Listen
Where to hear the music
The host's playlists, the clubs we go to in New York, Dakar and a few other cities, the festivals worth a trip, and the stations that play jazz all day.
The host's playlists4 playlists · 397 tracks
Playlists kept over the years on the host's own account, shared here as they are.
Jazz Giants, Love Stories87 tracks
Jazz Giants, Love Stories
Eighty-seven ballads from the host's own shelves: Coltrane, Miles, Bird, Hawkins with Ben Webster, Chet Baker, Bud Powell, Monk, Charlie Haden, and Elmo Hope to close. Standards about love, played by people who meant it.
87 tracks. Full tracks for Spotify listeners, previews for everyone else. open in Spotify · on Tidal.
Jazz Vocals131 tracks
Jazz Vocals
The singers: a hundred and thirty-one tracks of jazz voice, from the classic ballad singers to the ones working today, chosen one by one over the years.
131 tracks. Full tracks for Spotify listeners, previews for everyone else. open in Spotify.
Remember Sonny25 tracks
Remember Sonny
Twenty-five tracks for Sonny Rollins — the tenor saxophonist who outlived everyone and kept practising on the Williamsburg Bridge. A companion to Peter Niklas Wilson's guide on the Library shelf.
25 tracks. Full tracks for Spotify listeners, previews for everyone else. open in Spotify.
Jazz Mix154 tracks
Jazz Mix
A hundred and fifty-four tracks, no theme and no order but the host's ear. For listeners already deep in the music; start with the Love Stories if you are not.
154 tracks. Full tracks for Spotify listeners, previews for everyone else. open in Spotify.
Jazz clubs, by country64 clubs · 14 countries
Who is on tonight? In the United States the simplest answer is the app Who's Playing Tonight, which lists the evening's sets club by club.
- Who's Playing TonightWeekly live-jazz listings by venue; NYC, LA, Philadelphia, DC, SF Bay Area (Baltimore on iOS); free iOS + Android apps; updated twice daily
United States26 clubs
New York
- Village Vanguardsince 1935; Monday Vanguard Jazz Orchestra
- Blue NoteGreenwich Village flagship since 1981
- Smalls Jazz ClubWest Village basement; late-night jams, livestreams
- MezzrowSmalls' sister piano room
- BirdlandMidtown; main room + Birdland Theater
- Dizzy's Club (Jazz at Lincoln Center)Columbus Circle, skyline view
- The Pocket130 W 46th St, Midtown; 170 seats; Mingus Big Band on Mondays, Arturo O'Farrill's Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra weekly
- Smoke Jazz & Supper ClubUpper West Side
- The Jazz Gallerynonprofit; new music, emerging artists
- Bar BayeuxProspect Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn; no cover
- Ornithology Jazz ClubBushwick, Brooklyn; no cover
Chicago
- Green Mill Cocktail LoungeUptown; since 1907
- Jazz ShowcaseJoe Segal's club, since 1947
- Constellationimprovised and creative music
New Orleans
- Preservation HallFrench Quarter; traditional jazz since 1961
- Snug Harbor Jazz BistroFrenchmen Street
- Maple Leaf BarUptown; Rebirth Brass Band Tuesdays
Los Angeles
- Catalina Jazz ClubHollywood; since 1986
- Sam Firstlistening room near LAX
San Francisco
- SFJAZZ CenterHayes Valley; Miner Auditorium + Joe Henderson Lab
- Black CatTenderloin jazz & supper club
Washington, DC
- Blues AlleyGeorgetown; since 1965
Boston
- RegattabarCharles Hotel, Cambridge
- Scullers Jazz ClubDoubleTree, Charles River
Detroit
- Cliff Bell'srestored 1935 art-deco room
Philadelphia
- Chris' Jazz CafeCenter City; since 1989
Senegal4 clubs
Dakar
