It was a far cry from a straight-ahead jazz show at Yoshi’s, historically known for hosting golden-era legends like Pharoah Sanders, Roy Haynes, Charlie Haden or the esteemed McCoy Tyner, who once played an annual two-week residency at the club.
Even before the pandemic, several factors affected Yoshi’s ability to book traditional jazz. One was the 2013 opening of the SFJAZZ Center, which siphoned giants like Tyner across the Bay and into a brand new venue with a bigger backstage. Another was the high-profile collapse of Yoshi’s San Francisco, which kept some artists away from the Oakland club — even though the operations were basically separate entities.
And then there’s the simple fact that, despite contemporary jazz scenes in LA, Chicago and London gaining popularity with younger fans over the past decade, jazz remains a small sliver of overall music listening. The 1960s and ’70s jazz generation is getting older. Sanders, Haynes, Haden and Tyner, to count just four of hundreds, have all passed away. As Zuazua notes, many traditional jazz fans either live far away in the suburbs, remain scared by a media crime narrative about Oakland or have simply aged out of their nightclub-going years.
That’s unfortunate, because if your typical jazz-listening uncle came to a rap show at Yoshi’s, most of the time he’d witness a live band on par with a classic Prestige Records-era quintet.
Mac Mall performs with a live band and DJ at Yoshi’s jazz club in Oakland on Aug. 10, 2025. (Courtesy Mac Mall)
Rappers at Yoshi’s are often backed by the go-to live hip-hop musical director for the Bay Area: Kev Choice. In fact, Choice was the first artist to regularly bring hip-hop to Yoshi’s, starting all the way back in 2008, with annual shows by his Kev Choice Ensemble that featured guests like Zumbi from Zion I, Phesto from Souls of Mischief, Silk-E from the Coup or Too Short.
“Hip-hop fans have grown, have matured, have come into a new space of wanting to see some of their favorite artists — maybe in a different context, or coming to life in a different way,” Choice says.
Yoshi’s isn’t alone in selling out shows by regional stars, like Oakland group the Delinquents in 2023. For the past several years, the Blue Note jazz club in New York has hosted rappers like Mos Def, Black Thought and Rakim. Yoshi’s San Francisco had even booked hip-hop acts a full 10 to 15 years ago: the Geto Boys, Public Enemy, Suga Free, Jay Electronica and KRS-One all appeared on its stage.
Gianna Farren performs at Yoshi’s in Oakland on January 8, 2026. (Tâm Vũ / KQED)
Of course, rap and jazz have overlapped since the dawn of the 1990s. Along with more R&B, smooth jazz and world music on Yoshi’s calendar, one could call the development part of a natural lineage, musically and culturally. Richie Rich, who once rapped over George Duke samples in the East Bay group 415, has been particularly strong in recommending Yoshi’s to other rappers, sometimes booked by outside promoters like AJ the Architect.
With change comes criticism, of course.
“There’s definitely older jazz fans out there that always have something to say on Facebook. ‘I remember when Yoshi’s was a jazz venue,’ you know,” says Zuazua. “But if they were to show up and not just be commenting on social media, we’d definitely be booking more jazz, and more blues.”