SFJAZZ Festival Review

Great music venue for modern and classic Jazz, well known and new artists.

A great location if you are into Jazz. You do not need to be hard core jazz to enjoy most concerts.

Interesting architecture. Some seats are above behind the stage. The seats are not the most comfortable. Beautiful place though.

The SF JAZZ Center is terrific, much better than before it was built with shows in a variety of venues. Both the big hall, with seating, and the small hall, are terrific. Sound in the big hall is amazing, lots of care taken in setting it up. Terrific people too. Photo is Judith Hill performing in the big hall.

Nice venue. Full agenda all year. That's all I have to say thus far. I personally prefer the more working class vibe type club/venue instead of the places that become a 'thing' for the well heeled.

Quintessential sound...except under the overhang, the sound is muffled. Just a favorite venue

Great food and ambience. Convenient location from the peninsula

The interior is like a small intimate symphony space with excellent acoustics, and clear sight lines from every seat. Drinks are allowed in the space, and you can enter/leave during the show. This is a great space for musically complex or vocally heavy performance, with a theatre in the round aesthetic.

Comfortable, spacious venue. Warm, hospitable staff. Great acoustics.

There are no bad seats in this relatively small venue, the staff was friendly and knowledgeable, and the sound was great.

Nice venue. Unfortunately the numbered seats we're standing room seats on the dance floor with nowhere to sit down. Which they should have been clear about

I can't imagine a more ideal jazz center. Acoustics are amazing. Great lineups.

Beautiful modern venue easily accessible to vehicularly challenged individuals.

Excellent live music....date night and family friendly (depends on the artist)

Saw Christian McBride with string quartet. Great to hear the gifted jazz bassist playing Dvorak and Shubert string quartets.

Love watching concerts in Miner Auditorium and taking their workshops.

Thank you San Francisco for providing an excellent building for the future of jazz in the Bay Area. The acoustics and modern design provide a cool atmosphere, while the central location provides easy access for the entire city.

The small Joe Henderson auditorium is thoroughly enjoyable. Intimate and public at once, it affords the city and it's arts a delicate embrace.

The small room is wonderful. I don't like their new large miner auditorium as much

One of the world's greatest jazz venues. In collaboration with San Francisco Conservatory they are starting an innovative jazz education program. I wish our city had a similar center.

The Miner auditorium is a modern, intimate space with pretty good acoustics, and the sound level is usually OK and not CRAZY LOUD. It's steeply raked so people in the upper levels can easily see over those in front of them. It's not a club with tables but you can bring drinks in. The Joe Henderson Lab space isn't impressive, just a classroom with a podium, but it's so small you have a good view unless you're short and at the back.

State of the art venue for jazz. Loved the concert hall drink and snack options. Very classy.

Excellent venue. Very nice employees. Fun for kids, adults and the like. If only they had a better food/snack option. Eat before, or prepare to afterwards. Great place Nonetheless.

Cool place, clean. Nice acoustics. A little odd watching music and traffic at the same time.

Great venue with a few bars and a fairly intimate setting

Love this venue - great acoustics and views of the stage

The music was outstanding we attended the Chris Potter trio and Kenny Garrett Quintet on Friday 21st June both band were superb line ups and commanded standing ovations. Best double bill I have ever seen!
The staff and volunteers at the venue were pleasant, helpful and very welcoming. Thank you

Great place to enjoy the music of jazz, cozy and great sound.

Lovely venue, not a bad seat in the house. Cupholders in the seats! Friendly volunteer ushers. Sound is good. Ok location.

Wayne Shorter was a no show due to illness but they didn't cancel the show. I don't appreciate not knowing.

First time at this location, but what an incredible experience this was. Super friendly & helpful staff, nice interior, good sound system, highly recommended.

This is a great small venue for performance. The acoustics are excellent and the seating is comfortable. The far corner was not the best place to see a show but I was there for the sound. I think the sound is the best aspect of the venue. Logistically, it was easy getting in and out. The staff was sweet and helpful.
Bobby McFarren and his amazing crew including Joey Blake and Riannon took singing to a whole new level. It was easy to get caught up in the music of the accapela event. The musicality of this group was fantastic with a special nod to Riannon for her singing adventure she provided with her voice. AMAZING! Of course, Bobby Mcfarren is a phenom but the show was his friends. He led the group through what could only be called " vocal gymnastics." From laughing and talking to gibberish and monosyllabic sounds, the group could sing anything. At one point Mcfarren invited an audience member to improvise with the group and she rocked the house. We were wondering if she was a "plant" or was there this much talent in the place. An hour and half flew by and surprisingly no encore. Nevertheless, the SF Jazz Center is a jewel and the sound is on point. Great show!

Good music and musicians, very talented. Unique seating, right over the drummer was quite entertaining. He should be featured in a drum solo for the show. Good job all.

Super intimate seating and a swingin show by Maestro Taj Mahal

Amazing theater in San Francisco, close to restaurants and Bars, parking on the street. Love the place and the performer Lila Down

Good venue. Amazing acts, good (but not great) sound, crowd and staff can be a little stiff. Their little cocktail bars charge $14 for a small (premixed?!? really?) paloma. Even by SF standards this is pure highway robbery.

