Jazz, Denmark Street, Evensong: notes on musical London

While waiting in line to get into a jazz club, located a stone’s throw from London’s musically historical Denmark Street, we looked up and saw a blue plaque that told us Mozart used to live there. We shook our heads in wonder – name any musical style and London probably has it.

I had planned our three whirlwind days in London in May to include places that touched my booklover’s soul, but also multiple stops to appeal to both our musical tastes: a jazz concert, a walking tour of Denmark Street (aka Tin Pan Alley), and Evensong at St. Paul’s Cathedral. The British Library presented an unexpected bonus of famous musical documents, including handwritten Beatles lyrics.

Bill has played guitar and bass in bands since his early teens, and especially loves jazz, so he was pumped for our first stop: world-famous Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club.

Jazz with a Canadian connection

We had booked tickets ahead at Ronnie Scott’s for dinner and a show: Redtenbacher’s Funkestra playing music by Joni Mitchell – an esteemed Canadian. Her music crosses several genres – mostly folk, but with strong elements of jazz, blues and even pop. At Ronnie Scott’s, the top-notch band shared their jazz interpretations of some of her beloved songs.

We’re both fans of Joni’s music and thoroughly enjoyed the four singers who took turns crooning some B-side songs along with the favourites: “Big Yellow Taxi,” “Both Sides, Now” and “River.” I can’t tell you all the songs because, for once, I just sat back and enjoyed the experience without taking notes.   

Founded by jazz saxophonists Ronnie Scott and Pete King, the jazz club has been part of London’s music scene since 1959. The cozy club is warmly lit by wall sconces and tiny red table lamps, with tiered seating in a U-shape around the stage so there’s hardly a bad seat in the house.

“Good band, good vocalists, good company, a fun night,” Bill summarized, in his succinct way.

Across the street from Ronnie’s, we saw the blue plaque that noted Mozart had lived, played and composed music from 1764 to 1765. Just a year or two, but still – the historical depth in Europe continues to amaze us North Americans.

Denmark Street: rock ‘n’ roll history

Mozart may have been the rock ‘n’ roll master of his time, but the next day, we found a rock mecca for our own generation. We took a trip down Denmark Street, made famous by the likes of Elton John, the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, the Kinks, Stevie Wonder, Simon and Garfunkel, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, Bob Marley and more. They practised here, recorded here, bought instruments here, and even slept in vans on the street here.

When we first turned onto Denmark Street from Charing Cross Road, it didn’t look that impressive, especially with all the scaffolding covering the first few shops on the corner. The historic street is surrounded by a new development underway, and Denmark Street aficionados fear what may happen. The developers have reportedly promised to “not only safeguard but reinvigorate the area’s fantastic music and cultural scene,” according to a history of the street by Tony Bacon.

But as we slowly made our way down one side of the street and back up the other, I became more and more excited to see these places where musical history was made. And is still being made.

We remembered to look up and found the blue plaque high on a brick wall above #9 Denmark Street, where musicians used to hang out at La Giaconda bar-restaurant. “This street was ‘Tin Pan Alley’ 1911 to 1992. Home of the British Publishers and Songwriters and their meeting place The Gianconda,” said the plaque. 

That’s a vast understatement of the musical history contained along the short stretch of London pavement where most of the buildings date back to 1689. (Just like for my literary pub tour, I had researched and downloaded information about the street to compile my own tour guidebook. As we strolled, Bill and I read it aloud.)

In Victorian times, the street housed sheet music suppliers, and by the 1890s, music publishers had set up shop to supply the orchestras in nearby theatres and music halls. In the 1930s, Francis Day & Hunter at #23 Denmark Street was advertising Gibson guitars. (Sometime in the mid-1900s, the street was nicknamed Britain’s ‘Tin Pan Alley’ in a nod to New York City’s West 28^th Street, which also housed music publishers.) Recording studios arrived in the 1950s along with manufacturers of amplifiers – such as the Orange Amp (Bill says it’s famous) – and other electrical musical equipment, like the fuzz pedal built there that Hendrix made famous.

But the heydays were from the 1960s onwards, when rock ‘n’ roll took off, music-shop owners and recording studios thrived, and the street became a guitar-shopping destination for professionals and wannabes. Bob Marley bought his first Gibson Les Paul on Denmark Street.

Bill may not look excited, but he was very much so.

Consider other highlights at these addresses:

• #4 Regent Sounds recording studio where the Rolling Stones recorded their first album, plus most of their second. Others who recorded there included Vera Lynn, Petula Clark, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, The Kinks, The Bee Gees, Tom Jones, David Bowie and Black Sabbath. Even the Beatles, who primarily recorded at Abbey Road Studios, recorded “Fixing a Hole” there for their Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album. Regent’s success inspired other studios to move onto the street. Now it’s a specialist guitar shop.
• #5 Top Gear sold second-hand guitars to the likes of Keith Richards, but the place was also a social centre where people like Pete Townshend, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page hung out.
• The Sex Pistols lived in an apartment above the guitar shop at #6, and David Bowie reportedly lived in a camper van parked on the street in front.
• #20 used to be Mills Music, a music publishing house that employed a lowly office boy named Reginald Dwight whose job included making tea. On Oct. 27, 1969, on the building’s rooftop, he wrote “Your Song” with Bernie Taupin and went on to become famous as Elton John.
• #26 used to house the 12 Bar Club, a small live-music venue where singers like Adele and Martha Wainwright sang before they became famous. That building, originally a stable built in 1635, eventually became a blacksmith shop and the historic forge is still there. A new bar called The Lower Third opened in 2022.

