The Night
The bass takes the lead this Wednesday: Tom Dring walks the standards in the hidden jazz den inside Jack Solomons, Nico Widdowson beside him at the grand, while the kiosk keeps the candles company from 6:00 PM. Two shows, 6:30 PM and 8:30 PM, a couple of dozen seats close enough to watch the hands. Midweek keeps this room at its calmest and its best. Take a corner table and let the low end do the talking.
The Music
Tom Dring brings his double bass to the Piano Bar's midweek slot — trained at the Royal Academy of Music, known for driving walking lines and melodic soloing in the tradition of Ray Brown and Christian McBride, and a regular on stages from the Barbican to the O2. He's shared bandstands with Soweto Kinch, Gilad Atzmon and Jacob Collier, and leads his own Tom Dring Trio and Sextet with a debut album due this year. Nico Widdowson takes the piano stool beside him, the Musicians' Company's 2024 Young Jazz Musician of the Year, a Leeds Conservatoire graduate whose playing runs from Harlem stride to free improvisation. Trust the room, and this pairing delivers.
Expect swing built on a proper bottom end: a bassist who studied under Michael Janisch and Jasper Høiby, holding down the pulse while Widdowson's stride-schooled piano works the songbook's cocktail-hour corners. Widdowson's own trio album, "On Fools and Clowns," lands this year alongside Dring's debut as a leader — two players mid-ascent, sharing a stand in a room built for exactly this. Come midweek and the Piano Bar is yours in a way weekends cannot manage. The early house suits a conversation, the late house suits none at all.
Plan Your Visit
inside Jack Solomons Club, 41 Great Windmill Street, Soho, W1D 7NB
///jukebox.terms.bubble
· Piccadilly Circus 2 min
· Leicester Square 4 min
Sets (7.00-7.30PM, 7.45-8.15PM) & (9.00-9.30PM, 9.45-10.15PM)
Cocktails at the kiosk from 6PM
Transfers or refunds up to 48 hours before the event. Members receive 50% off advance tickets and walk-in privileges. Assistance and private hire · concierge@soho.live. Please check the date on your booking before checkout. Full terms.
