Best Bars with Live Music: Where the Entertainment Matches the Drinks

Open since 1935 and unchanged in the ways that matter. The wedge-shaped basement holds fewer than 130 people, which means every seat is close to the bandstand. Monday nights are the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra — a big band residency that has run continuously since 1966. The sound system is exceptional. Come 30 minutes early or you will not get a seat.

Order: A beer and focus on the music. The drinks menu is deliberately simple.

The underground room that launched more careers than most conservatories. Smalls runs two sets most nights, with the late set — starting around 1am — often drawing the best players in the city who come to jam after their own gigs. The cover charge is among the most reasonable in the city for the quality on stage. No pretense. No dress code. Just music.

Order: House whisky, neat. Spend the money you saved on the extra set.

Named after Charlie Parker and still holding to the tradition he represents. Birdland books both legends and emerging names, with the Jim Setteducati Orchestra holding down Thursday nights with a Big Band set that fills the room with genuine swing energy. The food is better than you'd expect from a jazz club — the chicken entrees are worth ordering. Book ahead for weekend shows.

Order: The Bird's Nest cocktail — bourbon, honey, lemon, bitters.

Open since 1959 and still the room where the biggest jazz names play when they're in London. The sight lines from the balcony are better than most venues charge double for. Late-night sessions on weekends attract serious musicians who drop in unannounced. The cocktail list has improved significantly in the past five years — it's no longer just an afterthought.

Order: The Scott's Old Fashioned — a well-made rye version that holds up through a full set.

Camden's Jazz Café leans further into soul and R&B than its name implies, which works in its favour. The balcony restaurant overlooks the stage, giving you a dinner-and-show experience that other venues charge significantly more for. The programming mixes established names with newer artists — which means any given Wednesday could be exceptional or merely good. Worth the risk.

Order: A rum punch from the bar and a balcony table for the 8pm set.

A medieval cellar beneath the Latin Quarter that has hosted jazz and swing since 1946. The dance floor fills early on weekends and stays full until 3am. The music is always live, always swinging, and the crowd ranges from students to octogenarians who have been coming here for 40 years. It is genuinely one of the most atmospheric rooms in Europe — low ceilings, stone arches, the smell of history and cigarettes that no longer exist.

Order: House wine. This is not a cocktail bar. It is a jazz cave. Act accordingly.

The purest expression of traditional New Orleans jazz still operating. The hall is tiny, deliberately unadorned, and the band plays with the kind of conviction you only develop over generations. Three sets per night. Standing room only. The cover charge is low because the founders believed this music should be accessible. They were right. If you go to New Orleans and skip Preservation Hall, we cannot help you.

Order: A cold beer from the street vendor outside. No bar service inside.

Al Capone's old haunt — still with the original booths and escape hatches — now hosting some of Chicago's best jazz seven nights a week. The Swing Sunday with the Andy Schumm band draws locals and musicians passing through town. The cocktail programme references the Prohibition era without being gimmicky about it. One of the genuinely great bars left in America.

Order: A classic gin martini. The bartenders here know what they're doing.

The Tokyo outpost of the Blue Note franchise is, in our view, the best of the international locations. Two sets per night, mostly at 7pm and 9:30pm. The acoustics are precise, the service is exceptional even by Tokyo's standards, and the programming draws international artists who treat the Tokyo audience with the same seriousness they bring to New York. The food is worth ordering.

Order: Japanese whisky highball — it fits the room perfectly.

Vienna's most famous coffeehouse hosts live music daily — piano or small ensemble — in a setting that Freud and Trotsky once frequented (at different tables, presumably). The music is background by design, which suits the café's purpose as a place for long conversations over exceptional coffee and cake. But the quality is never incidental. Come for the architecture. Stay for the music. Order the Einspänner.

Order: Einspänner — espresso topped with a cloud of whipped cream, served in a glass.