CrowdMateMelbourne · Venue
The Jazzlab
A 216-capacity Brunswick jazz club built by Bennetts Lane founder Michael Tortoni, with a focused room, tiered seating and an acoustic-forward approach.
- Upcoming shows
- 51
- Capacity
- 216
- Address
- 27 Leslie Street, 3056 Brunswick
- Phone
- (03) 9080 4398
- Next show
- Mon, 16 Nov 2026
About The Jazzlab
The Jazzlab in Brunswick, Melbourne, is a 216-capacity club designed for close listening. Michael Tortoni built its sound and layout from the acoustic model of his former Bennetts Lane room, pairing a compact concert scale with clear sightlines. Its defining feature is that direct link to Bennetts Lane: familiar fixtures meet a purpose-built setting for live performance, giving a set the concentrated feel of a room made for players and audiences to hear each other clearly.
A Brunswick restart
On 7 April 2017, Tortoni opened The Jazzlab in a Leslie Street warehouse. The move followed the final Bennetts Lane Jazz Club night in February 2017; Tortoni had founded that Melbourne club in 1992, and its second performance space had carried the JazzLab name from 2000. The new venue therefore arrived as a continuation of a specific club culture, transferred from the CBD to Brunswick by its original founder.
Its first night made that handover concrete. Fem Belling’s quartet opened on 7 April, followed by The Rookies at midnight. Within its first months, The Jazzlab also joined the 2017 Melbourne International Jazz Festival program, whose club shows included Andrea Keller, Scott Tinkler, Dale Barlow and Hue Blanes. That early festival role placed the room immediately among the city’s working spaces for improvised music and new projects.
The room at showtime
The Jazzlab’s booking focus is live jazz: its stated mission is promoting and developing the form, from cutting-edge and avant-garde work to classics and standards. Current programming also includes big-band writing and genre-crossing projects. Most of the viewing area is flat, with two stadium-style tiered sections adding elevated seats. The room stays low-lit, with illumination concentrated around the stage and bar, while the venue aims for an acoustic-forward sound at a restrained level.
Sources
- About The JazzLab, Bennetts Lane Jazz Club – Brunswick — The Jazzlab
- The Jazzlab — Melbourne Now
- Nostalgia Lives: The Jazzlab Opens — Ausjazz Blog
- Bennetts Lane Jazz Club — Wikipedia
- Delights in the Detail: MIJF 2017 — Ausjazz Blog
- Accessibility — The Jazzlab
Next 15 shows
- Mon, 16 Nov 2026 · 19:30 Transients: Davis/Magnusson/Keller- JL Room View in the CrowdMate app
- Tue, 17 Nov 2026 · 19:30 Darcy Gilkerson Quintet- JL Room View in the CrowdMate app
- Wed, 18 Nov 2026 · 19:30 Yunior Terry’s Orbit- JL Room View in the CrowdMate app
- Thu, 19 Nov 2026 · 19:30 Barney McAll: Non Compliance Trio- JL Room View in the CrowdMate app
- Fri, 20 Nov 2026 · 20:00 Cannonball + Chantal Mitvalsky- JL Room View in the CrowdMate app
- Fri, 20 Nov 2026 · 20:00 "Songbird – The Eva Cassidy Experience" Starring Tarryn Stokes – BL Room View in the CrowdMate app
- Sat, 21 Nov 2026 · 20:00 The Vampires ‘Skydancer Tour’ -BL Room View in the CrowdMate app
- Sat, 21 Nov 2026 · 20:00 BRAZJAZ- JL Roomjust announced View in the CrowdMate app
- Sun, 22 Nov 2026 · 19:30 JEX SAARELAHT QUINTET Premiere- JL Room View in the CrowdMate app
- Sun, 22 Nov 2026 · 20:00 issi ‘The secret heart’ show + special guest Rick Price- BL Room View in the CrowdMate app
- Mon, 23 Nov 2026 · 19:30 Transients: Magnusson/Beck/Keller- JL Room View in the CrowdMate app
- Tue, 24 Nov 2026 · 19:30 Orchestra- JL Room View in the CrowdMate app
- Wed, 25 Nov 2026 · 19:30 Remorse Of God Album Launch + special guests Niran Dasika/Peggy Lee Duo- JL Room View in the CrowdMate app
- Thu, 26 Nov 2026 · 19:30 Barney McAll: Non Compliance Trio- JL Room View in the CrowdMate app
- Fri, 27 Nov 2026 · 19:00 Joel Ross (NYC)- BL Room View in the CrowdMate app
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