It was located at 33–37 Wardour Street from 1957 onwards and played an important role in the development of British rhythm and blues and modern jazz.

The club rapidly gained a strong reputation, attracting visiting performers such as Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald and in 1954, Billie Holiday.

[6] In April 1957, the club moved to new premises in the basement of a former grocery store at 33–37 Wardour Street,[7] where it initially remained primarily a jazz venue, with Ronnie Scott and Tubby Hayes as members of the resident band.

The Flamingo was sometimes described as an intimidating place in the early 1960s, where gangsters, pimps and prostitutes hung out with American servicemen, West Indians, and music fans, and fighting among customers was not unusual.

[7] In October 1962, the club was the scene of a fight between jazz fans Aloysius Gordon and Johnny Edgecombe[9] both lovers of Christine Keeler, which ultimately led to the public revelations of the Profumo affair.

[10] Unusually, it employed black musicians and DJs; it did not have a drinks licence, and illicit drug-taking was commonplace and generally tolerated by the police.

"[7] Through the resulting melting pot of music, fashion and social cross-culture, the Flamingo played a small but important part in the breakdown of racial prejudice in post-war British society[11] and the club was one of the first UK venues to introduce ska music to a white audience, with performances by Jamaican-born musicians such as Count Suckle.

[6] Early line-ups of the house band included saxophonists Joe Harriott, Tubby Hayes, Ronnie Scott, drummer Tony Kinsey, vibraphonist Bill Le Sage and pianist Tommy Pollard.

Over the years, the club succeeded in promoting the best in jazz, rhythm and blues, as well as cross-over genres, mixing successful established acts with up-and-coming artists.

[7] Musicians who played at the Flamingo in the 1960s included Dizzy Gillespie, Rod Stewart, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Zoot Money, the Big Roll Band, John Mayall, Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, The Rolling Stones, the Moody Blues, the Animals, Chris Farlowe and the Thunderbirds, Mick Fleetwood, Peter Bardens, Shotgun Express, Cream (who formed as a result of meeting at the club),[7] Atomic Rooster, Pink Floyd,[15] Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames,[16] Bobby Tench, The Gass,[17] the Johnny Burch Octet,[18] Alexis Korner, Carmen McRae, Brian Auger, Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker, Long John Baldry, Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers, the then newly formed Small Faces[1] and Steve Marriott.