Last Sunday afternoon (7th Dec 2025) my London Shoes ventured ‘up west’ for the specific purpose of visiting the ‘Pizza Express Jazz Club’ – Dean Street in the Soho district of London.
The reason for attending this venue was to catch the ‘Chris Ingham Quintet-featuring Joanna Eden’ perform their acclaimed ‘Jazz at the Movies–Swinging Christmas’ set.
The band have been performing their Jazz at the Movies set for well over a decade now, and at this time of year they tweak its content so that its full of festive numbers.
The Pizza Express Jazz Club in Dean Street has an interesting back-story.
Records show that there had been a few Italian restaurants in and around London as far back as Victorian times – but never any actual Pizzeria establishment.
In 1965 an Englishman by the name of Peter Boizot wanted to create the type of pizza places he had seen during his travels throughout Europe, especially Italy – and so he opened London’s very first Pizzeria in Wardour Street–Soho-London W1…..and it was very successful.
Four years later in 1969 he purchased a large Victorian built mansion type building, situated in Dean Street–Soho, that had once been a ‘Dispensary for diseases of the Ear’.
Boizot was looking at ways in which he could combine his love of pizza, with his love of jazz – and with his newly acquired Dean Street property having a large basement – it was the ideal location to set up a Jazz Club that punters could attend whilst tucking into a tasty pizza or two.
The ‘Pizza Express Jazz Club’ soon became extremely popular – and it wasn’t long before the venue was attracting top jazz artists from not only the UK but also the US – who all wanted to play the ‘Club’.
Today – the internal walls of the ‘Pizza Express Jazz Club’ are filled with photos/drawings/paintings of numerous famous jazz musicians and acts that have performed there over the years.
The place has a fantastic vibe/atmosphere/ambiance about it – ideal for any type of ‘live’ music – not just jazz.
As mentioned earlier. the reason for my London Shoes visit to the Pizza Express Jazz Club, was to catch the matinee performance of “Jazz at the Movies” performed by (for this event) the ‘Chris Ingham Quintet-featuring Joanna Eden’.
Regular followers of my London Shoes stuff will know that, pre the Covid lockdown years, I used to publish quite a few Shoes blogs on the ‘live’ performances by the band – whether they be performing in a trio/quartet or quintet set up.
These days the popularity of the band means that they play all over the place, not just London venues.
Anyway – over the past few months my London Shoes have started publishing reviews of the band on-the-road again – and I’m thoroughly enjoying attending their ‘live’ music events at London venues again – hence the reason I ended up at the Pizza Express Jazz Club on Sunday.
Although the theme of the band’s set was “Jazz at the Movies” – they had tweaked the running order to make it a festive tinged ‘Swinging Christmas’ event.
Making up the Chris Ingham Quintet for Sunday’s performance were:-
- Chris Ingham – piano/guitar/vocals
- Mark Crooks – saxophone and clarinet
- Joe Pettitt – double bass
- George Double – drums/percussion/vocals
- Joanna Eden – vocals
Joanna Eden is an amazing singer, with 4 albums to her name – she has performed all over the world and has supported many big name stars such as Tom Jones / Van Morrison / Jamie Cullam to name just a few.
Joanna has also been a singing teacher for many years, and one of her more famous former students is the international award-winning singer ‘Sam Smith’.
Mark Crooks on saxophone & clarinet along with Joe Pettitt on bass, are both highly acclaimed and in demand musicians, and both are big names on the jazz scene
Now – regular followers of my stuff will be aware of my connection to George Double (drums) – a relationship that goes back some 25yrs now – when I was branch manager of a Bank in Hackney, and George was a customer. In the normal course of business one day at the Bank, I just happened to mention my interest in music to George, and that I had always fancied having a go at the drums – a conversation that then led me to having weekly drumming lessons with George in his music room at his then ground floor flat in Hackney – happy times, and very happy memories for me.
