Ciaran Fox summed up the evening quite well, ” Imagine that we’re in an old New York jazz club in the 1950’s, and I’ll sing you some jazz. ”
What a fabulous evening we had, at Sola Jazz Lounge – when we were there late February.
We were escorted from Matagi to Sola (as you do, when at Raffles) after a really good dinner. Sola was the second part of the “Sushi and Soul” evening, which was recently introduced in Raffles the Palm Dubai.
As we walked into Sola – it was dark and everything about it spelt ‘jazz lounge’. The gold velvety chairs, the round black tables, the little stage in front. There were a few couples present, at 8:30pm on a Tuesday night. The last time we were in a jazz lounge was 2017 – Q’s Bar and Lounge, so this – we were really looking forward to.

We picked our drinks; mine – a Black Sapphire Negroni and husband, the Raffles the Palm sling. As we munched on nuts and sipped away, we were both wondering – so when is the jazz part coming?

Ciaran Fox appeared very shortly.
A quick soundcheck later, the lights were dimmed and the show began – around 9pm.
How do I describe an entire evening of music in words?
It’s one thing to have a good voice, and another to properly interact with the audience – and, make them laugh. The guy managed to do both.
Ciaran was so funny, it felt like we were at a very intimate comedy show, who just so happened to have an amazing voice. He did Sinatra’s classics so so so well. It’s evident that Sola Jazz Lounge was built for what it is – jazz. The sound system was perfect.
You could tell that people were there for music, quietly and respectfully enjoying it all when he sang.

There was “One for my baby”, moving onto the more upbeat ‘The Lady is a tramp,” and of course, “Strangers in the Night.”
The only unfortunate part for us that evening was that we had to leave early (the whole kids + babysitting …thing), and I felt so bad to walk out an hour in. We never made it to “New York New York”, but at least we managed to catch, “Fly me to the Moon”.
Do I recommend Sinatra Nights at Sola Jazz Lounge?
A 100%, especially if you, like us, appreciate jazz. The plus was his wit, and his ability to interact with us all.
Just make sure you book babysitting for a later one so you can stay on till at least 11pm or so. We are definitely coming back again another night for Ciaran. And hopefully check out the other jazz nights at Sola Jazz Lounge.
PS – Sushi and Soul includes 2 drinks at Sola Jazz Lounge – this includes wine or cocktails. Note that their cocktails are around 80-100AED each, so to have 2 drinks included in the 365 AED offer (of which includes a 4-course dinner at Matagi – see here for our review) is definitely well worth it.
- Sola Jazz Lounge
- Live music Tuesday – Sundays
- See Sola Jazz Lounge’s website for the schedule
- See Raffles’ page for more on the Sushi and Soul offer
A snippet of Sushi and Soul :
Disclaimer : We were guests of Raffles to review the Sushi and Soul offer. This, was the ‘soul’ part of the evening. You can of course just pop over to Sola for the evening if that’s what you prefer.
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