No Black Tie, home of live jazz music in Kuala Lumpur, celebrates 20 years

'Every big city in the world has a jazz club, so I’m glad that we are able to fill that void for Kuala Lumpur,’ says Hii, the founder of No Black Tie, who has extended the club’s influence in its 20th year by curating the upcoming Borneo Jazz Festival in Miri, Sarawak next month. Photo: The Star/Chan Tak Kong

The No Black Tie club, nestled in the centre of Kuala Lumpur, has been pretty much the toast of anything jazz-related in the capital since the late 1990s. The cosy club, with its wooded interior and tasteful live programming, has single-handedly carried the jazz scene in the Klang Valley for 20 years.

For all of two decades, Jalan Mesui in the heart of KL has been No Black Tie’s home, from when it began a few doors down the same road in 1998 to settling on its current 17, Jalan Mesui address in 2004. For Evelyn Hii, No Black Tie’s (NBT) founder and owner, the venue was originally conceived as an alternative platform for classical music after she first arrived in Kuala Lumpur in 1996.