“Denmark Street was and has always been the hub of the British music industry and as a result there is a rich history in every building here,” said Regent Sounds’ website. “The whole street lived and breathed music. So it was that the many inhouse, local theatre, national and traveling musicians as well as songwriters, publicists, agents and managers all came through the street regularly.”

Bill happily window-shopped but was reluctant to go in when he had no intention of buying. I convinced him otherwise but the clerk in Rose Morris guitars nearly derailed him.

“Can we look around?” Bill asked as we entered.

“Absolutely not,” the clerk replied and pointed toward the door. Then he laughed.

“That’s the good British hospitality I’ve heard about,” said Bill.

“I’m Irish, so now you absolutely must leave.”

We all laughed. We made our way slowly, gawking at all the guitars and basses along the way, to the back room full of Taylor guitars, all locked onto their hooks to prevent handling damage.

At Hanks (#27), Bill drooled over the plethora of famous guitars: Rickenbackers, Telecasters, Gibson ES175s and 335s, Stratocasters, Les Pauls and more. Newspaper articles about famous musicians plastered the walls. The wooden floors creaked as we explored, taking the steep, narrow stairs leading up to other rooms filled with basses and guitars.

“I’ve always wanted an old jazz guitar,” said Bill, pointing to a Gibson ES175 that Pat Metheny played. “But I’d be happy with that newer Godin 5^th Avenue at 1/10^th the price! If money were no object, I’d buy one of those Taylor acoustic guitars (at Rose Morris).” We didn’t have a spare £18,000 that day (we needed it to pay for expensive London food), so he passed. The only souvenirs he bought were guitar picks at Regent Sounds.

Temple Church and St. Paul’s Cathedral

Switching musical genres, we arrived at Temple Church in time to hear a lunchtime organ recital. The magnificent chords resonated as I examined the fine stained-glass windows, learned about the Knights Templar (who had built the church and were using it by 1163), and perused the Magna Carta exhibit. 

The Temple Church offers Evensong on Wednesdays (the day we were there), but we were headed to the daily Evensong service at St. Paul’s Cathedral. Anyone is welcome to attend, regardless of their beliefs.

When we got there, we found that the service had begun an hour earlier than regularly scheduled since the BBC was recording it. (Tip: always doublecheck on the website for last-minute changes.) But the man at the door still handed us an order of service pamphlet and ushered us inside for the last 20 minutes. We silenced our cellphones, tiptoed in and found seats at the back.

Evensong is not a concert, but rather a meditative worship service, taken from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, that includes Bible readings, prayers and a lot of music sung by a heavenly boys’ and men’s choir. Accompanied by the organ, their voices soared inside the gorgeous Anglican cathedral designed by Christopher Wren. We sat back and let the soothing sounds envelop us.

Then I started gawking, almost overwhelmed by the fine music and décor. Entry for Evensong is free – an easy way to get a peek inside the cathedral without paying the hefty £23 entrance fee that lets you nose about as a tourist and climb the dome, which I had done years before. This time, I took in the sparkling brass chandeliers overhead, the columns topped by leafy Corinthian capitals, the gleaming-yet-subtle gold, and the mosaic tile images far above that are so intricate they look like paintings. St. Paul’s became a symbol of resilience in the Second World War when the Nazis failed to destroy it during the Blitz.

“Christian worship has been offered to God on this site for over 1400 years,” said the pamphlet. “By worshipping with us today, you become a part of this living tradition of prayer and thanksgiving.”

The choir sang responses, canticles, an anthem, and psalms. Despite the decades I’ve sung in choirs, the only hymn I recognized was “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling.” We murmured assent for the prayers said for world peace, the Ukraine, King Charles and healing for our children. Evensong was the perfect way to rest and reflect, a pause amid our long walk around London that day.

British Library

The next day, when we visited the British Library as part of my literary highlights tour, we were thrilled to see so many documents of historical musical value. Open books showed the notations for Mozart’s string quartet in D major and Handel’s opera Atalanta. We saw Beethoven’s tuning fork and a giant hymn book for Augustinian friars to gather round and sing from during vespers.

We lingered a long time at the Beatles glass case. Photos of Beatles documents were not allowed, but Bill took one by accident before he saw the sign. The original handwritten lyrics to “In My Life,” by John Lennon and Paul McCartney in 1965, shows many crossed-out verses and word changes between that and the final published lyrics. Lennon considered it his first major piece of work and a turning point in his songwriting.

We also saw handwritten lyrics to “It’s Been a Hard Day’s Night” and “Michelle,” literally on the back of an envelope. A photo of McCartney and Lennon as the Quarrymen in 1957 is the first photo of them performing together.

At the British Library, we saw Mozart’s string quartet in D major (completed in June 1789 in Vienna, as he noted in his catalogue), Handel’s opera Atalanta (red cover), and the handwritten lyrics to “In My Life” by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

Of course, London’s musical experiences are virtually endless. We barely scratched the surface of jazz, religious and rock, and didn’t have time for musical theatre at the famed West End. But having our literary and musical themes for this three-day London exploration made us dig a little deeper and discover things we would otherwise have missed. One might say they added extra notes to form a more complex chord.

We visited London in May 2023. Find out where we are right now by visiting our ‘Where’s Kathryn?’ page.