The 33-year-old jazz and swing venue Club Deluxe is closing, according to a statement circulating on social media attributed to its owner, but its district’s supervisor Dean Preston is exploring paths to keep the venue open at the same location.  

Social media was awash Tuesday night with a statement attributed to the owner of Haight Street jazz and swing venue Club Deluxe — though the statement was not actually from Club Deluxe — saying that the live music spot would be closing. Broke-Ass Stuart broke the news shortly before 6 p.m. Tuesday that Club Deluxe was closing, according to a Facebook post from Lucky Losers vocalist Cathy Lemons, and attributed to an email from Club Deluxe co-owner Sarah Wilde.  

“It is with sadness, and a hint of disbelief that I must let you know Deluxe will be closing,” the email to musicians reportedly said. “Please allow me to say, I have done everything I can.”

“For the time remaining, I would like to offer some dates for those of you who have been there for such a long time,” the email reportedly continued. “I would like to offer the opportunity to anyone who would like to play again, and is not yet on the calendar this month, the chance to grab a set.”

There was little detail on the reason. But the reported email sure gave some clues in a stemwinder declaring, “We need the multi-billion-dollar real estate company that owns our building, to allow a fraction of their portfolio to remain occupied by small businesses, artists, the unsigned musician, the carpenter, the waitress, and the single parent.”

“We need the insatiable greed of wealthy investors, to give a flapjack about the cities they are systemically draining the color out of,” the statement adds. “But they do not.”


In the hours since that was posted, no media outlets have actually gotten a response from Club Deluxe, and its social media channels have been silent. But the Chronicle reported Wednesday morning that the district’s Supervisor Dean Preston “learned of the closure a day earlier,” and Preston has since taken to Twitter as seen above.

“Club Deluxe is an amazing venue and an important part of the fabric of the Haight and the San Francisco live music scene,” Preston said on Twitter. “We have reached out to the business owner and are exploring whether there’s any path to keeping Club Deluxe at this location.”

Having opened in 1989 (under previous ownership), Club Deluxe has been in place on Haight Street near Ashbury for 33 years. So yes, the club would be eligible for legacy business status.

As of Wednesday morning, the Club Deluxe calendar still has shows scheduled through Sunday, including tonight’s performance described above. If the emailed statement is accurate, they would still be scheduling more “farewell” type shows.

But we also see the clear possibility of some grassroots effort forming to keep the club open, with a push from City Hall. It frankly does not sound as if everything’s copacetic between Club Deluxe and the building’s owner. But we’ll note there's a measure of hope that Club Deluxe can swing a revival, either at its current 1511 Haight Street location, or elsewhere.

Related: Best Places To Hear Jazz In The Bay Area [SFist]

Image: Chuck N. via Yelp