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Village Vanguard, New York City -

It doesn’t get more historic than this. While NYC is already often hailed as the jazz mecca of the world, Village Vanguard is its quintessential jazz club. A steep stairway leads you into the small basement venue that has been running unchanged since 1935, and which has hosted numerous jazz legends in its dimly lit space.

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Hot Clube de Portugal, Lisbon -

Lisbon is home to one of Europe’s oldest jazz clubs: Hot Clube de Portugal. Founded in 1948, the intimate space—located in central Lisbon—has hosted legends such as Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Sarah Vaughan, and Dexter Gordon.

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Hot Clube de Portugal, Lisbon -

Sadly, the original premises went up in flames in 2009, but just as jazz continues to reinvent itself, so too did this club—it reopened in 2012 just a couple doors down with the help of Lisbon residents, businesses, and the association that founded it.

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Harris Piano Jazz Bar, Kraków -

Poland started merging its own fiddle-based traditions with jazz music in the 1920s, but it wasn’t until post-WWII that jazz came to symbolize freedom and resistance in the country, drawing smaller crowds to more secluded places to enjoy it. With that came Harris Piano Jazz Bar, a tiny space located on the atmospheric Market Square that to this day hosts local and international talent.

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Tramjazz, Rome -

Definitely one of the conceptually coolest jazz clubs, Tramjazz is a mobile club on a vintage cable car that takes off twice a week from the Piazza di Porta Maggiore and journeys through the streets of Rome while serving traditional local dishes as a small band plays in the middle of the carriage. It even stops in front of the Colosseum!

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Bimhuis, Amsterdam -

One of the best jazz clubs in all of Europe is the Bimhuis, located on one side of Amsterdam’s riverside Muziekgebouw (“Music Building”). Beyond the visual experience of the amphitheater-style space with a view to the Nemo Museum, the acoustics are often praised for how they showcase the talents of the international jazz masters who regularly visit.

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Preservation Hall, New Orleans -

The birthplace of jazz, New Orleans is home to numerous iconic venues, but Preservation Hall has been open since 1961 and holds the power to transport you back in time to when jazz bands playing the music of Jelly Roll Morton and Louis Armstrong were still crafting what jazz meant. Going to this club feels like continuing an old tradition.

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Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, London -

Though it’s often sold out and on the expensive side, there’s good reason. Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club opened in 1959 and has since hosted the greats like Miles Davis, Chet Baker, and Ella Fitzgerald—who also recorded live albums at the venue.

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Reduta Jazz Club, Prague -

The Reduta, opened in 1957, proudly lists former US president Bill Clinton alongside stellar names such as Wynton Marsalis, Cecil Taylor, and Ronnie Scott among its alumni. Located just off Wenceslas Square, this club has jazz on every night of the week and ranges its programming from big bands to Latin fusion to Dixieland and more. Though touristy, it feels like a genuine jazz bar.

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A Trane, Berlin -

Opened in 1992, this intimate jazz club has since become a permanent fixture of the international jazz scene and the nightlife at Savignyplatz, hosting regular evening concerts by international musicians.

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Birdland Jazz Club, New York City -

Birdland originally opened in 1949 at 1678 Broadway, but was closed in 1965 due to increased rents. Fortunately, it was revived in 1986 with the opening of the second nightclub by the same name that is now located in Manhattan's Theater District, not far from the original location. It’s everything you could want from a jazz club: a roomy red space with a large bar and Cajun-influenced food, not to mention that it was dubbed “The Jazz Corner of the World" by famed jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker.

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Jazzhus Montmartre, Copenhagen -

Denmark’s capital has become a jazz haven with the help of clubs like Jazzhus Montmartre, which is located in a beautiful old building in the city center. The club is a non-profit venue supported by the government, which hosts local greats as well as international names. It’s the place to go if you want to hear classic jazz and aren’t a fan of the avant garde.

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Le Duc des Lombards, Paris -

Founded in 1984, Le Duc des Lombards is one of the most famous jazz clubs in Paris. Decorated by American designer Elliot Barnes, the space quickly became the Parisian benchmark for jazz clubs, offering more than 300 concerts each year with diverse artists in an intimate setting.

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Café Central, Madrid -

While Spain might not be the first place you’d think of for jazz music, respect for musicianship is in Spanish blood—and in-demand in its cities. Located on Plaza del Angel in a 19th-century building with a high ceiling and elegant Iberian decor, Café Central has been putting on live jazz and blues since 1982. Well located and focused on mainstream jazz, this popular spot is worth the hype.

