![]() ![]() They fixed it by changing it from a true straight-ahead jazz lounge into a Buddha-Bar atmosphere and people just stopped coming. after great success from 1986 to 1999, they fixed it and everything collapsed. But there is an American saying: “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it”. The Somerset's Bar at the former Westin Hotel was actually highly successful and profitable. WHY DO YOU THINK SINGAPORE HASN'T HAD A GOOD JAZZ CLUB? WHEN I THINK OF GREAT JAZZ CLUBS I THINK OF THE ONES OVERSEAS LIKE BLUE NOTE, BIRDLAND AND RONNIE SCOTT’S. Tinbox already had Simply Live next door at CHIJMES so when Simply Live moved to NTUC Income building in Bras Basah, Adrian moved Simply Retro into that space and we set up Simply Jazz at the former Simply Retro location. WAS IT DIFFICULT FINDING THE RIGHT LOCATION? So far, since our soft opening in November, we've been doing well even without live music so the future looks bright! It took me awhile to decide given the two previous attempts that were not successful. But they left the jazz photos up for a year before they renovated!įor Simply Jazz, Tinbox Group Chairman Adrian Leong, who already has four other outlets, approached me to do a jazz club together and after much thought, I agreed to partner with him to open Simply Jazz by Tinbox. ![]() We didn’t lose money on that attempt, but my majority partners felt that we were “not making enough money”, so we shut it down and they then turned it into a pop music club. I then reopened a second Jeremy’s Jazz & Blues Cafe with the folks from the Europa Group at International House, which also lasted over a year. My partners and I lost a fair bit of money. We didn’t have the critical mass of jazz fans that we do nowadays. It was a Japanese cafe in the day and jazz club at night. I had opened Jeremy’s Jazz & Blues Cafe in 1995 at Liang Court. TELL ME WHY YOU OPENED SIMPLY JAZZ.Īctually, this is not my first rodeo as a club owner. BUT NOT EVERYONE MIGHT REALISE YOU ARE A RESTAURATEUR AND CLUB OWNER. HI JEREMY, EVERYONE KNOWS YOU AS A MUSICIAN. And while we still can’t enjoy live music, Jeremy tells us the food is worth the visit. Late last year, in partnership with Tinbox, Jeremy opened a new jazz club and restaurant simply called Simply Jazz. And he is one of the nicest and most passionate people you’ll ever meet. He earned the Cultural Medallion – the highest national honour an artist can receive – back in 2002 at the age of 42. He’s worked his butt off over the last five decades, playing more than 3,000 gigs and nurturing generations of local musicians. He’s also a producer, musician, non-profit organisation head, and all around the single most important living person for the Singapore jazz scene. You’ll quickly discover that Jeremy is Singapore’s king of jazz and its greatest local ambassador. If you don’t know who Jeremy Monteiro is, please stop reading and Google him. ![]()
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