Trading eights with Upstairs Jazz Bar & Grill, one of Montreal’s greatest jazz clubs

Hosting local and international legends, this is how Upstairs Jazz Bar & Grill owner Joel Giberovitch makes Montreal swing.

Jenny Greenberg

December 12, 2024- Read time: 7 min

Upstairs Jazz Bar & Grill owner Joel Giberovitch. | Photographs by Audrey-Eve Beauchamp / @audreyeve.beauchamp

As MC Escher said: “Only those who will attempt the absurd will achieve the impossible. I think it’s in my basement…let me go check upstairs.”

Back in 1995, Joel Giberovitch first attempted the absurd by buying into a hangout where Concordia students played backgammon and speed chess. Then he achieved the impossible by transforming it into one of Montreal’s most recognized surviving jazz clubs: Upstairs Jazz Bar & Grill.

“School just didn’t suit me,” he admits. “I never thrived in that environment, so when the opportunity came up, I jumped at it. I definitely got my education making mistakes here.”

Maiden Voyage

“I was working at my father’s Mexican restaurant, El Coyote, and Upstairs was looking for a new business partner,” Joel explains. “They approached my father, and hewasn’t really interested. He asked me if I wanted to get involved. I was barely 23 years old. I was green. I figured, ‘sure, why not?’ That’s how we got our foot in the door.”

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