- La Cave du Djoloff (Hôtel Le Djoloff)vaulted cellar, Fann Hock, near Soumbédioune; weekly 'Jazz in Djoloff' nights
- Institut français de Dakarconcert hall & outdoor stage; regular jazz programming
- Just 4 U (Just For You)Av. Cheikh Anta Diop; live music bar-restaurant (Facebook only)
Saint-Louis
- Saint-Louis Jazz Festivalannual, May; Place Baya
France6 clubs
Paris
- Duc des Lombardsrue des Lombards; two sets nightly
- Sunset / Sunsidetwo rooms, rue des Lombards
- Le Baiser Salérue des Lombards; jazz, Afro, world
- New Morninglarger hall; jazz & world since 1981
- Le Caveau de la HuchetteLatin Quarter swing cellar since 1946
- Jazz Club ÉtoileLe Méridien Étoile; Tue–Sat
United Kingdom5 clubs
London
- Ronnie Scott'sSoho; since 1959
- PizzaExpress Jazz Club SohoDean Street basement
- Vortex Jazz ClubDalston; adventurous programming
- 606 ClubChelsea; UK musicians nightly
- Jazz CafeCamden; jazz, soul, funk
Brazil5 clubs
São Paulo
- All of JazzVila Nova Conceição; intimate room, live music Tue–Sat since the 1990s (Instagram — website offline)
- Bourbon Street Music ClubMoema; since 1993
- JazzBBela Vista; small listening club
- Blue Note São PauloAv. Paulista
Rio de Janeiro
- Blue Note RioLagoa
Argentina1 club
Buenos Aires
- Thelonious ClubPalermo Hollywood
Canada2 clubs
Montreal
- Upstairs Jazz Bar & Grilldowntown; nightly
Toronto
- The Rex Hotel Jazz & Blues BarQueen St West; multiple sets daily
Denmark2 clubs
Copenhagen
- Jazzhus Montmartrerevived 1959 landmark
- La Fontaineoldest jazz bar in Copenhagen; late jams
Germany4 clubs
Berlin
- A-TraneCharlottenburg; since 1992
- QuasimodoKantstrasse cellar; since 1975
- Zig Zag Jazz ClubFriedenau
Munich
- Jazzclub UnterfahrtHaidhausen; nightly
Italy2 clubs
Rome
- Alexanderplatz Jazz ClubPrati; since 1984
Milan
- Blue Note MilanoIsola district
Japan3 clubs
Tokyo
- Blue Note TokyoAoyama; international headliners
- Cotton ClubMarunouchi
- Shinjuku Pit Innsince 1965; Japanese jazz institution
Netherlands1 club
Amsterdam
- Bimhuiswaterfront hall at Muziekgebouw
South Africa1 club
Cape Town
- The Crypt Jazz Restaurantbeneath St George's Cathedral
Spain2 clubs
Barcelona
- JamboreePlaça Reial; since 1960
Madrid
- Café CentralPlaza del Ángel; since 1982
Festivals6 festivals
- Saint-Louis Jazz FestivalSaint-Louis, Senegal; May since 1992
- Newport Jazz FestivalRhode Island; August since 1954
- Montreux Jazz FestivalSwitzerland; July
- North Sea Jazz FestivalRotterdam; July
- Festival International de Jazz de Montréallate June–July; world's largest
- New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festivallate April–early May
Jazz radio14 stations
Stations that play jazz all day, most of them streaming online.
United States6 stations
- WBGO 88.3 FM — Jazz 88Newark / New York · the New York area's jazz station since 1979
- KSDS Jazz 88.3San Diego · listener-supported, all jazz
- WPFW 89.3 FMWashington, DC · jazz and justice
- WWOZ 90.7 FMNew Orleans · jazz and heritage
- KKJZ 88.1 FMLos Angeles / Long Beach · jazz and blues
- Jazz24Seattle · online stream from KNKX
France2 stations
United Kingdom1 station
- Jazz FMLondon
Switzerland1 station
- Radio Swiss JazzBasel · ad-free, around the clock
Brazil4 stations
- Novabrasil FM 89.7São Paulo · Brazilian popular music (MPB) and bossa nova
- Rádio BatutaInstituto Moreira Salles web radio · Brazilian music, samba-jazz and instrumental, curated
- Rádio MEC FMRio de Janeiro · public station; jazz and instrumental programs
- Bossa Jazz BrasilSantos · online, jazz and bossa nova around the clock