Club Eleven was a nightclub

Nightclub

A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...

 located in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 between 1948 and 1950. Despite being in business for only two years, the club played a significant role in the early history of British bebop

Bebop

Bebop differed drastically from the straightforward compositions of the swing era, and was instead characterized by fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that expanded on their role as tempo-keepers...

, a form of modern jazz.

The club was so named because it had 11 founders - business manager Harry Morris and ten British bebop musicians. It was first opened at 41 Great Windmill Street in Soho

Soho

Soho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London. Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable...

 in 1948, and had two house band

House band

For the British band that existed from 1984-2001, see The House BandA house band is a group of musicians, often centrally organized by a band leader, who regularly play an establishment. It is widely used to refer both to the bands who work on entertainment programs on television or radio, and to...

s, one led by Ronnie Scott

Ronnie Scott

Ronnie Scott was an English jazz tenor saxophonist and jazz club owner.-Life and career:Ronnie Scott was born in Aldgate, east London, into a family of Russian Jewish descent on his father's side, and Portuguese antecedents on his mother's. Scott began playing in small jazz clubs at the age of...

 and the other by John Dankworth

John Dankworth

Sir John Phillip William Dankworth, CBE , known in his early career as Johnny Dankworth, was an English jazz composer, saxophonist and clarinetist...

. Scott's sidemen included Tony Crombie

Tony Crombie

Anthony John "Tony" Crombie was an English jazz drummer, pianist, bandleader and composer. He was regarded as one of the finest jazz drummers and bandleaders, and occasional but very capable pianist and vibraphonist, to emerge in Britain, and as an energising influence on the British jazz scene...

, Lennie Bush

Lennie Bush

Leonard Walter "Lennie" Bush was an English jazz double-bassist.Bush contracted polio as a child and as a result possessed a limp for the rest of his life...

, Tommy Pollard, and Hank Shaw

Hank Shaw

Henry Shalofsky, better known as Hank Shaw was an English bebop jazz trumpeter.Shaw played with Teddy Foster's band during World War II at the age of 15...

, while Dankworth's included Leon Calvert, Bernie Fenton, Joe Muddell, and Laurie Morgan

Laurie Morgan

Laurie Morgan From , is a Deputy of the States of Guernsey. He was Guernsey's first Chief Minister and was elected to the post in May 2004. His term of office was due to expire in 2008, when the next General Election is due...

. When Scott toured the U.S., Don Rendell

Don Rendell

Donald Percy 'Don' Rendell is an English jazz musician and arranger, specialising on tenor saxophone, but also playing soprano saxophone, flute, and clarinet....

 filled his spot. Denis Rose

Denis Rose

Denis Rose was an English jazz pianist and trumpeter. He was a longtime fixture on the London jazz scene and was an early influence on British bebop....

 organized many of the activities at the club. In 1950 the club moved to 50 Carnaby Street, but shuttered a few months after the move as a consequence of a police raid.

In 2009 Club Eleven was named by the Brecon Jazz Festival

Brecon Jazz Festival

Brecon Jazz Festival is a music festival held on an annual basis in the rural surroundings of Brecon, in south Powys, Mid Wales. Normally staged in early August, it plays host to a range of jazz musicians who travel from across the world to take part and to many visiting tourists who are attracted...

as one of 12 venues which had made the most important contributions to jazz music in the United Kingdom.