Best Jazz Joint

Savanna Jazz

2937 Mission (at 25th Street), 285-3369, www.savannajazz.com

Today's local jazz scene isn't nearly so prosperous as when the Blackhawk, El Matador, and Jimbo's Bop City kept the town swingin', but down in the Mission an elegant new nightspot is helping to keep the flame alive. Savanna Jazz is an intimate and shadowy venue of the classic tradition where live and lively music is performed six nights a week in a setting that seems to glow in the candlelight. Sarah Vaughan, Count Basie, Bill Evans, and dozens of others offer benediction from classic LP covers lining the walls. Roomy booths and tables for two face a raised stage set into an alcove, and comfortable chairs and low tables up front create the effect of a particularly stylish living room. The Sunday night jam sessions (no cover, two-drink minimum) are especially explosive and enriching and enthralling -- much like America's classical music itself.