Camden's Jazz Cafe is turning an old east London theatre into a new venue
Opened in 1992 in an old branch of Barclays bank, Camden 's Jazz Cafe has long since established itself as a legendary London music venue. Over the years, the 450-capacity spot has played host to some truly iconic acts from the world of jazz and soul music, including D'Angelo, Bobby Womack, Gil Scott-Heron, Pharoah Sanders and local legend Amy Winehouse. The venue's inaugural Jazz Cafe Festival was a hit last summer, and will return to Peckham 's Burgess Park this August.
We're therefore expecting big things from the Jazz Cafe's new project, which was announced this week. Jazz Cafe owner the Columbo Group has been granted planning permission to transform a disused theatre into an east London outpost for the Camden institution.
Built in 1896, Stratford High Street's Rex Theatre has gone through multiple iterations over its 130-year history, initially hosting theatre and opera before being converted into a cinema in 1933, a bingo hall in 1969 and later a nightclub. After being repossessed by Newham Council in 2013, the building has been largely vacant since, but will finally reopen as Jazz Cafe East after the council accepted a bid for the venue.
Operating since 2006, the Jazz Cafe group owns several other major London venues alongside the OG Jazz Cafe, including nightclubs XOYO and Phonox, music venue chain The Blues Kitchen and north London pubs The Parakeet and The Old Queen's Head. The business's foray into Stratford has been enthusiastically welcomed by the local community.
Speaking of the plans for the new venue, Newham's mayor Rokhsana Fiaz said: 'Jazz Cafe East promises to let residents in Newham have world class entertainment on their doorstep. It is a show of confidence for the future of the borough, which will bring with it jobs and prosperity. Businesses are waking up to see all that the borough and its people have to offer.'
The new venue will follow a slew of major cultural openings in Stratford, including new dance theatre Sadler's Wells East and the V&A East Storehouse, the purpose-built museum archive which opens at the end of the month. It's no wonder we named the east London neighbourhood one of the UK's best places to visit in 2025!
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