Blue Note Jazz Club

The Blue Note Jazz Club is the room that put jazz back on New York's commercial map, and then exported the idea to the world. Since 1981, from just 200 seats on West 3rd Street, it has drawn the greatest names in the music into an intimacy that concert halls cannot match. It is the origin point of a global brand, but the flagship still does the one thing that matters most: it puts world-class jazz a few feet from your table, every night of the year.

In Greenwich Village, half a block from Washington Square, the Blue Note is a small, two-floor room where the stage and dining sit almost on top of one another. It is more supper club than bar, a place you book, dress up a little for, and settle into for a full evening of music and a proper meal. That polish is precisely why we place it fifth rather than higher, just behind the great American blues and jazz institutions; but on the calibre and consistency of who plays here, few rooms on earth can compete.

The club that revived New York jazz

The Blue Note opened on 30 September 1981, founded by Danny Bensusan, with the Nat Adderley Quintet on the opening bill. Bensusan's idea was simple and, at the time, contrarian: if he brought major artists into a comfortable environment with good food, he could pack the house night after night. It worked. The club is widely credited with helping revive New York's live-jazz scene in the 1980s, coaxing back onto club stages artists who had largely stopped playing intimate rooms decades earlier, Sarah Vaughan, Lionel Hampton, Dizzy Gillespie, Stanley Turrentine, Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown and Tito Puente among them.

From that single Village room grew Blue Note Entertainment Group, now led by Bensusan's son Steven, which extended the name around the globe: Blue Note Tokyo opened in 1988, followed by locations including Milan, Rio, São Paulo, Beijing, Shanghai, Hawaii, Napa and Los Angeles. The Tokyo and Milan clubs both appear elsewhere on this very list. But it all started here, on West 3rd Street.

Two hundred seats, and anything can happen

The defining fact of the Blue Note is its size. With a stated capacity of just 200, table seating close to the stage, a small bar area and standing room, it is one of the most intimate world-class jazz rooms anywhere. That intimacy is the whole proposition: you are not watching a legend from the back of a theatre, you are sharing a small room with them. The club's own line is that "on any given night, anything can happen," a nod to its history of unannounced sit-ins; Stevie Wonder, Tony Bennett, Liza Minnelli and Quincy Jones have all been called up from the audience over the years.

The roster, past and present, is staggering for a room this small. Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, Ray Charles, the Modern Jazz Quartet and James Carter have all played here; contemporary regulars include Robert Glasper, Pat Metheny, Christian McBride, Joshua Redman, Ron Carter and Chris Botti. There is also a well-loved Sunday Jazz Brunch series, an easier and more affordable way into the room.

The Keith Jarrett residency

One engagement stands above the rest. In June 1994, Keith Jarrett brought his Standards Trio, with Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette, to the Blue Note for his first New York club date in eleven years. He had the room turned into what was described as a miniature concert hall: smoking banned, and no food or drink served during the sets, so nothing would interrupt the music. The three nights produced Keith Jarrett at the Blue Note: The Complete Recordings, a six-disc ECM box set that AllMusic awarded five stars, one of the touchstone live-jazz recordings of the modern era, and a permanent part of the club's legend.

A supper club, not a bar

It is worth being clear about what kind of venue this is, because it shapes the whole visit. The Blue Note describes itself as much as "a full-scale restaurant" as a jazz club, the menu is upscale American-Continental, served throughout every show, and there's a full bar with premium spirits, beer, wine and non-alcoholic options. This is not a walk-in bar where you nurse a drink at the rail; it is a ticketed supper club with table service and a per-person consumption minimum. That structure is why our price rating is $$$$: between the ticket, the minimum and dinner, an evening here is a genuine splurge, but for the room and the roster, many find it more than worth it.

Why we rank it No. 5

The Blue Note earns its top-five place on talent and influence. Few clubs anywhere pair this level of artist with this level of intimacy, and fewer still can claim to have both revived a city's jazz culture and seeded a worldwide network of clubs that carry the music to millions. On any given night, the music here is as good as live jazz gets.

It sits at five rather than higher for one honest reason: it is the most restaurant-forward of the elite rooms on our list. Where the Village Vanguard strips everything away to leave only the band, the Blue Note wraps the music in dining, service and a ticketing-and-minimum structure that, wonderful as it is, puts a little more between you and the stage. That is a fine distinction among genuinely great venues, and for many listeners, the comfort and the calibre together make it their favourite room in the city.

