Prohibition-era style jazz club to open its doors
The new Margate venue Crybaby Jazz will be over two floors and have live jazz bands and acoustic sessions
A prohibition-era style jazz club set over two floors is to open its doors at The Centre in Margate.
The trendy precinct, which has undergone a revival in recent years, already boasts bars including Mariachi and indie record store and music venue Elsewhere.
Crybaby Jazz will be the new addition and is the brainchild of George Grossmith and Freddie Hiscock, who have spent the past few years running pubs and bars.
The duo ha signed a five-year lease with commercial property and investment company Evolve Estates, part of the LCP Group, for units 6 and 7 at The Centre.
The upper floor will be used mainly for acoustic sessions, while the lower floor will be for live jazz bands.
Fitting out is currently underway and they aim to open the doors at the end of the month.
“We’re really looking forward to opening Crybaby Jazz,” explains George. “We’ll be focusing on live music and the bar will serve a great selection of cocktails and wines.
“Margate is enjoying a real resurgence and there are plenty of venues opening up in the town.
“The Centre is an ideal location for our bar and we’re working really hard to get everything finished so we can open to customers. Margate hasn’t had a jazz bar for a long time, so it’s exciting for us to bring it to the town.
“It’s a significant investment for us but we believe the bar will be popular.”
Initially George and Freddie will run the bar themselves, but plan to be in a position to take on staff in the summer.
Phil Murphy, of Evolve Estates, says The Centre is the perfect spot for the new club.
“It’s a vibrant shopping precinct, full of independent traders, plus our popular UpMargate creative hub, pop-up and studio space,” he said.
“We’re really pleased George and Freddie recognised that it is the perfect home for their new jazz club and it’s great to see a new concept take space in Margate.”
Crybaby Jazz will be open Wednesday to Saturday from 10am, when it will be open for coffees and pastries, until midnight.