JAZZ CONCERTS

The Berklee Performance Center has been called "one of the premier venues for jazz and pop in the county" by The Boston Globe. Located at 136 Massachusetts Avenue, the Berklee Performance Center is at the core of Boston’s entertainment and cultural community. Many excellent restaurants and hotels as well as the Prudential Center, Fenway Park, and the Hynes Convention Center are within walking distance. For more information on concerts, check out the Cultural District Calendar page, visit The Berklee Performance Center online or call the Box Office at (617) 747-2261.

Bob The Chef's Restaurant
604 Columbus Ave, Boston, MA 02118
(617) 536-6204
Live jazz and blues on selected evenings of the week. Call for more info.

Jazz at the Gardner
On the first Saturday of the month at 1:30 p.m., in the Tapestry Room of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum concerts are held to showcase emerging jazz artists at the beginning of their careers. For more information on concerts at the Gardner Museum visit www.gardnermuseum.org/music/concertmain.asp

New England Conservatory’s Department of Jazz Studies and Improvisation teaches the art of jazz improvisation with an emphasis on individual creativity and group interaction in small ensemble performance. Rather than teaching a single correct way to play, we help students explore the myriad possibilities in jazz, and eventually discover their own original voices, through a rigorous program of ear training, analysis, and historical study. Jazz is broadly defined at NEC and experimentation is encouraged. At the same time, we feel it is essential that students master the jazz traditions of swing, melodic improvisation on tonal forms, and instrumental technique and expression in order to be competent professionals who can extend those traditions and function in a variety of musical settings. Jazz Composition majors work closely with a studio teacher in private lessons and have many opportunities to have their music read, performed, and recorded by large and small jazz composers’ ensembles. If you are interested in catching a Jazz Ensemble concert, check out the Cultural District Calendar page or go directly to the New England Conservatory Calendar.

Wally's Cafe
427 Massachusetts Ave
Boston, MA 02118-3504
Phone: (617) 424-1408
Wally's Cafe, founded by Joseph L. Walcott in 1947 (across the street from its current location near the Orange Line Mass Ave stop) was the first African-American owned nightclub in New England. Wally set the standard for the club's dedication to music by hiring bands 365 days a year. Wally passed away in 1998, but his namesake lives on. Many of the budding jazz and blues talents from Berklee and NEC play Wally's, as well as better-known local acts. No cover.