Interview: Nolan Regent, owner of Toulouse Lautrec jazz club

What's your story, Nolan?

I come from a background in restaurants; I used to work for Gordon Ramsay in silver-service restaurants, but I didn’t feel my personality really shone in that environment.

In 2008 I had the opportunity to open my own venue. It was originally meant to be a brasserie and wine bar, but I’ve always had a passion for live music, so it naturally grew into something more.

We named it after the French painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Although he is mostly known for his paintings of Moulin Rouge performers, he was also the kind of character you'd invite to your home for good food, good drink, friends, family, and a great time. I feel that today’s London doesn’t have enough spaces like that.

So our focus is on bringing people together—family, friends, loved ones—and celebrating that with food, drinks, and music.

I get that sense! Tell us more about the vibe here at Toulouse...

When you come to Tolouse Lautrec, you come to socialise—and at the same time elevate your evening with live music. It’s there, but never in your face. You can have a great night out while also supporting independent jazz artists.

We don’t book DJs. We’re here to support live acts, but in a way that complements the evening rather than dominating it. The crowd varies depending on what’s on, so it’s always worth checking the website.

We programme everything from straight-ahead jazz to gypsy jazz, swing, blues, and New Orleans styles. We do quite a lot of shows!

The venue itself offers three different experiences:

The ground floor is restaurant only, for people who want to enjoy our French cuisine (my brother Florian is the chef).

The First floor is a restaurant with live music in the background, including a grand piano.

The Top floor is the jazz club proper, where the main shows happen, with bar food and anything from a four-piece band to—believe it or not—the biggest band we ever had, which was 26 pieces. It practically leapt off the stage!
 

What is it like running an independent venue? What are the challenges and the joys?

The biggest challenge is that you don’t feel supported in the same way larger clubs are. We don’t have their infrastructure. Even today I was talking with my marketing consultant about how difficult it is to get noticed.

Some artists are naturally going to gravitate to the big clubs. But I try to focus less on that and more on discovering unique artists who bring something special to our venue. For example, I adore Axel Kaner-Lidström, the musical director of Levitation Orchestra. He recently did a Cannonball Adderley show here that gave me goosebumps!

For me, the best part is meeting people and seeing the joy on their faces — I’ve seen people walk in clearly having had the worst day, and they come for some jazz, maybe quietly at first. Then they leave transformed.

There was one night where an artist performed a song that meant a lot to a gentleman whose late wife loved it. It was sung so beautifully that he cried. I gave him a hug afterwards. Moments like that stay with you.

It reminds me that while running a jazz club is hard work, the club—and the artists—can really make a difference in people’s lives. Seeing that happen is wonderful.

What's your involvement with the EFG Jazz Festival?

We’re putting on 21 shows across ten days, plus three workshops. I’m really proud of the collaborations we’ve put together. 

One of them is with Birdland in New York—the second-oldest jazz club in the city, founded in 1949. We’re flying over two artists: Chad LB and Lucy Wijnands. They’ll be performing here exclusively in London.

We also have collaborations with the Hungarian Cultural Centre and the Estonian Embassy, with bands coming over especially from Hungary and Estonia.

I'm excited about how diverse the programme is - we’ve got modern acts, international acts, and straight-ahead jazz acts. One performer I fell in love with is Vince Dunn—his straight-ahead bebop style is incredible.

It’s an exciting lineup. It is 21 shows in ten days, though… I’ll figure out how to survive that later!

What are your hopes and goals for the future of the club?

I want to offer more free jam sessions for musicians. A lot of places say they offer jam sessions, but they’re not truly accessible.

Eventually, I’d love every Tuesday to be a free jam session—rotating styles so each week has its own flavour: funk, New Orleans, groove, and so on. I want a real community feel, where everyone knows Tuesdays at the Trek mean a jam that runs late.

I’d also like to turn this room into a supper club on Sunday afternoons—bring in a Rat Pack-style singer, serve dinner, and bring families together. Music is a powerful way of connecting generations: parents saying “I loved this song in my day” and bringing their children along to hear it live.

I’ve got dozens of ideas. What we’re doing now is only the beginning!