Also on sight, will be eighty residential condominiums, a public parking garage and a French-Soul food restaurant - 1300 on Fillmore. This new venue will occupy the ground floor of the Fillmore Heritage Center which is a 6,000-square-foot Jazz Heritage Center, which San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsome has called, “a cornerstone of my commitment to restore the economic viability and population of San Francisco's African-American community." The Jazz Heritage Center is a non-profit organization that makes jazz preservation its mission. The center promotes jazz as an American national treasure by presenting its history, and celebrating its presence, as a living art form. The facility will include: a 1,000-square-foot-Screening Room presenting Feature and Documentary Jazz Films, a 1,400-sqaure-foot Lush Life Art Gallery and Gift Shop, Exclusive access to Yoshi's jazz club and restaurant, a Living Legends performance series, a Jazz Heritage Pioneers biography series, Educational programs, film screenings, and much more.
The center hopes to restore San Francisco's rightful place as jazz royalty. Former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown reminisces of a time where, “Evenings, people would get dressed to kill. It was a great, great time. I would say it was Harlem. And I say that because Sammy Davis Jr., Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, and Miles Davis “ they all fell into San Francisco like the artists that I read about would fall into New York. It was the way many people wrote about the renaissance in Harlem. That was what Fillmore Street was like in those days. It had to be the closest thing to Harlem outside of New York." Yoshi's San Francisco is certain to usher in the new golden age of jazz which we now find ourselves in. As Michael Johnson “ President pf EmJohnson Interest and Partner of Yoshi's San Francisco “ stated, “It will most assuredly institutionalize jazz back into San Francisco."
The legendary jazz club began in 1973 as a small, North Berkeley sushi bar, owned by struggling students who had the same dream in common: to create a jazz club to provide a place for jazz artists and for its culture to blossom. These three students were founder and namesake, Yoshie Akiba along with best friends Kaz Kajimura and Hiroyuki Hori. Since its inception, Yoshi's has become one of the world's most respected jazz venues. Famed trumpeter Wynton Marsalis has said, “Yoshi's has tremendous integrity. Their presentation and booking is right on." Yoshi's has hosted countless legends including, McCoy Tyner, Branford Marsalis and Harry Connick, Jr. The club is synonymous with the finest in jazz music, and many other genres including, world music, blues, neo-soul, latin jazz and afro-cuban. The new club will include a state-of-the-art custom sound system designed by JK Sound and a 9' Hamburg Steinway Grand Piano.
As an invited guest at the Yoshi's San Francisco Press Conference, Tuesday September 18, I witnessed first hand, a truly historical event; one which will act as the catalyst to revitalize the Fillmore district and the greater jazz community. Perhaps Owner Kaz Kajimura said it best, “Jazz is not on decline, but if so, we must make Yoshi's a beacon of light for jazz, coast-to-coast." Yoshi's is certain to be that beacon of light for artists and jazz enthusiasts alike for years to come.
For More Information: JazzHeritageCenter.com
For more information contact All About Jazz.
