Paris Cat Jazz Club
Melbourne's longest-running dedicated jazz club, down a CBD laneway, where Bob Dylan has reportedly been spotted watching a show from the back of the room.
Overview
Paris Cat opened in 2005 inside a three-storey warehouse dating back to 1895, tucked into Goldie Place off the Melbourne CBD grid. It's since been named one of the city's must-see venues, and has become something like a home base for the local jazz scene — the place touring musicians play when they're in town, and where up-and-coming Australian jazz artists get a proper stage.
The building splits across three distinct spaces: the Basement, where most of the live sets happen, done out with the low light and close quarters of a French post-war bebop room; the Gallery, a tapas bar that doubles as a function space; and the Parisian Loft, which folds intimate dining in with live performance rather than keeping the two apart.
The bill runs Wednesday to Saturday and leans heavily on local and touring jazz acts, but the room's guest list stretches further than that — Don Burrows, the New York-based Aaron Goldburg Trio and members of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra have all played here, and Robbie Williams brought his big band through when he was touring.
Food stays simple: a small tapas menu built to share between sets, backed by a wine list rather than a cocktail program.
Image: Chris Bair on Unsplash
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