Jacaranda Records set to open Liverpool’s first Japanese-inspired vinyl listening bar this week

The vinyl listening bar concept is rooted in the Japanese listening jazz bar movement of the 1960s. These bars have seen a resurgence in popularity since the pandemic with shops opening in New York, San Francisco and London.

Jacaranda Records is reopening its original record store and Liverpool’s first vinyl listening bar upstairs at The Jacaranda on Slater Street.

The upstairs of The Jacaranda has undergone a complete refit which will allow the area to be used as a record store and co-working environment during the day but will also allow it to moonlight as the city’s only vinyl listening bar.

Though in the same premises, The Jacaranda’s main bar and its vinyl listening bar could not be more different. While The Jacaranda’s main bar is internationally renowned for its rawkus-overdriven-good-time atmosphere the first floor new bar will create a cosier candle-lit atmosphere encouraging face-to-face across-the-table conversation and interaction. The bar will aim to be welcoming and vibrant without being overbearing and will have a modest seating capacity of just 21 people.

The albums that will be spinning will be selected by house-curator and Jacaranda Record Store’s manager Namina Koroma, as well as planned evenings with a host of special guest curators. Each evening will be set around a theme which will identify a marker such as a genre, anniversary or current event and explore that theme with five albums.

For each album famed Liverpool bartender Bobby Jones will be crafting a unique cocktail which will take flavour cues from the tonality of each album and will even lend colours and designs from the album’s artwork.

The vinyl listening bar also allows The Jacaranda to add an analogue touch to their famous album listening parties which allow fans to hear artist’s albums days before general release. This year alone Jacaranda Records has hosted official album listening parties for acts including Blur, Queens of the Stone Age and The Rolling Stones.

The first curated evening is set to take place on Friday 27th and is themed as The Best of Jacaranda Records, the five records will be albums that Jacaranda Records hosted the album launch show for. These include Paolo Nutini’s Last Night in the Bittersweet, Gabriels Angels & Queens and Arlo Park’s Collapsed in Sunbeams.

Tables will be available to book in advance via the website, reservations require a £10 deposit which will be reimbursed when paying the bill.

Graham Stanley, Owner of The Jacaranda said:

“Recognising we live in a hectic world we thought it would be a lovely thing to create something relaxed and intimate for those people that want to go out on a weekend but don’t want the mania that a city centre night brings with it.”

“Vinyl listening has been a really big part of The Jacaranda’s first floor since 2014 and unbelievably the first floor was a record shop way back in the ‘50s. This thing that we’ve created, we hope, is a perfect marriage of both of those things. This project brings together an inspired drinks collection served by our incredible staff and a carefully considered choice of music in a room surrounded by vinyl to create a completely different kind of night out.”

Namina Koroma, Manager of Jacaranda Record Store said:

“I’m really excited for us to breathe new life back into our original record store. This time round we’re reshaping it with a listening experience and we’ve given it as much care and attention as we’ve given our award winning record store.”