Jazzhus Montmartre, Copenhagen

Jazzhus Montmartre is Copenhagen's historic jazz hotspot, presenting world class live jazz at the original venue at St. Regnegade 19A in the heart of the Danish capital.

From 1959-1976, the club made jazz history as the European home for jazz giants Dexter Gordon, Ben Webster, Stan Getz, Kenny Drew, Oscar Pettiford and many other masters of the 60's and 70's.

They all moved to Copenhagen because of Montmartre. The club got under their skin with its special atmosphere and extraordinary people.

While living in Copenhagen, the great American jazz icons educated a whole generation of Danish jazz masters, including the famous Danish bass players Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Mads Vinding, Jesper Lundgaard and Bo Stief, drummer Alex Riel, trumpeter Palle Mikkelborg, and many others.

In 1976 the club moved to a new location (Nørregade) and eventually closed in 1995, marking 36 years of writing jazz history as Europe's cutting edge jazz club and a playground for American and Scandinavian jazz.

In May 2010, the spectacular re-opening of Jazzhus Montmartre made news around the globe. Once again the world's top jazz artists are flocking to the famous address at Store Regnegade 19A.

The new Jazzhus Montmartre quickly made it back on the map as a top attraction of Copenhagen. The New York Times included Jazzhus Montmartre on its much-hyped list of must-see-places in the city under the headline "Rebirth Of Cool".

The re-opening of Montmartre in May 2010 was initiated by two jazz-loving Danes, who have spent countless unpaid hours of their spare time bringing the club back to life: meet entrepreneur and media executive Rune Bech and jazz pianist Niels Lan Doky.

When the original historic venue became vacant (after many years as a hairdressing school), they jumped at the opportunity to re-create Montmartre at its original location.

Restoring the club became a passion project out of love for jazz and the history of this special place, which has often been called "The Village Vanguard of Europe" in homage to its legendary sister club in New York City.

Although Rune Bech invested a substantial amount of his personal money as start-up funding for the Jazzhus, he insisted that the new Montmartre should be a non-profit organization. This means that Jazzhus Montmartre is established as a charity trust, from which no private person can make a profit. An easily transferable governing body was also created in the hope that Montmartre can live on as a non-profit organization and cultural institution.

In addition, eight mission statements were established for the new club in The Montmartre Manifesto. Montmartre should be an international landmark of great jazz and a place that discovers and presents new talent with world class potential. It was the ambition "to create a paradise for life lovers with a cozy and sincere ambience. Most importantly, Montmartre should be known for its warm, welcoming and homey atmosphere attracting good people that follow their heart in life".

The club is run by a team of dedicated volunteers. With a limited audience capacity of only 85 seats, Montmartre is heavily dependent on donations and membership fees from its club, Friends of Montmartre. Some of Denmark's large foundations have supported the re-opening, but with its high level of artistic ambition, Montmartre is dependent on continuous support.

More than anything the old Jazzhus Montmartre was known for the plaster masks that became an icon for the club.They were created in 1959 by the artist Mogens Gylling and attracted attention around the world as a remarkable work of art.
When Montmartre closed in 1976 the masks disappeared, but the Montmartre team convinced Gylling, who still lives outside Copenhagen, to make a reincarnation of his famous wall art with a twist.

The ten new masks were put back on the wall by the artist himself during Copenhagen Jazz Festival 2010, an event heavily covered by the media.

You can dine at Jazzhus Montmartre before all concerts and keep your table during the concert. It has become popular to book a table for 6:00 p.m. and then wine and dine before the concerts, which start at 8:00 p.m. Out of respect for the musicians, club policy does not allow serving food during the performances. The price level of the menu is roughly similar to other cafés in the downtown area.