The new Blue Note club will hold two ticketed shows an evening, with sit-down food and drink also to be on offer
New York’s iconic Blue Note jazz club is to open its first London spot in the basement of St Martins Lane Hotel. Westminster City councillors last night approved the company’s proposal to revamp the vacant site giving it a base in the heart of the West End.
Blue Note, which is in cities from Hawaii to Milan as well as its flagship New York club, was granted a licence for the premises last May. Now that planning has been approved it is a step closer to a full opening, with its website simply stating Blue Note London is “coming soon”.
The site is currently empty having been occupied by Gymbox until 2023. Once up and running it will offer a sit-down food and drink alongside world-class jazz performances. Shows are to be held daily, with two ticketed shows planned per evening.
The proposal received several objections during consultation including from the Covent Garden Community Association. In council papers uploaded ahead of the Planning Sub-Committee meeting it was written: “The proposed intensification of use of the premises and its potential impact on residential amenity, particularly in relation to servicing and noise from operation and dispersal, and the proximity of plant and scale of activity in a sensitive residential context.”
An officer presenting the application last night, however, said the Association had since withdrawn its objection. David Goldstein, London Operating Partner for Blue Note, told members the business has been family-owned since 1981.
He said: “Over four decades Blue Note has hosted an extraordinary roll call of artists, including Ben E. King, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Tony Bennett, Prince, Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Wynton Marsalis, and Norah Jones to name only a few.”
Mr Goldstein said the club’s opening would be a “landmark moment for the UK’s live music scene and a tremendous cultural addition to the West End. It would in part reverse a trend of live music venues closing down and leaving the West End.”
Lorna Richardson, from the Westminster Quakers which has a base by the proposed club, said there are concerns about the noise from plant machinery. “Quakers have been worshipping in silence from our current Hop Gardens site for more than 140 years,” she said.
“But we are not actually asking for silence or anything close. We are just asking for assurances that the baseline noise levels won’t rise in this little pocket of relative quiet in Covent Garden, that many people have needed and appreciated for many many years.”
Ms Richardson added the group does not want to delay the opening of the club but rather were seeking a commitment that they will have input if anything needs to be fixed.
A council officer responded saying they believe an initial survey into the noise impacts is acceptable, though added there is a condition requiring a post-completion assessment to check the levels. If these are found to be too loud the sound could be reduced.
Members unanimously backed the application, granting it opening hours until 1am. All shows are to be finished by 11.45pm.
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