Most people associate the 1920’s and 1930’s with the height of jazz. Great Gatsby-themed parties, flapper dresses, and prohibition all come to mind for me.
I recently learned a little more about the jazz era in San Francisco, coincidentally right before the Fillmore Jazz Stroll on May 16th, and boy—I didn’t know anything!
Jazz is America’s music. It started in neighbourhoods, with people coming out to play together, creating beautiful medleys after a hard day’s work. It gave people a reason to dance during the Great Depression, got the country through World War II, and beat its way through the Civil Rights movement. To this day, its influence is still found in many of the top hits.
In San Francisco, jazz found a home in the Western Addition portion of Fillmore. The SF Jazz Center lives there, and once you walk north of Geary, it’s like you’re in a living museum of murals on the side of buildings. Back in the day, meaning the fifties and sixties, this area was teeming with music. Underground clubs, small bands, and gangs of people would hit the streets to play their music.
To learn more about the city’s epic love affair with this genre, check out the Fillmore Jazz Stroll this Saturday. Music, food, booze, and fun. What more can you ask for on a Saturday in San Francisco?
