The first jazz club I ever stepped foot in was the old Keystone Korner in North Beach, San Francisco. It was the summer of 1979, and the bill was Eddie Harris and Les McCann. I was 14. It was intoxicating.

Described by its owner/manager Todd Barkan as a “bona fide psychedelic jazz club,” Keystone was a beacon of light in the sometimes dark 1970s of jazz, with a remarkable range of programming from the avant garde to the old traditionalists. The club’s run lasted a decade, ending in 1983. Photographer Kathy Sloane was there, and she has just published a beautiful book on the club. In addition to a generous helping of her wonderful black and white photos, she’s done a veritable oral history of the club and the scene it contained — and there’s a CD of live recordings from the club, including Bill Evans, Woody Shaw, Stan Getz, Dexter Gordon, Rahsaan Roland Kirk…

You can read my review of the book–and see a couple of Sloane’s fine photos–at All About Jazz.

Also see Kathy Sloane’s web site for more photos.