To simplify things (and presumably outrage others), Yoshi's San Francisco is now one of several efforts to restore the neighborhood back to what it once was. Whatever that was.

One perspective on the new jazz club's branch -- an "African-American perspective" -- is Harrison Chastang's. He points out that venues like Yoshi's San Francisco, the Sheba Lounge, and Rasselas already bring in a black audience. What's more, said clubs will encourage younger black audiences to drop on by. He says that "[t]he key to attracting African Americans to Yoshi's depends on the effort Yoshi's makes to inform African Americans about events at Yoshi's; and to support education programs to cultivate the next generation of African American Jazz fans." Which sounds good, but we can't imagine any amount of outreach would transform young kids into jazz aficionados. At least not in 2007.