San Francisco Jazz Heritage Center

The Jazz Heritage Center’s Koret Heritage Lobby---the main public lobby of the Fillmore Heritage Center outside the entrance to Yoshi’s jazz club and restaurant--- showcases special local and traveling exhibits focused on jazz history and culture, with a particular emphasis on the contribution of San Francisco to the history of jazz. In addition, the lobby will host interactive and traditional exhibits focused on the unique history of the Fillmore neighborhood, a district rich in diversity and cultures that has served as the heart of San Francisco’s African-American population for over fifty years.

Jazzin’ Jammin’ & Jivin’: The History of Jazz on Film
January 24th, 2010 - March 1, 2010

The Jazz Heritage Center is pleased to present Jazzin’ Jammin’ & Jivin’: The History of Jazz on Film, an exhibit of fifty film posters which highlight an eight decade period during which some of the greatest jazz musicians appeared on film including Bessie Smith, Duke Ellington,Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Cab Calloway, Louis Jordan, Dizzy Gillespie, and many o Bill Robinson Poster

thers. The exhibit is on loan from the Separate Cinema Archive.

The exhibit is being presented as part of the Jazz Heritage Center's rollout of its new Media and Education Center, a 50-seat private theater located adjacent to Yoshi's Jazz Club and Restaurant. Throughout February (Black History Month), the JHC will be screening films featured on the posters in the exhibit. More information/show times

Jazz and the motion picture grew to maturity early in the 20th century, both children of the artistic and technological advances of the late 1880s. The posters in this exhibit run the gamut from major feature film release to obscure independent production. Almost seventy years separate the earliest and the most recent posters in the collection. According to archivist Marc Cantor, the posters are "a reflection of a unique cultural achievement...these posters (should) be viewed as artistic achievements totally removed from the films they advertise. The concern for detail, often striking use of color, stylized presentation of the film's content, and use (or avoidance) of the racial and ethnic stereotype of the period make them worthy of our critical study, appraisal and appreciation."

On Sunday, January 24, at 3:00 P.M., jazz film expert and archivist Mark Cantor will present a compilation of film clips from the films in the exhibit, clearly illustrating the music behind the posters. Taken from both short subjects and feature films, the musical excerpts will feature such artists as Louis Jordan, Cab Calloway, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Dizzy Gillespie, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, and much, much more. The films clips are all extremely rare, and some cannot be seen from any other source worldwide.

Cantor's talk is being presented in partnership with the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco (JCCSF). The JCCSF is featuring Mark Cantor's Giant of Jazz on Film this Winter and Spring. For more information on this series, follow this link.