In 1849, life in the gold hills was harsh and rewards few. When nuggets and dust were discovered the rush was to good times in San Francisco. The lonely, mostly male miners longed for entertainment of all kinds including music. San Francisco’s first music was heard in Portsmouth Plaza and the gambling halls and Melodeons like the Bella Union bordering it.
From the mid-1860s and into the early 20th century, The Barbary Coast was the center of vice and entertainment with the sounds of music and dance spilling from the clubs along “Terrific Pacific Street.” The clubs included the “Inventor of Jazz” Jelly Role Morton’s Neptune Club and the still standing Hippodrome.
After WWII the Fillmore District was the center of jazz and blues on the west coast. In the 1960s, it was the birthplace of the psychedelic San Francisco Sound. Today, The Fillmore, Yoshi’s and the Boom Boom Room, Sheba Piano Lounge and others maintain the Fillmore District’s musical legacy.
Southeast of the Fillmore District in Hayes Valley, SFJAZZ, producers of the San Francisco Jazz Festival since 1983, have moved into their stunning new home, SFJAZZ Center. It is the first freestanding concert hall of its type in the U. S. a state-of-the-art intimate auditorium with flexible seating for 350 to 700. SFJAZZ Center is built for jazz, education, culture, community and all lovers of jazz.