San Francisco Blog

Fillmore Jazz Festival
Fillmore Street - from Jackson through Eddy
July 6, 2008
Notes and Photos by Catherine McCulloch

This year's Fillmore Jazz Festival was heavy on the festival and a little light on the Jazz. In all fairness, the Jazz fest was supposed to double as a celebration of culture and cuisine. That said, I felt somewhat suffocated by the vendors selling greasy, overpriced food. The cultural aspect of the fair was little more than a glorified flea market that had very little to do with Jazz culture.

Overall, I can’t complain about the quality of the music or number of performances. My favorite act on Sunday was Sila- The AfroFunk, who performed on the Ellis Street Stage from 4:30-6 p.m. Their music was upbeat and the saxophone player was skilled. I didn’t attend the Saturday festivities but I heard that Kim Nally, vocalist and owner of Pearl’s, stole the show. Apparently, her talent drew such a crowd that they had to close off entry to the area around the stage.

The attitude at the street fair was largely lively and welcoming. There were people dancing in front of all three stages. Though the fair was littered with yuppies sipping beer it was also populated with men wearing fedoras and three-piece suits. I definitely heard the words "groovy" and "solid" used in conversation a lot more than I usually do.

(More photos after the cut.)