The Jazz Bar

Found this place on December 23 after dinner in the neighborhood and looking for a nightcap. Followed the music down the stairs and discovered a jam packed bar with a (guessing) 20-piece jazz band and dressed-to-the-nines patrons.

We worked our way through the crowd to the back of the bar and found some very cool sunken booths with couches and tables. Took ages to order our drinks at the bar, but the atmosphere and music was awesome.

Haven't been to a jazz club this cool since Georgetown (D.C.) in the 80's.

Okay so if you are a music lover and love being in an intimate place with live music...this place is for you!
During my October 2014 birthday trip, we were looking for a place to dance and drink and while we were out at dinner someone at the next table suggested we try this place. We weren't far from it (or really anything in City Center which is one of the many awesome things about Edinburgh) so we walked over to it.
The venue is tiny (can't imagine how they're doing during all of the pandemic social distancing and all) so there was a small line outside. We chatted it up with the other people waiting and smoking and the hostess.
Once inside it was totally 1960s beatnik dive bar cool and quaint. It was dark with original old wood bar and banquettes, small round tables and mismatched chairs and cushions. There was a small raised stage at the back of the room and there was a four piece band onstage when we got inside. I should also mention that this place at least when I went is an after hours club. They were open until 4 am. Awesome right? YUP!
We made friends with everyone around us and not around us because we are those extroverted people. We drank a lot like I don't even remember all the booze. Danced and had multiple nights of good clean fun. What could be better?!

Today is Tuesday, we spent 8 pounds each for the entry. Unfortunately most of the Jazz players were students, it seemed more like a karaoke bar. We could not get a seat either. Not a pleasant experience for us.

Very intimate space deep down a set of stairs marked by a small door with a neon "JAZZ" sign peeking through the front.
The drinks are a tad pricey all hovering just above £5 but it is Edinburgh. It does take a little to fill up when I came, but the music was good.

This place has a great reputation from diverse music in the city.
On this nite it was a 17 piece band that was performing.

They place is somewhat small and there is a 5 Euro cover.

Good place for jazz music. Go on Saturdays, as they have live sessions quartet, in which really good musicians come together without knowing each other or having performed / rehearsed together, and just start playing!
Don't come in too late, as we came in around 11.30pm, just as 1 band was done playing, and another one started setting up, which made it for a very long (25 to 30 min) interlude without any music. Which is okay when you don't have to pay a £4 charge per person, but a bit long when you do have to pay. Good choices of whyskeys.

Great music
Good sound quality
Fair drink prices
Low cover at times (3 pounds when I went)
Good diverse crowd

A fantastic venue in Old Town Edinburgh. With live jazz seven nights a week, it's no wonder this place has been voted the top jazz venue in the UK.

The atmosphere is dark and homy. Pictures of jazz legends adorn the wall. Bartenders are laid back but know their drinks (well, all I ordered was a couple Belhaven's Best and a Laphroig).

We were there on a Wednesday night. We'd missed the early (free) set, but paid the cover and enjoyed the old time guitar playing and singing of Graeme Mearns. He definitely looked and played the part. Mearns was followed by the Przemyslaw Straczek International Group, featuring members from Poland, Italy and Scotland. They played a fantastic set of originals.

Apparently, it's like this every night -- top quality musicians in a top quality venue. It made me revamp my dream of opening a jazz club in my home town.

The Jazz Bar is so great I'll even forgive it for the godawful piss trough in the men's lavatory.

This aint a fancy bar. It's a chilled nice and cosy place to unwind in the evening with some live music and affordable drinks.
I heard about this place from a waiter in a restaurant and we went there on Sunday evening. To be fank, our sunday evening was transformed to an awesome time!

Oh how I wish I was cool enough, or had the concentration and patience to find out a bit about jazz music, and then actually listen to some and try and understand what the heck is going on with all those chords being put together in such a jazzy sense. Unfortunately, my concentration span can be dismal at the best of times, so the fact remains that I don't know terribly much about the wonders of jazz. However, I do like this bar, and I reckon if I came and soaked up some of the lydians and side-slipping (massively looked these jazz terms up) on a more regular basis, I might eventually sound proficient when discussing jazz. I've actually always fancied toting a sax and looking a bit quirky and offbeat, not musically of course.

Anyway, the basement location of this bar suits its jazz orientation completely, and the atmosphere can be lively and bustling, or smooth and chilled, depending on which night you pick to come along. The bar looks good, but it isn't over the top, and it's more about letting the quality music sound through. There are three gigs a day at the bar, so you should find some jazz riffs to your liking.