Conrad Herwig at The Parakeet [John Hartley @loveforsalelondon]

AS the bunting was about to go up to celebrate Jazz at the Parakeet’s 21st birthday at the Kentish Town pub, formerly the Oxford Tavern, the club got the news it was to be kicked out of the upstairs room which had become a mainstay of the north London jazz scene.

The good news is that a new home has been found, just across the road at The Bull & Gate, famous during the 1980s for hosting indie bands such as Coldplay, Blur, Oasis and The Manic Street Preachers.

The club has always been musician-led, and is now run by saxophonists Ashley Bonfante and Kasper Rietkerk, who announced: “We’re super-excited to announce that The Bull & Gate has opened their beautiful upstairs room for our weekly Monday night jazz concerts starting in March.”

So, it was a packed room on the last week at The Parakeet to hear James Allsopp’s band with Chris Batchelor on trumpet, Tom Herbert on electric bass, Zands Duggan on percussion and Dave Storey on drums playing tunes from their upcoming album, as well as old favourites.

James recalled first playing at the club 20 years ago with his group The Golden Age of Steam.

And it was equally packed to the gills in the upstairs room at The Bull & Gate as Billy Marrows’ La Grande Familia Sextet kicked off the latest iteration of Jazz in Kentish Town.

It was the Loop Collective, a loose group of musicians at the forefront of the contemporary jazz and improvised music scene, which set up the club to showcase the work of their network and others on the cutting edge of the London jazz scene. The baton was then passed on to saxophonist George Crowley, who ran an ambitious, varied and inventive programme from 2009 to 2016 (the club’s “golden years”), with many of the soon-to-be UK’s top jazz names, playing to a smallish, but dedicated audience, which increased over time as the club’s reputation grew. Long gone are the days when the audience would halve once the band got up to play.

The room, with its standard lamp and sideboard, only needed a potted plant to complete the vibe of Mrs Wilberforce’s front room in the Ealing comedy The Ladykillers. Coolio, daddio it has never been, though the not-infrequent police sirens sounding from Kentish Town High Street may have given it a slightly edgy feel.

It has been, however, a friendly, informal space for knowledgeable, but generous jazz fans, and it is a mixed crowd from veteran enthusiasts and music students to everyone else in between, always with a smattering of musicians dropping by to support their colleagues.

Drummer Luke McCarthy, who has played there on many occasions, said: “I’d describe it as homely. It’s a good place for first-timers, or if you want to try out something new. It’s a friendly crowd to play for and much less intimidating than some venues can be.”

Jazz superfan Peter Freeman goes to 22 jazz gigs a month on average, and he puts the Oxford/Parakeet (now Jazz in Kentish Town) in the topflight. “Week in, week out the quality of music has been consistently outstanding,” he said, recalling a performance by Crowley’s own Can of Worms which memorably had the joint jumping (as opposed to the usual head nod and judicious foot tap). “It’s a place where people come to hear good jazz and the musicians come to check out what’s going on,” he said.

Later, guitarist Will Arnold-Forster fronted the club, followed by pianist David Ferris and bassist John J Williamson. It was, and is, the place to see from Alcyona Mick to Zhenya Strigalev the A-Z of London’s jazz talent, plus guest artists from as far as New York.

When the Oxford Tavern changed hands and was bought by the Columbo Group, owners of Jazz Café, the space was saved on a Monday night for what became Jazz at the Parakeet. The Assembly Rooms kindly provided a temporary home during the interregnum while the new room was refurbished complete with trendy artwork and accoutrements in keeping with the Parakeet’s new funky image. Suffice to say the jazz club stayed stubbornly off-trend despite the new decor. Latterly, the jazz fans were able to profit from the Monday £5-a-cocktail night, swapping their pints of Timothy Taylor for Porn Star Martinis.

This March’s line-up includes club favourite Rachael Cohen; Ashley Bonfante exploring the music of Ornette Coleman, Booker Little and Charlie Parker; Devon Gates, bassist, vocalist, and composer from Atlanta, Georgia, now based in Brooklyn, New York, with original compositions and improvisations from her wide-ranging blend of jazz, chamber and soul influences; and Matt Holborn’s quartet who will be celebrating jazz violin pioneer Stuff Smith. Go to Jazz in Kentish Town for the programme. Follow on Instagram @jazzinkentishtown Sign up to receive the monthly newsletter.

Meanwhile, Kentish Towners can join the young crowd at the Map Café at 46 Grafton Road for a second dose of jazz every Sunday evening with Emrys Trio Chris Outhwaite on piano, Isaac Burland on bass and Sam Nichollson drums on Sunday, March 9.