Updated 9/16/23. Where to hear jazz in Lisbon, Portugal? Lisbon has a couple of jazz festivals and a handful of venues that only promote jazz. Other venues offer jazz amid a variety of types of music. Here is my guide to Jazz in Lisbon – Lisbon’s jazz bars and Jazz festivals.
As many of you will be in town during the summer, I encourage anyone visiting Lisbon to try to catch one of the festivals mentioned at the end of this article.
Changes in Lisbon’s jazz scene in 2023
Various websites mention Avenew (at Rua Joaquim de Aguiar 45A near Marquês de Pombal) as one of the top jazz clubs in Lisbon in 2023 – and it was, but Avenew is now permanently closed.
While the legendary Alface Hall Hostel and Bar still exists on Rua do Norte in Bairro Alto, they stopped offering live music in June of 2023.
Nonetheless, the jazz groove carries on in Lisbon….
Hot Clube de Portugal – Lisbon’s oldest jazz bar
Praça de Alegria 48, near the Avenida metro station (blue line)
Opens at 10 pm Tuesday – Saturday
Open since 1948, this is one of the oldest jazz clubs in Europe.
Considered by DownBeat Magazine to be one of the best 100 jazz clubs in the world.
They’ve hosted a variety of musicians from all over the world and have jazz Tuesday through Saturday.
The first set usually starts at 10:30 and the second set starts around midnight.
They hold jam sessions on Tuesday nights.
Live jazz at Páginas Tantas (So Many Pages)
Rua do Diário de Noticias 85, Bairro Alto
This small venue fills up early.
They usually have trios performing from Tuesday to Sunday.
Reasonable prices for both food and drinks. Cash only.
Four blocks south of Miradouro de São Pedro de Alcântara.
https://www.facebook.com/P%C3%A1ginas-Tantas-Jazz-Bar-226889950738235/
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Hear jazz in Lisbon at Galeria Zé dos Bois
Rua da Barroca 59, Bairro Alto
This gallery was founded in 1994 as a nonprofit with the aim of promoting visual and performing arts.
They put on approximately 150 exhibitions or concerts per year.
Make sure you check their website to see who is playing.
ZDB is not exclusively a jazz venue. The building also features a nice rooftop terrace.
O Bom O Mau e O Vilão
Rua do Alecrim, 21
Located around the corner from Pink Street, between the Chiado neighborhood and Cais do Sodré, O Bom o Mau e o Vilão has a Jazz night on Mondays, starting at 10 pm.
Desterro
Calçada do Desterro 7
Near Intendente metro station (green line)
Door open at 8 pm
This is a local non-profit with a mission of promoting the arts. You might catch jazz here. Check their website.
http://Desterro – Home | Facebook
Artis Wine Bar often has jazz
Rua do Diário de Noticias 95, Bairro Alto
Every day 3 pm – 11 pm
They serve wines from all over the country, by the bottle or the glass, accompanied by petiscos and jazz.
http://Artis Wine Bar – Home | Facebook
Palheta
Travessa da R. Ribeira Nova 30, Cais do Sodré.
Bar Palheta is open every day 6 pm – 2 am
Bar Palheta has jazz on Wednesday nights, starting at 8 pm.
http://Palheta – Home | Facebook
Live jazz at Fábrica Braço de Prata
Rua Fábrica de Material de Guerra, 1.
Braço de Prata Train Station, CP, Sintra Line) Halfway to Parque das Nações
Until 9pm you can take bus 782 from Cais do Sodré or Praça do Comércio to Fábrica Braço de Prata
Wed-Fri 6 pm-2 am; Sat 1 pm-4 am.
A large locals’ spot with a variety of offerings. Check the website to see if they have jazz. It could be indie rock or world music.
“This is the most unlikely cultural center of the city of Lisbon. Anything can happen around here. The FBP is a half-abandoned building, a vestige of the place of the administration of the former war material factory. Its 20 mutant rooms are both concert halls and art galleries. [You can find] curiosities, offices, or a movie theater, [maybe a] fine arts workshop or goldsmith’s workshop. We have a store of used clothes and other things to wear. Dining rooms, bar, or a huge bookstore.”
http://Home | Silver Arm Factory (bracodeprata.com)
Foxtrot
Travessa Santa Teresa 28, due west from the Ascensor da Glória. Near the Assembleia Nacional.
Foxtrot has been around for more than 40 years.
The interior is dark wood paneling, large mirrors, sofas, quirky artwork, and a fireplace for when it turns cold. If it’s nice out, they also have garden seating.
