Summer means Fillmore Street jazzers play again
By Bruce Bellingham


Since 1985, Fillmore Street has been closed to traffic between Jackson and Eddy for one weekend out of the year as the street is transformed into a center for the San Francisco jazz scene. This year the festival will take place on July 5-6, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Featured performers who will take to stages along the route include the great singer Kim Nalley, guitar wonder Bruce Forman, the Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, Dave Mac Nab, the Craig Shaw Quintet, and the Eric Wiley Trio.

The event pays homage to the era when Fillmore Street was a major nexus for jazz in America. All of the greats – including Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Lester Young, Louis Armstrong, Chet Baker, John Handy, John Coltrane, Billie Holiday – performed at the myriad clubs that were on the street, such as Bop City and Jimbo’s.

The names of blues and jazz legends are engraved on the Fillmore Street sidewalk south of Geary Boulevard and it makes for a wonderful trip over a historic landscape.

By the way, you may be startled to see the name of classical violin virtuoso Yehudi Menuhin as a former resident of the Fillmore District. This harkens back to the 19th and early 20th century, when the neighborhood was the center of San Francisco Jewish life. Some of the buildings that were once synagogues still stand.

The Fillmore has seen new life in recent years. In 1999, it was designated the Jazz Preservation District. Today, Yoshi’s and Rassela’s jazz clubs draw jazz fans from all over. The Fillmore Jazz Festival is organized by the Fillmore Merchants Association and the Fillmore Jazz Preservation District Merchants Association. Steven Restivo Event Services is promoting it, and you can call them with questions at 800-310-6563.

Here is the schedule of performers:

Saturday, July 5, 2008

California Street Stage
10-11:30 a.m. Fred Randolph Quintet
12-1:30 p.m. Kimbrough
& Company
2-3:30 p.m. Kim Nalley
4-6 p.m. Contemporary Jazz
Orchestra

Sutter Street Stage
10-11:30 a.m. Craig Shaw Quintet
12-1:30 p.m. Dave Mac Nab
2-3:30 p.m. Chris Pimentel
4-6 p.m. Randy Vincent Quartet featuring Tyler Blanton

Ellis Street Stage
10-11:30 a.m. TBD
12-1:30 p.m. Lorca Hart
2-3:30 p.m. Dynamic
4-6 p.m. Vinyl

Sunday, July 6, 2008

California Street Stage
10-11:30 a.m. Ray Green’s
Wild Sextet
12-1:30 p.m. Brooks Hartell
2-3:30 p.m. Liberty Ellman
4-6 p.m. Bruce Forman

Sutter Street Stage
10-11:30 a.m. Eric Wiley Trio
12-1:30 p.m. Troy Lampkin
2-3:30 p.m. Archie Williams
4-6 p.m. Jazz on Monday

Ellis Street Stage
10-11:30 a.m. Amanda King
12-1:30 p.m. Bobby Webb
2-4 p.m. Louis Romero
4:30–6 p.m. Sila and The
Afrofunk Experience