On Saturday, we saw smooth jazz icon David Benoit at Yoshi's in San Francisco.

Smooth jazz is not my favourite format, but David Benoit is a skillful enough performer that he overcomes the limitations of the genre. It was a good show, mainly built around material from his latest CD Heroes, where he does songs from some of his jazz heroes. The highlight of the show was his version of the Dave Brubeck tune Blue Rondo à la Turk.

This was our first trip to the new Yoshi's in San Francisco, located in the somewhat scruffy Fillmore district. The feel of the new Yoshi's is more upscale than the old one in Oakland - particularly the restaurant/bar section. The auditorium itself has what looks like exactly the same floorplan as the old Yoshi's, which makes for a weird deja vu when you enter it, but with the addition of a balcony with additional seating. This makes the space much more cavernous, and while the acoustics sounded good, there was a lack of an intimate feeling due to the very high ceiling.