Catacumbas Jazz Bar – Jazz to the bone!
Last updated: Jul 13th, 2009 | By: Rafael Vieira
This bar of Jazz and Blues and place of birth of several bands since 1998, the Catacumbas Jazz Bar – the Cata Place -, fills the nights of Lisbon with vibrant sounds and hypnotic music, ranging from blues, jazz and at times bossa nova and roda de choro (brazilian music where the audience is asked to participate dancing and singing). The bands are scheduled to start playing at 23:00 but they never do before 23:30 – 00:00. You can only know what band is playing when you arrive there as they have a sheet on the entrance door with all the concerts for the following week.
There are live acts only from Monday till Thursday from 23:30 (roughly) till 01:45. Monday its the day for Jazz Jam Session with Paulo Lopes Quartet and several other bands. On Tuesday there’s always the Blues Jam Session, with two bands: Messias & Crossroad Blues Band and Heritage Blues Band. On Wednesdays usually Catman and its band are playing. On a jam session night it’s normal to see more than 7 musicians playing and anybody that wants to play or sing can do so. It’s common to see passing travelers showing their skills on the bass, with the voice, on the drums… don’t be shy, mingle!
This is my favourite place of jazz in the city as it has a true jazz atmosphere in its 3 rooms (concert room + chat room + smokers room), where the sound inebriate everybody and intoxicate the weekdays till its peak at a quarter to 02:00. You don’t usually get to pay the entrance fee if you arrive before 23:00 and that’s perfect for such a sublime blues and jazz house! Also the place fills quite quickly, to find a seat in the concert room you need to arrive before 23:00 – 23:30.
Details about this spot :
Catacumbas Jazz Bar | Bars, Music | ½ pint (imperial) € 1.80
Travessa da Água da Flor 43 | Bairro Alto (area map) | +351213463969
Mon – Sat 22:00 – 02:00