NYC Jazz Finds New Home—in Qatar

Want to hear some top-notch jazz but can't make it to New York City? Try Qatar. Jazz at Lincoln Center is opening a new club in the capital city of Doha in April; it will be the nonprofit jazz organization's first permanent location abroad. And it won't be the only one. The group is partnering with the luxe St. Regis Hotels and Resorts, and the two intend to open clubs in four new hotels the luxury chain plans to build in the next five years in as-yet unnamed locations.

The Doha hotel will be quite the posh home: It has a planned $1 billion price tag, and will feature a jazz space modeled on NYC's Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola—with glass walls that reveal the Persian Gulf just beyond. The luxury chain will pick up the appearance fees and travel tabs of the musicians, and Jazz at Lincoln Center will get a cut of the ticket sales, which it says will help fund its educational programs. Bonus No. 2: It's an opportunity to bring jazz to new audiences, says the center's artistic director. Doha has gotten more artsy in recent years, notes the New York Times: It's now home to the Qatar Philharmonic, a museum of modern art, and an annual festival staged by the Tribeca Film Festival. (More jazz stories.)