Sydney’s Basement club gets new owner, set to move location and rediscover its jazz roots

Sydney’s longest running music venue is yet to play its final chord after all.

After the turmoil of the last few weeks when its previous owners closed its doors, the club is about to get a new lease of life.

It has a new owner, and it is moving from its current Circular Quay location to a new beginning and a “21st century experience.”

Its new owner is Melbourne based jazz guitarist (stage name: Albare), business entrepreneur and philanthropist Albert Dadon, who has bought the name and its assets.

“I was saddened to see The Basement close its doors,” Dadon said..

“It was a loss to the cultural health of the city and Australia.

“I hope that with the help of those who are committed to retain and reinvigorate Sydney’s music scene we will find an ideal new location of The Basement.”

He is looking at a location in the CBD “or very close to it” and asking fans and the live jazz industry to come up with suggestions.

As in Melbourne, he wants a space which is near, or connected to, a hotel where touring musicians can stay.

He’ll also reintroduce a fine dining menu to the club.

Dadon was born in Morocco and grew up in Israel and France before immigrating to Melbourne in 1983.

In between running diversified funds management and property development company Ubertas Group, he was a high profile member of the city’s jazz community.

He was chairman of the Melbourne Jazz Festival between 2003 and 2005, founded the Australian Jazz Bell Awards in 2003 and received an Order of Australia (AM) for service to the arts and for his philanthropic endeavours.

He now runs Melbourne Jazz festival and the 200-seat jazz club Bird’s Basement which goes for a New York ambience and different price structure.

Bird’s Basement, set up in March 2016, has a sister relationship with New York’s Birdland club which allows it access to high profile international artists.

It will soon begin broadcasting its performances via an app.

The Basement will also now be part of this arrangement, and return to the ‘70s and ’80s when it was Sydney’s best jazz club.

After news emerged that the club was to close after 45 years ago, the Labor Loves Live Music group organised a rally on April 12 outside NSW Parliament while the Upper House also passed a motion calling on the building’s owner AMP Capital to find a solution that would keep the venue running.