Anyway – these days George is a highly acclaimed drummer on the jazz ‘live’ music and recording scene, having performed with many big name artists and he’s also the author of many drum tutorial books and on-line learning tools, running seminars and workshops across the world. Although he is technically ‘freelance’ as a drummer, he has been a member of Chris Ingham’s band formats for many years now – whether that be as part of a trio/quartet/quintet set up.
Chris Ingham and his band have been performing his ‘Jazz at the Movies/Swinging Christmas’ set for well over a decade now – to the extent that it’s become a staple fixture in the calendars of many a jazz club/music venue at this time of year – hence the reason why the Pizza Express Jazz Club was completely sold-out for both the band’s matinee and evening performances last Sunday – all due to a combination of excellent music/entertainment and of course great food!!!
The Quintet went down a storm – knocking out all time festive favourites such as the Beach Boys seasonal classic ‘Little Saint Nick’ a number that required my old mate George Double to come out from behind his drum kit to take lead vocals and involved the punters in some amusing audience participation / ‘We need a little Christmas’, with George again on lead vocals – the rest of the set included all time classics kike ‘Driving home for Christmas’ / ‘Jingle Bell Rock’ / ‘Merry Christmas to You’ / ‘Cool Yule’ (the title of the band’s Christmas album), plus many many more – all performed superbly by Joanna Eden and delivered in the Chris Ingham Quintet’s unique relaxing jazzy and engaging style…….the sold out Jazz Club audience lapped it up from the very first note to the last!!!
Accompanying me on this occasion, was Mrs Shoes (ie Angela), and it’s fair to say that this type of event wouldn’t necessarily be her particular cup-of-tea….. but she thoroughly enjoyed everything about the afternoon – the venue / the atmosphere / definitely the food and of course, the musical entertainment – so that was a good measure of the success of the day.
So – all in all, a really enjoyable afternoon of top quality musical entertainment – the band were excellent (as always) – the food was really good – the vibes were very chilled and festive – and a great time was had by all……….and coming away from the event, it was very much a case of (as the song says)…….”its beginning to look a lot like Christmas” !!!
Hope you enjoyed the read and its accompanying photos
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Below is the entire gallery of photos and images accompanying this London Shoes blog article
London’s very first pizzeria was opened by a Peter Boizot in Wardour Street-Soho-London W1 in 1965. In 1969 he purchased a large Victorian built mansion type building, situated in Deann Street-Soho, that had once been a ‘Dispensary for diseases of the Ear’.
Peter Boizot was looking for way in which he could combine his love of pizza, with his love of jazz – and with his newly acquired Dean Street property having a large basement – it was the ideal location to set up a Jazz Club that punters could attend whilst tucking into a tasty pizza or two.
Me – outside the Pizza Express-Jazz Club in Dean Street-Soho-London W1
The ‘Pizza Express Jazz Club’ soon became extremely popular – and it wasn’t long before the venue was attracting top jazz artists from not only the UK but also the US – who all wanted to play the ‘Club’.
The reason for my London Shoes visit to the Pizza Express Jazz Club, was to catch the matinee performance of “Jazz at the Movies” performed by (for this event) the ‘Chris Ingham Quintet-featuring Joanna Eden’.
Although billed as “Jazz at the Movies” – at this time of Year the Chris Ingham Quintet tweak the content order of the set to make it a festive tinged ‘Swinging Christmas’ event.
Inside the Pizza Express Jazz Club basement
Accompanying me on this occasion at the Pizza Express Jazz Club was Mrs Shoes (ie Angela).
The walls of the ‘Pizza Express Jazz Club’ are adorned with photos/drawings/paintings of numerous famous jazz musicians and acts that have performed there over the years
The walls of the ‘Pizza Express Jazz Club’ are adorned with photos/drawings/paintings of numerous famous jazz musicians and acts that have performed there over the years
Inside the Pizza Express Jazz Club – pre-gig
Inside the Pizza Express Jazz Club – pre-gig
Me & Mrs Shoes (ie Angela) – inside the basement Jazz Club of the Pizza Express Dean Street.
