National Jazz Centre

The National Jazz Centre was a project and charity set up by the Jazz Centre Society in the 1980s. The ambition was to establish a national centre for jazz in London.

The project attracted £51,667 of funding from BP and The Arts Council (now known as Arts Council England); and £1,637,000 from Greater London Council as well as grants from The Pilgrim Trust and jazz enthusiasts. The site of the centre was to be on Floral Street in Covent Garden.

The project was beleaguered by problems in terms of financial management, with Westminster City Council launching a legal challenge to the previous GLC grant. This challenge was appealed, but upheld.