Vortex Jazz Club

The Vortex Jazz Club is one of the UK’s premier jazz venues, programming almost 400 performances a year in an intimate space. We were winner of the Live Jazz Award category at the 2013 Parliamentary Jazz Awards.As a volunteer-led jazz club in North London, Dalston, we have been given the accolade of being one of the world’s best, and have even been singled out by the prestigious Downbeat magazine as one the top 150 jazz venues in the world. Most of the concerts are programmed by the club itself, exercising a judicious balance between quality and accessibility. This contrasts us with other venues, which just act as places for various outside promoters to use. For 25 years, the club has been serving as a platform for jazz, improvised and experimental music. The Vortex has been instrumental in the launch of up and coming artists’ careers, such as Mercury-nominated bands including Polar Bear and Portico Quartet. Saxophonist Evan Parker has a long standing relationship with the club, including a monthly residency; he once described the club as his spiritual home. 

As a not-for-profit business we strive to keep ticket prices low, while still making it our mission to programme top-class live music. We like to think that we’ve had a positive impact on the local community in terms of contributing to its cultural vibrancy, as well as to the area’s development. We could not achieve all this without the dedication and passion of our directors and volunteers, who include technical staff…and last but not least our loyal Members, who keep coming back. Find out more about becoming a member of the Vortex. 

Our Mission To support ‘jazz’ in some of its various forms, bringing the music to a wider audience while nurturing new and emerging talent through innovative programming that recognises the continuity as well as development of the art form. To promote the Vortex as a place where stimulating dialogue, creative and entertaining musical performances meet. To demonstrate the value of small independent cultural organisations; volunteer-led; working collaboratively while making an important contribution to the cultural life of the local area and its economy.