They've played in some of the coolest clubs around. So it goes without saying that these six jazz greats know a thing or two about where they like to chill out between gigs.

New York City

When it comes to jazz joints in Manhattan, the question for baritone saxophonist Claire Daly is not where to go, but how many places she can pack into one night.

Three of her favorite spots downtown are within blocks of each other. "They're friendly, local haunts," Daly says. "You could spend the whole evening at any of them, or club-hop from place to place."

Daly usually starts her night at the Prohibition-era 55 Bar, where luminaries like Miles Davis alum Mike Stern often jam (55 Christopher St. ). Then it's off to Sweet Rhythm, a hangout formerly home to Sweet Basil that attracts the best of the upstarts and such veteran players as drummer Lewis Nash (88 Seventh Ave.).

By 1 A.M., Daly needs some sustenance, so she heads to the Garage Restaurant & Cafe, a swanky jazz supper club that serves steak frites and fresh Malpeque oysters during big-band shows (99 Seventh Ave.). BudgetTravel.com: New York hotels at a price that's right

New Orleans, Louisiana

Double bass player Ben Jaffe came into this world to the beat of New Orleans' famed music. "My parents arranged for a band to play at the hospital the day I was born," Jaffe says. He ultimately followed in the footsteps of his late father, tuba player Allan Jaffe, and joined his dad's New Orleans-based ensemble, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band.

When the group isn't on tour, Jaffe often checks out two of his favorite acts, the New Orleans Jazz Vipers and trumpeter Shamarr Allen, at The Spotted Cat (623 Frenchmen St., 504/943-3887), in the Faubourg Marigny district adjacent to the French Quarter.

"It's where locals go to hear acoustic jazz," he says. "The place is set up like a living room, so you can sit on a plush old couch and listen to music while watching passersby through the club's big bay windows."

St. Louis, Missouri

Whenever he visits St. Louis, reed player and bandleader J. D. Parran of Spirit Stage checks out Jazz at the Bistro in the stylish Grand Center arts district. The main room has family-style seating, so you can meet and mingle with such living legends as pianist Cedar Walton (3536 Washington Blvd., 314/289-4030).

Parran's other local haunt is the Scott Joplin House State Historic Site. Ragtime notables, including Donald Ryan and Richard Zimmerman, play several shows a year at the house, still furnished as it was when ragtime legend Joplin wrote "The Entertainer" there in 1902 (2658 Delmar Blvd., 314/340-5790).