moye
    joseph jarman & leroy jenkins
    max roach
    billy higgins [RIP]

    um, yeah, i was on a free jazz kick.

    i've seen some great performances there, but it has such a corporate feel. it almost feels like i'm at a mall. but damn you've seen some amazing people. i saw cecil taylor play at mills college a few years ago. dude attacked the piano like no one i've ever seen.

  • YOSHI'S, OAKLAND[/b]

    its an upscale sushi joint with a jazz club in the back and theyll serve you unfiltered sake and shit but its really about the acoustics. anywhere you sit in this joint is good. plus, if you go to the earlier show, theyll usually let you in for a second time during the last show.

    anthony braxton
    art ensemble of chicago lester [RIP]
    cecil taylor
    pharoah sanders
    roscoe mitchell
    andrew cyrille & famoudou don moye
    joseph jarman & leroy jenkins
    max roach
    billy higgins [RIP]

    um, yeah, i was on a free jazz kick.

    i've seen some great performances there, but it has such a corporate feel. it almost feels like i'm at a mall. but damn you've seen some amazing people. i saw cecil taylor play at mills college a few years ago. dude attacked the piano like no one i've ever seen.

    again. true. in fact, it probably does have some corporate ties especially when you compare it to the old yoshi's. but still, the sound. i mean, let's face it, aside from the anomally of soulstrut/jazz nerd kids, the only folks going to jazz clubs are the affluent.

    never been to mills but i almost went to see braxton there too. i used to work across the street and i always felt that mills was trying to seperate itself from the community what with all the razor wire running the length of the school.

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