Sax And The City – Jazz Music in Vancouver

THE SCENE

Jazz music has been a part of Vancouver since the city’s early days as a fishing and lumbering town. Large numbers of the Canadian Pacific Railway’s black employees settled here, many with nothing more than the clothes on their backs and their rich musical heritage. Soon, an eastside shantytown began to develop. Hogan's Alley, as it came to be known, incubated some of the finest session musicians in North America. Today, the scene’s hub is the annual Vancouver International Jazz Festival, a global summer spotlight featuring some of the genre’s most accomplished aficionados. Apart from this event, the cool cats of jazz don’t particularly demand the Pacific spotlight. But they do have their haunts. Pick any rainy evening. Head out Round Midnight. They’re worth looking for...

THE ESSENTIAL JAZZ MUSIC VENUES

Cellar Restaurant/Jazz Club

3611 Broadway, Vancouver, BC, V6R 2B8 tel: (604) 872-5200

Jazz at the Cellar - Photo by chispita_666

For eight years, the seventy-person Cellar has been jazz music’s cool Kitsilano pad.  In fact, this robustly red-themed basement venue at the foot of Greektown, has quickly become a global destination for some of the world’s finest live session-musicians.  The cozy atmosphere along with the gorgeous food menus, cocktail lists and sinful dessert offerings, put this little lounge on the map for anyone with a hankering for cheesecake, Cinzano or Charlie Parker.  Though open daily except Mondays, the weekends bring the largest crowds, ‘Jazz Brunch Sundays’ being a particularly popular and singular outing. Whatever the day or night, whether listening to a legend or lounging to a local trio, this is where Vancouver jazz stretches its legs.

Rossini’s

1525 Yew St. Vancouver, BC, V6J 3E5 tel: (604) 737-8080

Jazz at Rossini's - courtesy of Rossini's Restaurant

Set in the beautiful Kitsilano Beach neighbourhood, this restaurant-cum-jazz-club combines fantastic Italian cuisine with quality jazz.  Family owned and operated, Rossini’s warm and welcoming brick dining room offers a wine-list even more extensive than its musical line-up.  The proprietors have been long-time patrons of the Vancouver International Jazz Festival, which is reflected in the restaurant’s repertoire of fine domestic and international musical talent.  If tenor sax and tortellini are your idea of a great night out, this establishment is for you. 

"Lefty" O’Doul’s

1300 Robson Street, Vancouver, BC, V6E 1C5 tel: (604) 661-1400

Photo by Chris Clarke

Named after the San Francisco Giants player, “Lefty” O’Doul, the establishment enjoyed success in the late-seventies as a sports pub before transforming in the late nineties into a New York-style jazz lounge.  Maybe it’s the twin-hemisphere map that spans the vaulted ceiling.  Maybe it’s the luxurious mahogany bar.  The fact is, there is nowhere in the city to enjoy a more urban jazz experience.  Its central location on Vancouver’s theatre-rich Robson Street has afforded O’Doul’s the title of the city’s only seven-day-a-week jazz club.  This venue offers valet parking, an amazing cosmopolitan view of bustling downtown and a dynamic West Coast menu that has been attracting both domestic and international clientele for over twenty-five years.  A must-see, jazz fan or not.

Falconetti’s

1812 Commercial Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5N 4A5 tel: (604) 251-728

The entrance of Falconetti 's - by Richard Smith

Nestled in the heart of East Vancouver’s multi-cultural Commercial Drive, Falconetti’s is the city’s honest answer to a New York City bar.  The entertainment schedule includes a repertoire of various brands of jazz, but it’s the menu that makes a stay here a memorable experience.  This is the home of the famous Falconetti sausages -- a wide selection of handcrafted, preservative-free deli savouries ranging from Hot Italian to Chicken Thai to Veggie.  With its narrow floor-space, intimate atmosphere and heavily Italian patron-base (especially during televised soccer games), this is more than just another jazz bar.  It’s a cultural experience as well 

Libra Room

1608 Commercial Dr, Vancouver, BC V5L 3Y4 tel:  (604) 255-3787

Libra atmosphere - by Stephanie Vacher

Two blocks down Commercial Drive, the Libra Room brings the ‘eclectic jazz’ experience to a groovy new level.  Living up to its ‘Astrological Martini Lounge’ theme, the club’s zodiac-inspired drink menu offers both an assortment of ‘sweet martinis’ and ‘sexy cosmic libations’.  Pick a drink that fits your personality-profile or star-sign, or simply spend a happening evening working your way around the entire horoscope.  Musically, a more diverse jazz line-up is hard to find.  But, for all the funkiness of the fusion and progressive acts that perform week-round in its lava lamp glow, it’s the Libra’s ‘Latin Jazz Sundays’ that provide the most memorable experiences.  Capricorn cocktails and salsa-jazz are a rare combination.

Zocalo Restaurant

2515 Main St., Vancouver, BC V5T 3E5  tel: (604) 677-3521

Nice ambience at Zocalo -  by Stephanie Vacher

If leaning toward Latin jazz, the popular twenty-five hundred block of Main is home to Zocalo, a charming, fifty-person restaurant offering contemporary Mexican cuisine and an impressive array of mescal and tequila.  Naturally, where shots are being consumed, dancing is encouraged.  Nine-thirty onwards finds patrons abandoning their seats for the dance-floor.    Experience the sultry subtropical jazz of Afro-Cuban Wednesdays while enjoying a décor punctuated by fine local artwork.  The best place in town for some soft samba and hard tequila.

Fairview Pub

898 W. Broadway – Vancouver, BC V5Z 1J8 tel: (604) 872-126

Fairway Pub - courtesy of Park Inn

The Fairview in the Park Inn & Suites Vancouver Broadway is the seven-story hotel’s legendary jazz and R&B joint.  This rustic dark green and cherrywood-decorated watering hole has a solid reputation as one of the finest purveyors of live music in metropolitan Vancouver.  A night here is a relaxing, enjoyable experience, but any given Thursday from six to nine is the best time to sip a bottle of domestic and enjoy one of the many local jazz trios that call the West Coast home.

The Lamplighter

210 Abbott St., Vancouver, BC, V6B 2K8, tel: (604) 899-3229

Hot Loins at the Lamplighter - by Sarah Cordingley

Another hotel bar, the Dominion Grand Hotel’s Lamplighter, is primarily popular as a rock showcase (see Loud Loudwest), but masquerades as a mellower venue with its 3-6pm Sunday afternoon Jazz Matinees.  The perfect destination after a weekend stroll through Gastown. 

BACKYARD TALENT

Vancouver boasts it share of domestic jazz aficionados.  Here are some worth noting.

• Bill Coon
• Colin Lazzerini
• Eastwind
• Emris
• Hugh Frase
• Jared Burrows
• John Doheny
• Karin Plato
• Kate Hammett-Vaughn
• Ken Lister
• Mike Allen
• Mimosa
• Mode Ensemble
• Mother of Pearl
• New Orchestra Workshop
• Pearl Brown
• Rabnett 5
• Soli
• The October Trio
• West Coast Jazz Trio

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