Getting in: what to expect

Every guest needs a ticket, bought online, by phone or at the box office. There are typically two shows nightly, doors at 6pm for 8pm sets and 10pm for 10:30pm sets, plus the Sunday Brunch with doors at noon for a 1:30pm show. Seating is first come, first served rather than assigned, so arriving when doors open gets you closer. There's a per-person consumption minimum for each show; table seating is all ages while bar seating is 21-and-over. Parties of eight or more need a group package. The club emails tickets about 48 hours before showtime as an anti-scalping measure, and validated parking is available at the Minetta Garage across the street.

The smart approach is to decide in advance whether you want the full experience, an 8pm set with dinner at a table near the stage, or a lighter visit at the bar or the Sunday brunch. Either way, book ahead for the artists you care about, because the best nights sell out well in advance.

Drinks, food and money

Come hungry and come prepared to spend. Order from the American-Continental menu, choose a cocktail, a glass of wine or a good whiskey from the full bar, and remember the per-show minimum is easy to meet over dinner. If you'd rather keep it lighter, the 21-and-over bar seats let you enjoy the same music with a drink and less commitment. Our $$$$ rating is honest about the cost, this is one of the pricier nights on our list, but you are paying for a genuinely world-class room and, often, a genuinely world-class artist a few feet away.

Who it's for

The Blue Note is ideal for a special night out built around music: a memorable date, a celebration, a visitor's bucket-list evening, or any jazz lover who wants to see a marquee name up close in comfort. It's more forgiving and more polished than the austere listening rooms at the top of our list, which makes it a superb choice for anyone easing into live jazz or wanting dinner and a show in one booking. Groups can be accommodated with a package. It is not the pick for a cheap, spontaneous drop-in, for that, the Village has other rooms, but for a considered evening, few compare.

Round out a New York jazz run with the Village Vanguard (No. 1) and Birdland, browse the full Live Music Bars in New York guide, and see where the Blue Note lands worldwide on our 25 best live music bars ranking. The New York Bar Guide has everything else.

From one room to a global brand

The Blue Note's influence extends far beyond West 3rd Street, because the model it perfected in 1981 turned out to be exportable. Danny Bensusan's formula, big artists, a small comfortable room, good food, two shows a night, proved so effective that it became the template for an international network. Blue Note Tokyo opened in 1988 and quickly established itself as the finest jazz room in Asia; Blue Note Milano followed in 2003 as the brand's European flagship. Further clubs have opened in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Beijing, Shanghai, Hawaii, Napa and, most recently, Los Angeles. The company also launched the Blue Note Jazz Festival, which began in New York in 2011 and now includes editions at Napa and the Hollywood Bowl. Two of the international clubs, Tokyo and Milan, rank on this very list, a measure of how well the original idea travels.

None of this dilutes the flagship. If anything, it sharpens its significance: this is the room where a globally successful idea about how to present live jazz was first proven, night after night, in front of a New York crowd.

Recordings and residencies

The Blue Note has produced its share of important live documents. The most celebrated is Keith Jarrett's June 1994 stand with his Standards Trio, released as the six-disc Keith Jarrett at the Blue Note: The Complete Recordings, a set that captured the trio at a peak and became a reference point for live piano-jazz recording. The club has also run its own live label over the years, issuing concert albums recorded on its stage by artists including James Carter and others. Beyond the records, the club's real magic is its unpredictability: with legends dropping in unannounced, the phrase "you had to be there" is close to a house motto.

Frequently asked

Do I need a ticket? Yes, every guest needs one, bought online, by phone or at the box office; seating is first come, first served, not assigned. Is there a minimum? Yes, a per-person consumption minimum for each show, easily met over dinner or drinks. What are the set times? Typically two shows nightly (doors 6pm for 8pm; 10pm for 10:30pm), plus a Sunday Jazz Brunch. Is there an age limit? Table seating is all ages; bar seating is 21-and-over. Can I bring a group? Parties of eight or more need a group package. How much should I budget? This is one of the pricier nights on our list once ticket, minimum and dinner are combined, plan for a splurge.

The verdict

The Blue Note took a simple idea, great artists, a small room, good food, and used it to bring jazz back from the margins and then carry it around the world. Forty-plus years on, the flagship on West 3rd Street still delivers the essential experience: a legend of the music, close enough to touch, in a room built to make you feel it. It is jazz as an event, done about as well as anyone does it.

What to order

• 01

  A classic cocktail from the full bar

  Helps meet the per-show minimum; order it before the set begins.

• 02

  Dinner from the American-Continental menu

  Served throughout the show, the supper-club way to do the room.

• 03

  The Sunday Jazz Brunch

  An easier, more affordable way into one of the world's great jazz rooms.