The bar is known for both its food and its cocktails. Steaks are on the menu. No cover charge.
Popular with locals and also a Trip Advisor Traveler’s Choice.
Mon-Thu 6pm-2am; Fri-Sat 6pm-3am; Sun 8pm-2am. Valet parking available.
Check the website to see what kind of live music they are having. Not exclusively jazz.
Bar in Lisbon – Froxtrot (barfoxtrot.pt)
Jazz Jams at Livraria Bar Menina e Moça
Address: Rua Nova do Carvalho, 40-42
This popular bookstore / bar on Lisbon’s famous Pink Street has a Jazz session on Sundays.
You will also regularly find street musicians performing some genre of music at Largo do Chiado and Praça Luís de Camões.
You see musicians playing near Cais do Sodré and the Time Out Market. Someone is usually playing music at the kiosk (see my article Lisbon’s Kiosks – A popular tradition that you will love ) in front of the Carmo Convent, and someone is often busking at the corner of Rua Primeiro de Dezembro and Rua Áurea just off of Rossio Square in the Baixa neighborhood.
Cascais Jazz Club
Cascais Jazz Club
Largo Cidade de Vitória 36, Cascais
Closed Monday – Wednesday
Thursday – Saturday 9 pm – 1 am
Sunday 9 pm – 10 pm
First, Cascais is a beach resort about 25 minutes from Lisbon.
You can easily get there by train from the Cais do Sodré station for less than 3 euros, but depending on how late you stay in Cascais, you may need to Uber back to Lisbon. The last train leaves Cascais at 1:30 am.
Owner Maria Viana describes her venue by saying, “Being a non-profit jazz association, we have a duty to keep the bar as small as possible. We ARE NOT a bar… we are a music house with a small bar on the side.” And the performance area is actually separated from the bar by a glass partition in order to keep chatter to a minimum.
As everyone knows, in a real jazz hall, it is not polite to talk while the musicians play.
Some clubs do not allow you to have your phone out during the performance either.
In theory, the audience is there for the music.
Trip Advisor rates the Cascais Jazz Club as the number one thing to do at night in Cascais.
CASCAIS JAZZ CLUB – Home | Facebook
Cascais EDP Jazz Festival
This 50 year-old festival will be returning in July, 2022. It promises to once again be a showcase for the biggest names in jazz.
EDPCOOLJAZZ – 17ª EDITION – CASCAIS
Lisbon Out Jazz
Between May and September, there is a free jazz concert every Sunday in one of Lisbon’s parks. The concert rotates from park to park. See website for details.
Jazz em Agosto
Jazz in August – a contemporary jazz festival sponsored by the Gulbenkian Foundation and held at their amphitheater during the first two weeks of August.
July 26 – August 4 will see the 40th edition of the Jazz em Agosto Festival.
Tickets for Lisbon’s Jazz in August Festival
Tickets can be purchased at:
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation – Main Building
Av. de Berna, 45-A
Monday to Friday, 10:00 am – 7 pm, Saturday 10:00 – 6:00 pm, Sundays and Holidays (only on concert days) 1:00 pm – 7:00 pm.
Tickets for individual performances go for 10€ – 15€, a season pass for 11 shows is 90€.
Jazz em Agosto (gulbenkian.pt)
How to get to Lisbon’s Jazz em Agosto Festival
In order to get to the Jazz em Agosto festival at Calouste Gulbenkian, you could take the metro blue and red lines to the São Sebastião station, or the Praça de Espanha station (blue line).
Buses 715, 726, and 756 stop on Avenida da Berna. Bus 746 stops at Avenida António Augusto de Aguiar, and buses 713 and 742 stop on Rua Marquês da Fronteira.
Map of jazz bars in Lisbon and Cascais
Conclusion
If I had my heart set on jazz while in Lisbon, my first stop would be Hot Clube.
But I wouldn’t hesitate to check out the other venues on this list, after checking their websites to see what they are offering.
And I would make it a priority to get to one of the summer jazz festivals.
For further information on music venues in Lisbon, read my Where to see live music in Lisbon
If you are looking for other things to do at night in Lisbon, maybe give Fado music a shot Everything you need to know about fado music in Lisbon ,
try a winebar, A quick guide to wine bars, wine tours, and wine tastings in Lisbon ,
or go on a sunset cruise or a party boat, Old and new friends on Lisbon’s Booze cruises and party boats .
Thanks for reading “Jazz in Lisbon – Lisbon’s Jazz Bars and Jazz Festivals.”
