One of the ultimate bohemian plans is to have a drink in one of the bars and restaurants with live music in Madrid. It’s perfect when you want to surprise someone, celebrate something special or just exponentially improve the weekend plans.
Are they clubs, lounges or pubs? The lines are blurred, but if they sound jazz, blues or piano in the background, it’s enough to dazzle music lovers eager to hear live music playing while accompanying dishes and drinks.
1. Café Central
Ever since Down Beat magazine -a prestigious American jazz publication- named it in 2002 as one of the best places to listen to jazz, Café Central has become a reference. Located in what used to be a century-old glassworks near the Barrio de las Letras, whose building was built in 1908, a group of friends decided to create a place to listen to live music in Madrid, and, although at first it was traditional music or author, now also bet on other musical styles such as jazz or blues.
📍Location: Plaza del Ángel, 10 (Downtown)
2. La Coquette
The most varied blues groups pass through La Coquette every weekend. Founded in 1982, it is one of the few spaces dedicated exclusively to blues music and its different styles in the capital. Admission is free, but drinks are compulsory, and always accompanied by pipes, something not so usual anymore, because time seems to stand still in this cave in the vicinity of the Opera.
📍Location: Calle de las Hileras, 14 (Ópera)
3. Tatel
If you feel like going out in Madrid and feel as if you were in Scott Fitzgerald’s New York, in Tatel you will find a decoration inspired by the golden 20’s in the United States. While classic crooners, swing and jazz sound, the music and fusion of styles works like a time machine, and Latin jazz and rhythm & blues liven up the atmosphere. The Mediterranean cuisine, however, brings you back home.
📍Location: Paseo de la Castellana, 36 (Salamanca)
4. La Fontana de Oro
The Fontana de Oro, which inspired the first novel by Benito Pérez Galdós and where the cream of Spanish society has gathered for centuries, has gone through many names since its original founding in 1782. It is not clear if it was previously located just a few meters from where this Irish pub with live music now takes its name. Among paintings, letters, bottles on the wall and a motorcycle on the ceiling, this place is still part of the history of Madrid’s nightlife.
📍Location: Calle de la Victoria, 1 (Downtown)
5. Toni 2
Toni 2 is the piano bar that has become an essential stop since the Transition. It is much more than a live music venue, here the most diverse people gather every night around the piano to sing in unison songs by Raphael or Raffaella Carrà. Don’t judge, just join in.
📍Location: Almirante street, 9 (Chueca)
6. Café El Despertar
Café El Despertar is the oldest jazz club in Madrid. This bar with live music has been programming jazz uninterruptedly since 1981 in the neighborhood of Lavapiés, very close to the Doré Cinema. Specializing in burnt coffee, Irish coffee, caipirinhas or the best gin and tonics, the Café is a small space where you can still breathe that authentic jazz club atmosphere.
📍Location: Calle de la Torrecilla del Leal, 18 (Downtown)
7. Recoletos Jazz Madrid
This music club brings the spirit of New York jazz clubs to the basement floor of the Hotel AC Recoletos. The intimacy of this place is created by the small tables illuminated with a warm light and the proximity to the stage where Cuban, flamenco and jams session sounds are mixed, making this space one of the best places in Madrid to have a special date. They are open from Tuesday to Saturday and you can see their concert calendar months in advance on their Instagram profile.
📍Location: calle recoletos, 18 (Salamanca).
Among these bars and restaurants with live music in Madrid some as mythical as El Junco or La Fídula have been lost, but most have managed to survive the pandemic, and continue as crowded as ever every weekend.