Never miss a Sunday show.
I attended Fog City Swing at Keys Jazz Bistro Sunday Dec. 28th and that mantra held true. Keys is a cozy venue in North Beach, San Francisco with a full calendar, an awesome sound system and a grand piano on the stage.
I was impressed with the professionalism and full sound of Fog City Swing, a six-piece band headed by saxophonist Greg Johnson and trumpeter Daniel Herrera, performing classics from Count Basie and Coltrane. I definitely could have danced to their music in a ballroom, with the youthful stand-up bassist and drummer lifting my feet with their soulful, jazzy rhythms.
And that was before the guest singer, Sonya Distel, came to the stage. What a voice! It's like champagne on the tongue. Like the froth on a high-end cappuccino. Like Ella Fitzgerald. She holds her effervescent vibrato evenly and softly like an angel and then opens powerfully. Distel uses the entirety of her vocal range with poise, all the way up to the high notes, and then she slowly takes it higher. I found myself leaning in with anticipation, wondering if she could keep going, and she did! She delivered her tunes masterfully, her rich and gentle vocals amplified and electrified alongside the brass front-men and the masterful pianist.
I especially appreciated Fog City Swing's rendition of “Everybody Knows” and upon arriving home, opened Spotify to verify whether it was a Concrete Blonde original. Duh – it’s a Leonard Cohen song! Of course. (On a cross-country Amtrak ride in '95, I listened to two cassettes on my Sony Walkman: Leonard Cohen & Enya. It was Winter, what can I say.) The Fog City Swing arrangement of this song is extraordinary with Sonya Distel on vocals.
The sound quality at Keys is wonderful.
The musicians are mic’d and the sound mixing is well-managed to maximize the musical experience. Last night, the pianist’s volume was low on the first song, so the owner (Simon) and the sound fellow fixed it promptly and continued monitoring from their portable ipad. I was so happy I could hear him playing those keys louder.
Keys. It’s cosmopolitan.
Keys has a worldly, cosmopolitan atmosphere. Europeans and other foreigners are fixtures in this joint, like at other great small jazz venues – think Sunside Sunset in Paris or the Blue Note or Jazz Standard in New York City. Simon’s commitment to talent and sound quality gives club-goers a world-class jazz experience.
Keys is all-ages.
This is a family-friendly venue. Hallelujah. It’s not too loud, it’s clean and they have a good-looking food menu. Why are jazz venues often a hangout for elders? At Blue Note Napa, for example, young people hesitate to go because they consider it “lots of blue hairs,” as a babysitter once described it to me - verbatim.
Nostalgia alert: I remember being at jazz clubs filled with mature people, and then 20-something me, and maybe a Japanese duo my age, being the only young-ens. Ohhh, New York City sure was good for getting cultured. And ohhhh, so is San Francisco!
Keys is local.
Why trek to Civic Center for SF Jazz when Keys Jazz Bistro is right here? Walk here from Downtown, from Fishermans Wharf, from Jackson Square, from Embarcadero.
The stage and seating at Keys are well-designed.
They have comfortable seating, not like the upper level of SF Jazz that leaves you with a stiff neck the next day.
It’s a classic, edgy San Francisco location.
In the 90’s when I was a raver I came to San Francisco to check out the scene, I stayed at Green Tortoise Hostel on Broadway for a week. This is the exact location of Keys Jazz Bistro today – right underneath that hostel, which is still in business.
It's on the strip of Broadway with historic theaters and brightly-lit strip clubs like Hungry "I" Club and Centerfolds. I wore my thick-soled shoes because I’m familiar with the filthy sidewalks on that block. I suggest doing the same. Consider it part of the urban experience.
TIP: For a good-n-edgy San Francisco intellectual experience, stop at City Light Bookstore and the Beat Museum before coming to Keys Jazz Bistro. That’s the cool cultural trifecta in this neighborhood. You'll dig it.