The Ruby Jazz Club

Overview

The Ruby was founded by Brisbane jazz pianist Meredith Brothers, who built the club specifically to give emerging musicians a proper stage — and still turns up to play it herself from time to time. Find it down Mead Lane behind an unmarked red door, where a 1920s-inspired room does its best impression of a New York jazz basement.

Friday nights bring ticketed, concert-style sets from working jazz acts covering everything from hard-bop and swing to New Orleans ragtime, usually $25 to $29 a ticket. Saturdays flip the format: free entry, a looser room, and a regular slot for trios from the Jazz Music Institute alongside local duos still building a following.

Beyond the music, there's a menu of casual bites and a cocktail list backed by a deep run of signature bourbons — a nod to jazz's roots in America's Deep South as much as a drinks list.

Images: Supplied.

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