Jazz Cafe East: Camden’s famous Jazz Cafe is opening a new site in Stratford
Camden’s Jazz Cafe has set its sights on Stratford High Street, transforming an old East London theatre and inspiring hopes of a revitalised high street
The owners of Camden’s world-famous Jazz Cafe will turn a disused theatre on Stratford High Street into Jazz Cafe East at a date yet to be confirmed.
Newham Council accepted the bid by the Columbo Group last week (6 May) to buy the art deco Rex Theatre, which has sat empty for over two years, into Jazz Cafe East, inspiring hopes for the future of Stratford’s – and East London’s – music scene.
A range of jazz, soul, funk, disco, and reggae artists have played at the Jazz Cafe in its 30+ year history in Camden, including performers such as Jamiroquai, Amy Winehouse, and Gil Scott-Heron.
The Rex, built in 1896, was originally used as a theatre and opera house before it closed in 1933 and was converted into a cinema. After the cinema closed in 1969, it became a bingo hall and then the Stratford Rex nightclub, before that too closed down. It’s been mostly vacant since Newham Council repossessed the building in 2013.
The announcement of Jazz Cafe East comes as a reprieve from the familiar tales of closed-down music venues in East London. Dalston Dance Tunnels closed in 2016 after being unable to secure the necessary operating hours. The Oval Space in Bethnal Green closed in 2022 after having its license removed, and The Gun in Hackney closed in March 2025 due to rising costs, just to name a few.
For Graham Hughes, who runs the Tower Hamlets-based Sunshine Kings Tea Dance Band jazz group, the new opening could rejuvenate the East End live music scene.
‘Certainly at the moment, live music, I’m finding, is having a slightly tougher time trying to actually convince people to go out when it’s so convenient and easy just to sort of bung on a bit of Netflix’ says Hughes.
‘It’s tricky. So, good on the Jazz Cafe to open a new venue and make something happen in Stratford.
‘Hopefully, there’ll be a new audience around Stratford, too.’
Stratford has changed dramatically over the last couple of decades. With no expense spared in the runup to the Olympics in 2012, money was pumped into exciting new projects, such as the £456 million Olympic Park and the Westfield Shopping Centre, which took a staggering £3.24 billion to construct. More recently, there’s been the opening of Sadler’s Wells East and V&A East, all promising the elevation of a once humble neighbourhood.
While these areas levelled up, Stratford High Street was left out of the picture. Stratford Shopping Centre, for example, remains a drab, 1970s building whose customers were inevitably drawn towards its glamorous, younger sister Westfield, which sits just a five-minute walk away.
For an area left in the dust after the Olympics, the news of Jazz Cafe East comes as a welcome – if unexpected – announcement.
Mayor of Newham, Rokhsana Fiaz OBE, said: ‘Jazz Café East promises to let residents in Newham have world-class entertainment on their doorstep. It is a show of confidence for the future of the borough, which will bring with it jobs and prosperity.’
If you like this article, read Globe Primary School and Rachel Keeling Nursery set to merge into one