Jackie Jones: San Francisco’s Saw Player

Last month, San Francisco lost Jackie Jones, saw player and long-time resident of the city. She was 93 years old. She played at the Alemany Farmer’s Market for many years. Jackie was a talented woman who played many instruments besides the saw, including the accordion and the guitar. She lived in Florida and New Orleans before moving to San Francisco in the early 1950s. Below is a short documentary about her and an article about her in the Chronicle. Jackie will be missed!

 

Jackie Jones, SF street entertainer who delighted crowds with dancing cat puppet, dies

Jackie Jones was a one-woman band who – with her dancing cat puppet, her musical saw and her feverish renditions of classic tunes from the 1920s and 1930s – charmed and delighted the street fairs, festivals and farmers’ markets of San Francisco for decades.

Here is a picture of Jackie playing guitar at a house party in San Francisco. She was a woman of many talents!

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Rowena Southard, your blog hostess, is a musical saw enthusiast who lives in California. She loves all kinds of music and has a special fondness for unusual instruments.