R we going through the other night when you started to get into the morning and most the afternoon

Beautiful venue with two totally different rooms creating uniquely different experiences. The staff are incredibly helpful and nice and there are a couple of bars which helps to keep the lines short.

Beautiful place not a bad seat in the house. Acoustics great.

What an excellent evening at SFJazz. Happy birthday to me!!!

Heard Chris Botti and band here. Great seating, especially for jazz!!! Plan a return visit very soon!! Intimate, great acoustics-perfect addition to performance venues in SF!!

5 stars because my mom "really likes the venue." I think I would have given it a 4, but it is also deserving of the 5 :)

Went here to see Diane Reeves and she was AMAZING. The venue has a very jazzy vibe to it, even though it is sort of like a concert hall. We sat BEHIND and ABOVE the stage which was an interesting experience-- definitely a unique view and perspective.

Acoustics all around were great and I'd definitely come here again.

The main stage is so we'll designed and intimate. Seriously not a bad seat in the house, you can see the stage clearly no matter where you sit. The seats are clean and comfortable. The sound is excellent, and the staff is friendly and helpful. Can't wait to see another concert there!

Great venue. Easy to get to. The B-Side bar is amazing.

A landmark place to listen and enjoy in San Francisco.

Intimate venue.. just the right size.. enjoyed this place

Excellent facility!! Attended Zakir Hussain performance and it was an experience..
Highly recommended you visit the place if you have the opportunity.

The atmosphere is great. The drinks are always delicious. The service is excellent. And I enjoy the line up

Tickets can be pricey, but a great venue for Jazz, seats behind the band are low priced and it's fun to look down at all the entertainers. Cocktails are pricey, but delicious, if you come early enough you can grab a bite at the restaurant.

THE place for jazz and funk music in a very vivid district downtown.

Ideal venue for jazz from all around the world. Today's Cuban pianist was magnificent.

Excellent venue. All seats have good visibility of the stage, seats on the lower level get you up and personal. Good foyer areas in both levels for social events.

Fantastic addition to San Francisco's jazz scene, and a welcome home to a 30-year old SF institution. The building is modern and sleek with two main performance spaces 1) the spacious Miner Auditorium build specifically for jazz acoustics, and 2) the more intimate Joe Henderson Lab, are a music appreciator's dream.

SF Jazz constantly pushes the boundary with edgy programming balanced by their intimate relationship to jazz stalwarts. For example in a given season you can catch Pharoah Sanders or Herbie Hancock, and also see Jason Moran improvise to the sounds of live skateboarding on a ramp set up in Miner. It's great to see them be able to try even more progressive programming in their own space like Moran's skateboarding shows.

The Center is conveniently located near VanNess Muni station so you don't have to worry about parking if you feel like taking advantage of transit. Hayes Valley has plenty of pre-show offerings as well as the Charles Phan restaurant in house. They also have great cocktails (usually a couple available each show) and serve the likes of North Coast Brewing Co. beers (loved sipping on a Brother Thelonius here!), all of which you can enjoy at your seat while tapping your foot to whatever jazz stylings you are there to enjoy.

I highly recommend becoming a member to save on service fees ($7.50 per ticket), get early access to tickets, save on member discounts to select shows (usually 25% off), attend members' only events, some of which are free. Really, the membership pays dividends and you can support this SF institution. If you're 35 or under though you might feel like a youngin' at members' events--but we need to change that!

Tip: the seats in the balcony are like stools that swivel. While they have a back, I don't find them as comfortable as the seats below. However, the tickets to balcony seats are often quite affordable and there really is no bad seat in terms of views and acoustics.

SF JAZZ is purpose built, one of very few places on earth specifically built for jazz. the main auditorium has flexible configuration from big to intimate. I went to an event here with both live music and videos. The acoustics were excellent.

We saw Cyrille Aimee and her band here during the SF Jazz Festival. Love evry minute of it. What a great venue and show place for Jazz.

Great Music location in the Bay Area and the best Musicians hands down.

Not a bad seat in the house. Great restaurant too.

Spectacularly good acoustics and sight lines. Great place for great music

Orchestra was fantastic. The vocals were hard to hear /understand. Could not see words. We were upstairs.

Great acoustics! Not a bad seat in the place. Staff was very courteous and helped us find our way easily. You felt involved with the musicians, dare I say it was intimate? Honestly as many concerts as I've been to this was my favorite. I'll be looking for new bands just to return to this venue. My son's first concert (9 years old) and he loved it. We went to see a group called Monsiuer Perine'. Fantastic!

Just enjoyed a fantastic show, with Gregory Porter & hid band! SFJAZZ offers loads of great artists & music. A great venue & resource, if jazz is a part of your listening pleasure.

Came here to watch a Robert Glasper show and it was pretty good. We had some bad seats but the whole experience was enjoyable nonetheless.