Huge boost for London nightlife after iconic jazz club to open in West End

There is finally some good news for London’s nightlife – a world famous club which spent more than a year trying to open has finally got a launch date.

The Blue Note Jazz Club is opening its first-ever UK location in the heart of the West End, as an offshoot of its venue in New York, which has been dubbed one of the most famous in the world.

It will officially open on September 23 on St Martin’s Lane, but its London opening did not come without difficulties.

In February 2025, Metro reported the police said its proposed 1am closing time was far too late as it could ‘expose more people to crime and disorder’.

One resident even said jazz lovers may be ‘disorientated’ by leaving the venue when it is cold at night.

They wrote: ‘It is suggested that it is extremely likely that some of the dispersing jazz lovers may be inebriated to a greater or lesser extent or perhaps slightly disorientated by their emergence into the cool night air.

‘They will be immediately vulnerable to the gangs of criminals who already prey on similar groups of people in the Soho area.’

The Blue Note Jazz operators insisted it was important to their business to stay open until 1am, arguing they cannot function as a jazz club without later hours.

It said: ‘London’s cultural fabric is on the line here. Grassroots music venue infrastructure will fall even further and remain below replacement rate if new venues like this application are not supported.’

In January it was revealed 30 grassroots music venues closed last year with 6,000 jobs cut. This was the sharpest drop since the Music Venue Trust began collecting annual data.

Metro launched a London Grassroots Music Tube Map to spotlight the city’s top venues. Many of the capital’s most important venues have faced extensive challenges in recent years, following the Covid pandemic with its lockdowns and the pressures of the cost-of-living crisis.

In 2024, around a quarter of the 810 grassroots venues supported by the Music Venue Trust across the UK had to ask for help from the organisation’s Emergency Response Service to avoid permanent closure.

Now, 179 grassroots remain in London. We want that number not only to be protected, but also to grow.

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