Blue Note London is open at 42-49 St Martin's Lane, licensed to 1am and bound to stay a jazz venue. Its first licence was cut to earlier hours; a second bid won the later close.
Blue Note, the New York jazz club, opened its London venue on St Martin’s Lane on Thursday 24 September. Westminster City Council said its officials gave the club final clearance to open this week.
The opening ends a licensing process that took two hearings. The first licence, granted in February 2025, would have closed the club by 11.30pm on most nights. A second application three months later won a 1am finish, on tighter terms.
What has opened
The club is at 42-49 St Martin’s Lane, WC2N 4EJ, in Covent Garden. The council’s press release places it in Soho, but the licensing record puts it in St James’s ward.
According to Blue Note London’s own site, it has:
- a 300-seat main room
- a second, 130-seat room called B-Side, for late sets and emerging artists
- a full kitchen and bar
Robert Glasper played the grand opening on 24 September, according to the club’s calendar. The council’s release spells his name “Robert Jasper”. Shows run at 7pm and 9.30pm.
Cllr Tim Barnes, the council’s deputy leader, toured the club before it opened. “We are jazzed that visitors and locals now have another great music venue,” he said in the council’s release.
Two hearings, two different answers
The venue sits inside the West End Cumulative Impact Zone. There, the council’s policy is to refuse new music and dance venues except in narrow cases.
The first hearing, 6 February 2025. The applicant, West End Jazz Ltd, asked to open until 1am every night. The full decision records objections from the council’s licensing officers, the Metropolitan Police and environmental health, and from six residents. The Covent Garden Community Association and the Burleigh Mansions Residents Association also made representations. The Music Venue Trust, the Heart of London Business Alliance and the Soho Jazz Festival supported it.
The sub-committee granted a licence, but only to the council’s core hours for a music and dance venue. It pointed to 85 residents in the immediate area and to the risk of up to 350 people leaving at once, twice a night.
The second hearing, 1 May 2025. A new application (25/01499/LIPN) came back with concessions. The May decision notes the first licence was by then under appeal. Environmental health withdrew its objection on 16 April 2025. The police still objected.
This time the sub-committee treated Blue Note as a cultural venue rather than a music and dance venue. It said the focus was on music, not drinking. It granted the later hours.
What the licence allows
The hours granted in May 2025 are:
| Activity | Monday to Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|
| Open to the public | 09:00 to 01:00 | 09:00 to 00:00 |
| Live and recorded music | 09:00 to 01:00 | 09:00 to 00:00 |
| Alcohol sales | 09:00 to 00:45 | 09:00 to 23:45 |
| Late night refreshment | 23:00 to 00:45 | 23:00 to 23:45 |
Source: licensing sub-committee decision, 1 May 2025.
The conditions attached to that decision include:
- the club must operate primarily as a live jazz venue
- alcohol and late food only for people with a ticket to a jazz performance, plus performers and up to six guests
- no more than 350 people inside at any time, falling to 250 after midnight
- drinks served to seated customers by waiting staff, except in one marked area
- no entry or re-entry after 11pm, other than people stepping out briefly
- no queuing in Mays Court or Hop Gardens
- no licensable activity until the capacity and building works were signed off
The jazz-only condition was imposed to stop the venue “morphing into something different”, the February decision says. The May panel kept it.
What it means for you
If you want to go: tickets are sold on the club’s site, through Ticketmaster or at the box office. The FAQs say doors open at 5pm for 7pm shows and 9pm for 9.30pm shows. Seating is first come, first served. Table seats are for all ages, but bar seating is 18 and over with photo ID. All sales are final.
If you live nearby: the licence can be reviewed. The February decision reminded residents that they could use the review procedure under the Licensing Act 2003 if the club breached its conditions. Our guide to Westminster licensing hours explains how the core hours work across the West End, and our report on the new licensing policy covers the rules now in force.
If you are heading there late: check our roadworks and travel page for tube closures before you set out.
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