Musicians and concertgoers across the Bay Area and the world are mourning the death of Kazuo “Kaz” Kajimura, a co-founder of Yoshi’s jazz club and a relentless promoter of myriad genres of music for more than 50 years. Kajimura, who had Alzheimer’s disease, died peacefully at Brentwood Care Home, surrounded by loved ones, on June 15 at age 82.
Kajimura was born in Tokyo and held a bachelor’s degree in science from Waseda University, a master’s in journalism from UC Berkeley, and an MBA from Stanford. Kajimura was also a skilled carpenter. He relocated to the East Bay in the early 1970s, where he shifted gears from journalism to co-founding Yoshi’s in 1972. It was a 27-seat Japanese restaurant in Berkeley established with Yoshie Akiba, an artist and his former wife, and Hugh “Hiro” Hori, a painter and chef.
In 1979, with business buoyant, the trio moved Yoshi’s to Claremont Avenue in Oakland. It was a larger, 130-seat facility, and they chose to introduce live jazz. It quickly became one of the country’s most important jazz clubs, attracting top-tier local and global talent.
Yoshi’s growth continued throughout the 1980s and ’90s, leading it to relocate again in 1997 to its current home in Oakland’s Jack London Square. Its third incarnation debuted with a 310-seat music room combined with a 250-seat restaurant and 60-seat bar and lounge. Kajimura put his carpentry skills to significant use in the venue, sourcing Japanese wood to build all the interior structures, including the stage and every table…