Fort Lauderdale’s jazz and blues scene is smaller than Miami’s, and it isn’t spread across a dozen venues the way karaoke or classic rock cover bands are here. It comes down to three real rooms, each with its own personality: a dedicated listening room, a 1920s speakeasy, and a blues dive with a standing jam session. That’s a short list on purpose. Every venue below links to its full profile in our venue directory.
Blue Jean Blues
Blue Jean Blues is Fort Lauderdale’s dedicated jazz and blues room, built specifically for listening to a band rather than talking over one, with rotating jazz and blues artists booked most nights of the week. If there’s one venue on this list that behaves like a real jazz club rather than a bar that happens to book jazz, this is it. 21 and up (get directions).
Stache 1920’s Drinking Den
Downtown, Stache 1920's Drinking Den is a 1920s style speakeasy and cocktail lounge with live bands, burlesque and cabaret shows spanning jazz, soul and funk, plus a rotating DJ set on Thursdays for anyone who wants the vintage atmosphere without a live band that night. 21 and up (get directions).
Poor House Bar
Poor House Bar leans more blues and rock dive bar than jazz club, but its recurring rotating local acts on Fridays and Saturdays and Thursday blues jam make it a natural stop on the same night out, especially for anyone who wants their blues with a little more grit and a little less polish. 21 and up (get directions).
None of these three are trying to be a Miami-style supper club, and that’s part of the appeal. Blue Jean Blues is the room to sit and actually listen. Stache is the room to dress up a little and lean into the speakeasy theme. Poor House is the room to show up in a t-shirt and catch whoever’s playing the blues jam that week.
Planning a Night
The jazz rooms downtown and around Las Olas are close enough to walk between, and they run earlier, so they work as a first stop. The blues rooms along Federal Highway and out towards the beach run later and need a car, which makes them the second half of the evening rather than the first.
More Fort Lauderdale Guides
Making a night of it in Fort Lauderdale? Our other guides cover Fort Lauderdale clubs and Wilton Manors DJ nights, Fort Lauderdale beach bars, Fort Lauderdale bars and restaurants with live music, karaoke in Fort Lauderdale and Fort Lauderdale dive bars.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a real jazz club in Fort Lauderdale?
Blue Jean Blues is the closest thing to a dedicated jazz and blues room in Fort Lauderdale proper.
Where can I hear blues music in Fort Lauderdale?
Blue Jean Blues and Poor House Bar both book blues acts regularly, with Poor House Bar leaning more toward a blues jam and rock crowd.
Is Stache 1920’s Drinking Den a jazz venue?
It is a speakeasy style lounge that books jazz, soul and funk acts alongside burlesque and cabaret shows, so it is jazz adjacent rather than a pure jazz club.
Stache
A 1920s styled speakeasy and cocktail lounge in downtown Fort Lauderdale featuring live jazz. The room is built for the music rather than fitted around it, and it is the most atmospheric of the city’s jazz options.
Poor House
A downtown dive built around rock and blues, open from 8PM nightly and running to 3AM on Friday and Saturday. The blues end of its booking is as serious as anywhere in the city, and there is no cover to think about.
Original Fat Cat’s
An Americana bar with live music every single night, rooted in Americana, rock and blues. Seven nights of programming means there is always something on, which is rare for a room of this size.
Jazz Versus Blues in This City
Fort Lauderdale’s jazz and blues scenes barely overlap. The jazz rooms are cocktail led, run earlier and sit downtown or near Las Olas. The blues rooms are dive bars, run later and cluster along the Federal Highway corridor and the beach. Knowing which you want saves a wasted drive.
Blues jams are the easiest entry point. Several rooms in Broward run a weekly pro jam where the house band hosts and players sit in, which means a real band on a weeknight at no cover. Jazz here is more often booked and ticketed, so it pays to check the schedule before setting out.
Header photo: Cmasi, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