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Blue Note, Tokyo -

If you’re looking for a swanky jazz club, this is it. The Blue Note—part of a New York-based jazz club franchise—takes after New York style but adds a high-end, luxurious, and sophisticated touch that draws performers including US jazz greats along with superb local talent, like Toshiko Akiyoshi.

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The Crypt, Cape Town -

This appropriately named club is located under a church. It’s actually supported by the dean of St. George’s Cathedral, whose love of jazz and vision for the cathedral as the “people’s church” was reportedly the force behind his choice to use the universal language of jazz to better reach his community.

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Green Mill Cocktail Lounge, Chicago -

The Green Mill Cocktail Lounge has been around for over a century. It opened in 1907 and was even a speakeasy in the 1920s, but live music has always been central to its experience—and it’s taken seriously, as even cell phones are not allowed.

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Porgy & Bess, Vienna -

Austria’s capital has long been linked with classical music, but times have changed and so has its music scene! Porgy and Bess is a modern club built on the site of a famous Austrian cabaret venue, with the air of a mini concert hall. It’s spacious but also populated due to its lineups of top players ranging from lively and daring to dark and experimental.

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Loft, Cologne -

Located in the Ehrenfeld district, this friendly club boasts an intimate attic lounge space at the top of a residential block, with an adventurous program of local and international players. The club attracts a lot of young people who are drawn to the modern jazz and unpretentious atmosphere.

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Stampen, Stockholm -

Sweden’s capital is home to this unique venue in which everything a quintessential original jazzman may have owned dangles down from the ceiling above—from instruments to bicycles. It’s a place where you can sip specialty ales and listen to some of the greatest European jazz musicians in an intimate setting.

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SFJAZZ Center, San Francisco -

The SFJAZZ Center is famous for being the first free-standing building in the entire US to be dedicated solely to the performance and teaching of jazz. They host 300 performances over the course of a year, and offer attractive shows for every kind of jazz fan.

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The Verdict, Brighton -

Just two streets away from Brighton’s pier, the Verdict is off the beaten path and instead in the company of the law courts (hence the name). It only has a capacity of 60, but the basement is lined with original photographs of jazz legends and filled with the talent of the finest UK musicians in its acoustically impressive space.

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The Spotted Cat, New Orleans -

If you’re looking for a jazz club where the locals go, it’s The Spotted Cat. It offers a mix of jazz, blues, and Latin music amid a high-energy atmosphere with low-cost drinks. It feels like an authentic New Orleans jazz experience.

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Nublu, New York & Istanbul -

Swedish-Turkish sax player Ilhan Ersahin opened the first Nublu in New York’s Lower East Side in 2002. The place became known for its innovative musicians, which created an urban jazz blend that mixed in Afro-Caribbean music with electronic dance, Brazilian funk, and more. Ten years later, the club opened a second location in Istanbul, which is fitting as the city is often called an Eastern New York because of its similar melting pot of creativity.

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Zig Zag, Berlin -

If you’re looking for a laid-back lounge experience, Zig Zag is the place to go for a relaxing night of blues, soul, and jazz performances while sipping on a cocktail within the cozy atmosphere.

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Sunset Sunside, Paris -

This family-owned club opened in 1983 by Michele and Jean-Marc Portet and offers two rooms each with very different atmospheres: Sunside looks like a 1950s New York while Sunset’s styling is more like the Paris metro. Even Miles Davis jammed at this club near Notre Dame.

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Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, Melbourne -

Many big names (and many more little ones) have echoed the perhaps surprising claim that Australia’s Bennetts Lane Jazz Club is one of the best in the world—the big names including Wynton Marsalis and Prince. Sadly, it shut down after an epic night titled “Death of a Jazz Club,” but its legacy lives on and the owners promised to open two new clubs. Meanwhile, there is also Paris Cat and Uptown Jazz Café in Melbourne.

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Piano Barge, Vannes -

Though jazz is known for bursting through the seams of cities, in the small French city of Vannes you can see it flourish on the water. Located in the Gulf of Morbihan, Piano Barge is essentially an old boat turned into a chic bistro, which doesn’t just host live sessions but actually uses some of the cabins as studios for musicians to record their albums.

Sources: (Jazz Observer) (The Guardian) (Insider)

See also: Who are the most influential jazz artists of all time?

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