Where to Hear Piano in Cambridge & Brookline, MA
There’s always somewhere to go if you’re looking for more piano in Brookline or to get that piano ambience in Cambridge. Whether you’re looking for a venue where piano is the star, or for more of a background jazz piano sound, or one of the many places where music students congregate, Boston and its surrounding towns have plenty of places to go to hear one of the greatest instruments ever invented shine.
Piano in Brookline, MA
Hamilton Restaurant in Brookline
The Hamilton Restaurant is a pub in North Brookline that offers live music many nights out of the week. There’s open mics, live bands, acoustic singers, and piano. With casual but elevated fare, as well as plenty of drink options, this is a great place to go for a casual night out and hear some piano music!
Sculler’s Jazz Club
No list of places to listen to jazz music in Brookline, nor even in Boston, would be complete without this legendary club. This is a place where jazz giants like Chick Corea, Brad Mehldau, and Harry Connick Jr. played, and still a place where you can hear some of Boston’s and the world’s greats. With river views and great music, Sculler’s Jazz club is never a bad place to hear some piano music. It isn’t limited to strictly jazz, either. The club hosts musicians who play a variety of genres, including, soul, R&B, blues, and world music.
The Bebop
As The Bebop is located right next to Berklee College of Music, you can’t get any closer to the beating heart of new music in Brookline and Boston. Some of the best aspiring musicians come to this town to attend one of the greatest music schools in the world, and they come to The Bebop to play their music. The Bebop hosts live music many nights (and weekend days, for brunch) of the week, though other events happen there as well. There is also an open mic there on Thursday nights. This is a great local watering hole to get a drink, a bit of casual food, and listen to some musicians you probably won’t hear anywhere else in the world.
The Post Underground
The Post Underground is a jazz and theory music school in Brookline that becomes a jazz club at nights on the weekends. With some really unique sounds, this is a place where you can hear some music that exists live almost nowhere else. From jazz piano, to big band, to film scores, this place will blow your mind. Definitely worth checking out in your free time!
Wally’s Cafe Jazz Club
A club dedicated exclusively to jazz, Wally’s Cafe Jazz Club in Brookline, just on the border of Boston, hosts nightly jazz performances by local students and musicians. It’s a cozy spot to hear some great piano jazz music, as well as performances and jam sessions by groups. As the oldest family-owned jazz club in the area, you can’t go wrong with Wally’s for a great casual and peaceful atmosphere to eat some small bites, have a few drinks, and enjoy great live local music!
Piano in Cambridge, MA
The Lilypad
The Lilypad is a local club in Cambridge that features frequent live music and other live performance events. It has an eclectic mix of genres, with acts ranging from classical, to jazz, to punk, to rock, and more. It also has comedy on some nights of the week. They have a grand piano in great condition, so if the night calls for it, there’s some absolutely wonderful piano music playing. A great place to go for some local live music!
The Middle East Downstairs
The Middle East, located in Cambridge, is a legendary club that recently acquired new ownership as it almost did not survive the pandemic. But it’s back, and just as good as it ever was! It’s a club that features all kinds of live music and live performances, with many different genres of music making a home there. Whether you want to listen to jazz piano, or the expressive tones of classical piano, or some hard-hitting, feet-moving, heart-pumping rhythm of blues and rock piano, the Middle East Downstairs is never a bad place to go. It’s always a good choice!
The Lizard Lounge
The Lizard Lounge, located on Mass Ave near Cambridge Commons, is a low-key live music and performance event space. Local music students, amateurs, and professionals alike all perform in this self-labeled “dim basement club.” With a wide assortment of genres and kinds of performances, there’s always something new going on here - whether it’s slam poetry, comedy, or live music in Cambridge. Also, there’s great food and drinks upstairs to go with your entertainment!
Regattabar
As you can imagine from the name, Regattabar is a bar, restaurant, and jazz music venue in Cambridge, steps from the Charles River - where you can see some fast-paced and competitive boat races, directly from the restaurant itself! If you’re looking for a fantastic ambience, a view of the river, and some great food and drinks accompanied by live jazz, look no further — Regattabar has all of these. It’s a great place to hear some live jazz piano music from local and global acts alike!
The Cantab Lounge
The Cantab Lounge in Cambridge is a live music and performance venue that hosts both amateurs and professionals. With live entertainment of some kind almost every night of the week, it’s never a bad place to go for casual food, drinks, and a great night out. The music played there is a mix of punk, jazz, rock, world, and blues, so whatever you’re looking to listen to, there's something for everyone.
Greater Boston Piano Music
As one of the most densely packed university cities in the country, Boston itself and the surrounding Greater Boston Area has some amazing and varied nightlife experiences to choose from every night of the week — and you’ll find some of the best places to listen to piano in Cambridge and Brookline!
If you’re looking for comedy, there's always something. If you’re looking for music, there’s even more! If you’re looking for jazz piano in Brookline, at least one of the clubs will feature it. If you’re looking for classical piano in Cambridge, there's a nightclub or concert hall that will have it. And if you want to dance and listen to blues piano in the Greater Boston Area all night, there’s a bar that will have it.
You can’t go wrong looking for piano music in Boston, Brookline, or Cambridge - as there’s always somewhere where someone is tickling the ivories and making this beautiful instrument sing. Curious about music venues in other locales? The musicians at Loudlands Music Lab will always have fresh recommendations for you!
