Michael D.
Yelp
Jazz Alley is our favorite place to hear jazz and blues in Seattle. We come for a show at least once a month!
I rate Jazz Alley five stars because its whole is greater than the sum of its parts. However, it's important to be aware of some things upfront before you go.
One of the best parts of Jazz Alley that the variety of different musicians you can see here is amazing -- and there is nearly a show playing every single night. We've seen big names like Kenny G, to local musicians like Marc Seales (who is a professor at the University of Washington), to more national musicians who don't have the recognize they deserve like Curtis Salgado (guy who introduced John Belushi to the blues), and everyone in between.
We have never had a bad show at Jazz Alley. Most times we come without knowing anything about the artist beforehand, and have come to trust that we are not going to come home disappointed.
The shows are of predictable length. We always good to 7:30 pm shows, and they typically end around 9 pm, and never past 9:15 or 9:30. We're personally not fans of shows that keep going and going and going ... we're hear to have a good and go home, not to attend an all-night rave.
All seats are reserved -- there is no general seating. We prefer this. Buy your tickets as far in advance as you can to get the best seats. The seats you'll be offered on the web site depends on the number of people in your party -- a party of two cannot take a book designed for four, for instance.
The food is good. It's nothing you are going to write home about, and if you weren't coming here for a show, you wouldn't come here for the food. It's banquet/wedding-style food. And the menu doesn't change much -- there will be little modifications once or twice a year, but basically it's the same menu all the time.
They do have one vegan option, a mushroom risotto with vegan cheese, which is surprisingly pleasant, and greatly appreciated. For those who don't drink, there is a non-alcoholic beer and one mocktail (which frankly is never that good).
The sound can be inconsistent at times -- it's not like the Triple Door (which can be a s**t-show sometimes), but still surprising how often there are sound issues, albeit somewhat minor. Microphone feedback is something that seems to happen at every show, although the sound engineers are pretty good at nipping it in the bud when it happens.
Sound mixing can be off sometimes, though. We have been to a couple of shows where instruments are being mixed at too low of a volume compared to the other instruments. In one case, there was a bass solo and it just was really inaudible, which was a shame. And we've been to a number of shows where the musicians are looking over in the direction of the sound booth and making gestures to get their attention to raise the volume of their instruments.
There are two other things to be aware of. First, while Jazz Alley says that there isn't a bad seat in the house, I would go the other way -- there are few really, really good seats in the house. Even the seats closer up that you would expect to be good have issues. The counter-style seats don't have enough space, which can make for an uncomfortable experience, and the tops of the plexiglass dividers can be in your direct line of sight and detract from your ability to clearly see. The dividers, frankly, really need to be removed.
The best seats are up close and in the front, but not the two-top tables directly in front of the stage. You want the seats behind those if you're seated as a couple, or the closest booth seats if you're a group of four.
Part of the problem is that the space itself is a large rectangle, with the stage at the center of one of the long sides of the rectangle. So you can be way off to the left or the right of the stage depending on your seat.
The other thing to be aware of is that service can be wildly inconsistent. We have had some shows where the servers were the best we've had at any restaurant -- attentive, coming around to check if we want more drinks, etc. But we've had other shows that are among the worst we've had at any establishment. Most recently, it took more than 25 minutes after we sat before the server even came by -- and that was after I flagged down another server to ask what was going on.
The crowds tend to skew older -- we're in our 50s, and the crowds tend to go from 40s to 60s if not 70s, with the median age I would guess in the mid-60s. We're Seattle-ites who live downtown, and if I had to guess, I would say most people who come are from the suburbs. During tourist season I think there are quite a few tourists as well.
Overall, though, this is still our favorite place to see jazz and blues in Seattle, which is why I give it five stars.
