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Blue Note, the New York jazz club dubbed the world’s most famous, is opening its first UK venue in London this autumn.
Forty-five years after the first Blue Note opened in New York’s Greenwich Village, the legendary club will take over the basement of the St Martins Lane London hotel in Covent Garden, with a new venue featuring two performance spaces.
The London Blue Note opens on 23 September on what would have been John Coltrane’s birthday, with an opening night launch show headlined by jazz pianist Robert Glasper.
Speaking about the launch, Glasper, who hails from Texas, said that Blue Note shared the UK’s love for boundary-pushing music.
“Starting this new club is about creating a space where jazz, R&B, hip-hop and everything in between can meet, evolve and surprise people,” he said.
The club will open a new branch in LondonGetty Images“I’m excited to build something in London that feels intimate, fearless and alive – a place where artists can take chances and audiences can experience the music up close.”
First reports of the club opening emerged last summer after permission was granted for the basement club, the Blue Note will initially open with its 250-capacity main room in action.
There, two shows will run each night, with performances from Jamie Cullum, Erykah Badu, Kokoroko and Nubya Garcia already scheduled and tickets going on sale on 14 August.
A 100-capacity second room, called B-side, is scheduled to open later this year.
Original reporting suggested that the venue would be open until 1am every night, and while the venue will stay open this late Monday to Saturday, it’ll shut at midnight on Sundays.
The Blue Note in New York, which opened in 1981AFP via Getty ImagesBefore the venue was approved, the jazz club’s owners launched a legal fight after Westminster City Council said it would have to adhere to the “core hours” policy requiring new venues in Soho to close by 11.30pm Monday through Thursday, midnight on Friday and Saturday and 10.30pm on Sunday.
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Eventually approving the license last year, Westminster said that it wanted “to ensure late night entertainment can continue to thrive”.
When it opened in 1981, New York’s Blue Note played host to many of the world’s leading jazz musicians, from Dizzy Gillespie to Ray Charles.
It has since expanded to open venues in South America, Europe and Asia, although the London club is the first in the UK.