The Sound Room

Great place. Reasonable prices for tickets and beer/​wine. Nice intimate venue with good acoustics. Only downsides are parking and the chairs can be uncomfortable for longer shows. Definitely will return.

This is the PLACE. Every visit has been delightful — great music and great food, all at a «way –it-​oughta-​be» price. Mostly jazz — played at a high level — with performers old and new, in styles from Dixieland to Avant Garde. This is a friendly and truly intimate setting, with a casual, but always interesting and delicious, collection of tapas and other small plates — almost all vegetarian or vegan.
They also offer a small selection of well-​priced, usually local, beers and wine.
Recently, The Sound Room has begun featuring Flamenco performances — dance, guitar, rhythms, and songs. These shows usually draw from the deep and excellent Bay Area flamenco community, which I’m told is among the best — outside of Spain and Mexico. Occasionally, Spanish visitors perform. Great to sit so close to these dramatic dancers.
The Sound Room is only two or three years old, now. — a nonprofit organization dedicated to jazz and its local performers and audience. I feel lucky that these people came to Oakland to bring us music at this intimate scaler.

Not a big selection of food, basically they had a variety of hor d’oeuvres and simple drinks, but good price and great music!

Great venue with fine musicians – NOW featuring the Monday night Open Mic sessions, too!
Come one, come all; bring a chart to sing, and have some fun!

By far the best jazz and jazz-​y music venue in the SF-​bay area, and this area is blessed with many places to choose from! This is an absolute gem of the music scene, the place where you can find fresh and exciting things like CD release concerts for up and coming musicians, fado nights, live 16-​piece Big Band and much more… Long live Sound Room!

This is a gem of a place for listening to live music, and Jazz in particular! A small and intimate venue, where no seat is a bad seat, since you’re up close to the performers.
This happens to be a non-​profit that is entirely operational due to the love and dedication of volunteers. All the proceeds from the ticket sales go straight to the artists. Proceeds from food/​drink offerings and your donations keep the lights (and sound) ON!
The ticket prices are very reasonable, so do consider enjoying a small bite/​drink from their kitchen. They have a decent offering of libations (wine/​beer/​non-​alcoholic) and hors d’oeuvres. If nothing else, for love of music!
Tip: Since this is a volunteer run venue, please be patient with them, as they may sometimes be stretched thin! Go a bit early, so as to give yourself some time to grab a drink, and locate a table/​seating of your liking. Talk to the volunteers, they’re fellow music lovers. Stay back after the show and talk/​mingle with the artists. Make a great evening off the event.

Absolutely love this place. They provide a wonderful space for music to be played and listened to. Those two things don’t automatically go together…
Garth Webber

This is great classy place to listen to jazz in Oakland! It would be great if they had more variety and daily night shows. The atmosphere is pleasant, clean and bright.

A really nice, small venue. Every seat is close to the stage; small tables with chairs up front, high chairs against the side and back walls. I sat in the high chairs off to the side could see great. Sound quality was good. The food is homemade, and my daughter said the pizza was good (I didn’t have any). Ticket price for Tiffany Austin and Marcus Shelby was a reasonable $ 20.
One minor gripe — for a place that is trying to keep jazz alive, they did not have any kid/​student price. If they want to attract the next generation of listeners, they should make it easier for them to attend.

Went tonight to see Terrence Brewer. Seen him before, just not at the SR. It was a great venue! Small, quaint, and I was 2 feet from the performers. The owners and staff are very nice and supportive of the music scene. RECOMMEND!

What a wonderful place! Scat-​singing, poised and entertaining Kellye Gray and a nice trio, excellent sound, serviceable very limited menu, basic wine and beer list. As for earlier reviews about owners’ personality, this is a 501©(3) with volunteer help, cut them some slack. First time for us, plan to become regulars. Come for music, quiet listening, cozy but IKEA type furnished room, and camaraderie of Jazz lovers.

I too had a loud PA sound experience at The Sound Room. It seems most people don’t know what jazz actually sounds like. Here’s some advice to the owner: Because jazz bass and drums rarely need much reinforcement in small and medium rooms, natural sound quality and uniform coverage are FAR more important than loud bass and drums. The sound should be about as loud as the same band with no PA in a small room or a good medium sized room. Add only what you don’t hear enough of. We don’t usually need the band louder, only better balanced. Drummers and bassist are not the star of the band (even when one is the leader). Bass and drums are often too loud before you even turn on the PA. Start with no bass and drums and get the balance of the melody instruments first. Especially get the piano right (most difficult). Now add bass and drums only if you need them.
The loud PA problem might have started back when big band power trumpet player Maynard Furgeson had some pop hits. His record company hired a rock PA crew and Shure gave him a zillion mics. It made his band painfully loud. Then Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock formed jazz-​rock bands and those needed a loud PA. It was «right» for what they were doing but it’s not right for most jazz.

I love this place. It’s unpretentious but genuine — a great place to hear great music. Just saw Allison Tucker Adams there tonight with a smokin’ band! This woman can sing! Original arrangements, broad repertoire, gorgeous voice and musicality! And the food and wine were terrific. I go there at least every other month and kick myself for not going more often.

My husband and I really like this place. Stumbled upon it reading Unilocal reviews for live music in Oakland. The price is reasonable ($ 20)’ the bands very talented, and seating is intimate. The relatively early show times work well with an active schedule. The food is good, too, if you are running late.

I hadn’t been to the Sound Room until last week, when a friend was playing there. I’m not going to wait for her return to go back.
This is small room, seating about 50 at the most. That means you have great sight lines and great sound wherever you sit.
A nonprofit, The Sound Room gives the entire door (ticket price) to the musicians, and keeps the food and drink income to run the place., Obviously a labor of love, they have made an intimate club that is comfortable and welcoming. the sound system is good and the staff is very friendly and helpful.
Very easy to get to, half a block form the Paramount theater, i highly recommend the Sound Room.

Went to the Sound Room recently in uptown Oakland for a night of flamenco. This is a great place to have an intimate experience with musicians and dancers. This non-​profit could use everyone’s support. I will definitely be back!

A non-​profit venue that brings budding artists and top talent to Uptown Oakland. It is truly a labor of love. The door goes to the performers and the staff volunteers their time. Consider making a tax free donation if you enjoy the show. The drink/​food profits and donations keep the lights on.
The shows I attended were all spectacular. i highly recommend checking out their Facebook page. There are links to the some of the artists performances on YouTube. Judge for yourself.
They do not have a liquor license yet so you may want to bring a flask. They serve 4 delicious non-​alcoholic cocktails that taste even better with a touch of hooch.

I really enjoyed the Clairdee performance there.
The Sound Room is great for many reasons: 1) venue is small and intimate, 2) ticket prices are reasonable, 3) they have a good selection of drinks (wine, beer and non-​alcoholic) and snacks, and 4) they are near BART, the free Broadway shuttle, and several restaurants.
I hope to be back soon.

Great place to listen to Jazz and see art exhibitions!

This is a cool place. The trappings are minimal, but functional, and the effort is on one thing: quality music. I can tell it is a labor of love. I enjoyed my time there tonight. Talented band at a fair price. I shall return.