Blue Note London opened on September 23 beneath the St Martins Lane Hotel, between Covent Garden and Trafalgar Square. The 250-seat main room gives London's contemporary jazz scene a global booking machine; a 100-seat B-Side room for emerging British artists is due later in 2026. The opening matters less as brand import than as a new route between the London cohort—Nubya Garcia, Yussef Dayes, Kokoroko—and a New York institution that can circulate audiences as well as musicians. Many early shows are already sold, so treat it as a calendar to watch rather than a spontaneous promise for tonight. The Times on the opening · Guardian announcement