Inside the Pizza Express Jazz Club – pre-gig
View of the Pizza Express Jazz Club stage – from my London Shoes allocated seats
Me & Mrs Shoes (ie Angela) – inside the basement Jazz Club of the Pizza Express Dean Street.
The Pizza Express Jazz Club menu – is varied and reasonably priced for a West End venue (in my opinion anyway)
The tasty and enjoyable grub served up at the Pizza Express Jazz Club – went down a treat
The tasty and enjoyable grub served up at the Pizza Express Jazz Club – went down a treat
Of course – you cant not have a pizza when at the Pizza Express Jazz Club in Dean Street-Soho
To wash down all that lovely pizza related stuff, my London Shoes enjoyed a little drop of ‘gold watch’ – well 2 or 3 to be honest, and doubles at that !!!….Luverlee
Me & my London Shoes enjoying a little ‘gold watch’ dinky-donks at the Pizza Express Jazz Club
Making up the Chris Ingham Quintet for Sunday’s performance were:- • Chris Ingham – piano/guitar/vocals • Mark Crooks – saxophone and clarinet • Joe Pettitt – double bass • George Double – drums/percussion/vocals and the amazing Joanna Eden – vocals
A view of the Chris Ingham Quintet on the stage of the Pizza Express Jazz Club
Joanna Eden is an amazing singer, with 4 albums to her name – she has performed all over the world and has supported many big name stars such as Tom Jones / Van Morrison / Jamie Cullem to name just a few.
Although the theme of the band’s set was “Jazz at the Movies” – they had tweaked the running order to make it a festive tinged ‘Swinging Christmas’ event.
From my table, which was situated to the side of the stage – I couldn’t get a full on photo of my good friend George Double – as this zoomed-in shot shows
The Chris Ingham Quintet’s Mark Crooks (on saxophone & clarinet) along with Joe Pettitt (on bass) are both highly acclaimed and in demand musicians, and both are big names on the jazz scene
The Chris Ingham Quintet (featuring Joanna Eden) performing their ‘Jazz at the Movies/Swinging Christmas’ set – on stage at the Pizza Express Jazz Club – Dean Street Soho London W1
‘Cool Yule’ – the title of the band’s Christmas CD – very festive it is too.
Chris Ingham and his band have been performing their ‘Jazz at the Movies/Swinging Christmas’ set for well over a decade now – to the extent that it’s become a staple fixture in the calendars of a number of jazz clubs at this time of year – hence the reason why the Pizza Express Jazz Club was completely sold-out for both the band’s matinee and evening performances last Sunday.
The Chris Ingham Quintet went down a storm – knocking-out all time festive favourites that included the Beach Boys seasonal classic ‘Little Saint Nick’ a number that required my old mate George Double to come out from behind his drum kit to take lead vocals and involved the punters in some amusing audience participation
The Chris Ingham Quintet (featuring Joanna Eden) performing their ‘Jazz at the Movies/Swinging Christmas’ set – on stage at the Pizza Express Jazz Club – Dean Street Soho London W1
The band’s set included all time classics like ‘Driving home for Christmas’ / ‘Jingle Bell Rock’ / ‘Merry Christmas to You’ / ‘Cool Yule’ (the title of the band’s Christmas album), plus many many more – all sung superbly by Joanna Eden and delivered in the Chris Ingham Quintet’s unique jazzy relaxing and engaging style…….the sold out Jazz Club audience lapped it up from the very first note to the last!!!
A moody jazz club basement type snap of me and my London Shoes with my good friend and Chris Ingham band drummer ‘George Double’ – on stage, post performance – at the Pizza Express Jazz Club – Dean Street Soho London W1…….following a thoroughly enjoyable pre-Christmas event.
Great write up Geoff. Glad you and Ange enjoyed an entertaining evening of Jazz👍
I love seeing the places you get to. London nights out are a bit inaccessible to me now but I enjoy seeing your photos.
Interesting article Geoff thanks
Good stuff, as always!
Looks like another wonderful night out and the history to go with it thank you bet music was fabulous 🇨🇦