There are jazz clubs all over Brooklyn, but to find the best of the best, we asked Steve Dollar, author of “Jazz Guide NYC,” for his favorite spots in the borough.
Barbes
376 Ninth St. at Sixth Avenue in Park Slope, (718) 965-9177.
“It’s a good place to drop in on Wednesdays. If you’re looking for variety, it’s a great place to go.”
Zebulon
258 Wythe Ave. at North Third Street in Williamsburg, (718) 218-6934.
“They have a lot of interesting musicians who play there frequently. It’s a great hang out.”
Issue Project Room
400 Carroll St. between Bond and Nevins streets in Carroll Gardens, (718) 330-0313.
“It’s the kind of place that would have been in the Lower East Side 15 years ago, but no one can pay the rent, so it’s in Brooklyn. It’s a real fun space, and the stuff they present there is wide ranging and really unique.”
Tea Lounge
837 Union St. between Sixth and Seventh avenues in Park Slope, (718) 789-2762.
“There are a lot of world-class musicians in Brooklyn who play there every week. It’s really entertaining, anything from party music to, say, barnyard. It’s a kind of funky environment. Not at all a typical jazz club.”
Center for Improvisational Music
295 Douglass St. between Third and Fourth avenues in Carroll Gardens, (212) 631-5882.
“It’s run as a jazz school, but they also do shows on Saturdays. When someone’s playing in town and doing a bigger venue they might go play a show here, too.”
