On Oct. 1, four San Francisco jazz venues joined in an unprecedented challenge to fans, with the goal of energizing the city’s greater downtown area.
That challenge has jazz lovers scurrying between Mr. Tipple’s, Black Cat, the Dawn Club, and Keys Jazz Bistro, where patrons will get “jazz passports” stamped as they dine, drink, and dig the music, in the process earning privileges on their next circuit through the four spots.
The Jazz Passport initiative is funded by the Downtown Entertainment and Nightlife Revitalization Grants Program, in partnership with the Office of the Mayor London Breed and San Francisco’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development. Jazz Passport’s grant is administered by SF New Deal, an activist organization of volunteers formed during the COVID-19 pandemic to distribute meals to people in need and in turn support local restaurants.
“We’re wanting to replace the phenomenon of a nine-to-five central business district that empties out at night and on weekends,” states Simon Bertrang, SF New Deal’s executive director. “We want programs so that people can experience downtown in a different way, adding to the positive energy for the future.”
The organization has been behind such events as last month’s Oktoberfest on Front Street. There are also plans to present a circus at The Crossing at East Cut, an urban community near the Transbay Temporary Terminal, and drag shows and theater at The Stud and Oasis, two local gay bars. SF New Deal’s Vacant to Vibrant program supported the creation of a Montgomery Street facility for radio station KALW.
As for jazz, Bertrang points out that the passport idea and grant application were initiated by Jay Bordeleau, owner and booker at Mr. Tipple’s on Fell Street in Civic Center. Bordeleau reached out to the other three venues, which, their shared interest in jazz aside, are quite diverse in ambience and to some degree attitude and bookings.
For Keys Jazz Bistro, the northernmost of the venues, with perhaps the most eclectic bookings, the launch of the program coincides nicely with the second anniversary of the club’s opening. Each venue has 75 passports to distribute, and patrons have to get them stamped at all four places by Dec. 31. On their stops at Keys over the next few weeks, fans will be able to enjoy a showcase of the venue’s favorites, including vocalists Mary Stallings and Kenny Washington and guitarist Ray Obeido, as well as new-to-Keys singer Cyrille Aimée.
“We’ve had a lot of interest from folks,” Simon Rowe, owner of Keys, testifies about the program. He chuckles about the competition among jazz-loving couples to be among the first 75 to complete their passports. And he lauds the opportunity “for people to become aware of the different environments” of the city’s jazz clubs.
“Just a few years ago, a program like this would not have come into being, when almost everything in the city that emanated around jazz came through or past the doors of SFJAZZ,” Rowe points out. “This is a completely different experience.”
