The Jazz Bar

I felt compelled to write a review today for my family friend visiting Edinburgh who hopefully sees it!:-) Great layout, vibe and beer! I came about a year ago with my Dad who loves Jazz and draft beer and this place has it both! Although I don’t know much about Jazz music, the the music sounded great, the crowd was friendly and the service was awesome. My dad really enjoyed it too!

The music is always really great and it has a chilled atmosphere. It’s dark and intimate if you want to soak up the music with a drink or pull some shapes later on the dance floor. You could turn up here any time and have a great time, as I often do!

C’est le jazz bar recommandé dans les guides, donc une valeur sûre.
Vérifiez bien la programmation avant d’y aller, différents styles de jazz et funk sont joués ici.
L’ambiance se réchauffe passé 22h et l’entrée est à 5 $£.

As a venue this is a very cool and intimate place. Went here as part of the Jazz fest with really no more notations or information than the location. Can’t comment on covers and such since we got tickets from the Jazz fest web site. But down a set of stairs you enter into a cool little space. Reminds me of places of underground jazz bars all over the place. Makes me wonder if they are all the same place and just linked through the dimensions so you are actually only visiting the same bar!
Apparently Monday nights is big band night at the Jazz Bar, 17 pieces last night! Normally they do a rehearsal and then a set, but because it was the fest they did two sets last night. Very cool, very fun. We were about two rows away from the sax section and while the room was packed it all worked. The sound is just right in this place, you don’t feel yourself getting blown away from the volume. For a foggy like me, I appreciate that.
The bar staff was very friendly and knew their job. My only minor complaint is the selection of beers is a bit sad. Pretty much just lagers, which is fine if you enjoy those, but I one or two good ales might be nice. There is a full bar and some nice house wines as well. Wish I had time to go back on this visit.

Incontestablement mon coup de coeur. Du blues et du jazz m’ont hérissé les poils pendant que je sirotais une guiness à un prix normal (soit peu élevé pour un bar, surtout à grassmarket!). Le bar est intimiste mais il y règne une ambiance de serennité incroyable… Chacun écoute la musique en souriant, et on se laisse porter au gré du saxophone du trompettiste du bassiste du guitariste… Du moins de 20h a 22h!
L’ambiance se réchauffe plus tard dans la soirée, la musique devient plus rock ou folk, et on est content de passé 1 heure ambiancée dans un certain vacarme.
Bref! J’adore!

I enjoy Jazz as much as the next person, been to a few Jazz nights here and there. But this jazz bar has seen me converted into a regular, its my go-​to on a weekly basis. The Jazz bar is not a big fancy venue but it has down-​to-​earth approachability.
Elderflower Gin & tonic is a nice twist on the classic, and a casual highball to pair with the lowdown for a start to an evening. With gigs lined up for every day of the week starting as early as 5pm, its a jovial way to get around.
Easy enough to wind down for a drink listening to solo tunes before it gets into the busier hour, you can just pop in anytime. It does get crowded in the later evenings and even more so due to the tight space. But its always a nice stop on by if I’m in the area.
And despite its nominal title, they do offer up more than just Jazz. So its worth an early night taster for those unsure of dedicating a full-​on Jazzy night.

I was excited to check this place out. I was recommended to check it out by two different friends. I show up at about 10:30pm, painfully sober, and am refused entry. I was told «Nope». Was I too drunk? Nope. Too ugly? Not as ugly as he was. He just said you can’t come in. Well sorry for trying to enter on the one night I’m here in Edinburgh, some hospitality. ²⁄₁₀ would not bang

I LOVE THIS PLACE! Some jazz bars can be pretentious, but this place is (literally) underground and laid back. There is such a wide range of style in the music and age in the audience that you won’t ever feel out of place. I particularly love the Monday night big band, but you can hear fantastic music any night of the week. If you’re on a budget, the early shows are free but the covers are usually only 4 or 5 pounds. You can get a nice and decently cheap bottle of wine. They have fantastic espresso martinis. The only downside I can think of is that it’s a pretty small venue, so if it’s busy it can be uncomfortably crammed.

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

Jazzbar provided me with what was probably the best, most memorable night of an Ireland/​England/​Scotland vacation. It was only about 5 pounds to be there for the evening and see some of the best jazz I’ve seen in a looong time, even in the USA. The atmosphere was comfortable and the people were cool, no uppity pretension. Just a little underground (literally) cozy jazz bar. I want to go back again and again.

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.

Yay for The Jazz Bar! Smooooth! Live music seven nights a week, what more do you want? Most nights are free entry before 8pm or so but after you need to pay door tax, around £5 or under depending on the night.
It’s just how I would imagine a Jazz bar to be. Located on the basement level so it’s already dark with a dimly lit bar and candle lit tables — the perfect Jazz den. Chilled out atmosphere with a real mix of customers. It’s great for somewhere to open late that is not full of pervy drunken idiots!
Drink is pretty expensive here. However the beer and spirits choices on offer are quite impressive for such a wee place.
Weekends are mobbed! Don’t expect a big conversation cause its quite loud — but its a jazz bar! If you want a seat, go early. Although I think they should remove the tables and chairs come the weekend to create a proper dance floor and prevent people from falling over the chairs and bumping into people sitting on them… just a thought! That’s what weekends are for anyway — dancing! Nice!

I love the jazz bar. It’s full of fun people, full of fun music, and full of fun booze.
I personally don’t dig the 9 – 12 slot where they play actualy jazz, but after midnight the Funk Dungeon kicks off and some of Edinburgh’s finest musicians play incredible moving music every damn night: D

cheap ticket prices, very comfortable and good music with a pleasant crowd. In this cool bar my friends and I had a pleasant evening with good conversation. In the Jazz Bar we were for the first time. The waiters are very friendly and funny.

Die günstigen Eintrittspreise werden mit etwas höheren Getränkepreisen wett gemacht. Sehr gemütlich und gute Musik bei einem angenehmen Publikum. Tolle Location!

Sehr gute Jazz Bar. Hier finden 3 Gigs täglich statt, 7 Tage die Woche. Um 5 gibts einen Teagig, um 8 muss man Eintritt zahlen und der Gig am späten Abend ca 11 Uhr ist auch gratis. Die Musik ist meistens sehr gut und die Preise stimmen auch. Alles in allem 5 Sterne!

Unlike the name suggests, the Jazz Bar isn’t just about jazz, it’s about music in all it’s glory, from James Brown soul-​funk to Radiohead experimental rock to the Motown sound. It’s small and when the dance-​floor gets crowded you may feel claustrophobic.
It’s a basement bar and doesn’t look too pretty on first sight but the fact it’s underground suits the general vibe of the place– mysterious, funky, non-​mainstream, cool, hip and alternative. Dimly lit with candle-​lit tables it’s the perfect place to go on a date or just to relax to an afternoon live music sesh with a cold one or a coffee.
Drink prices and entry fee-​fairly reasonable. If you become a regular, like myself, you will meet some awesome characters such as Aki a.k.a Jimi Hendrix, who plays there often.