The last time I saw Chris Esparza was at the San Jose Jazz Summer Fest Kickoff Fundraiser, in May, at the San Jose Fire Museum. He was catching up with the iconic brewer Dan Gordon.
Esparza, who passed away over the weekend, was a pillar of the San Jose arts, restaurant, nightclub, music and events industries for at least 35 years. He helped launch vanguard nightclubs like Ajax and Fuel 44. He opened restaurants like Naglee Park Garage and Blackbird Tavern. He booked bands and parties everywhere and launched various community events everywhere. He was a part of nearly every dimension of downtown San Jose cultural life since the late ’80s.
On the east side, where he’d spent most of his community efforts in the last several years, his spirit was likewise integrated into everything that has unfolded, or is about to unfold. He never stopped believing in San Jose. He never gave up.
Especially these days when promoters, event organizers and community boosters seem to come and go, Esparza was a decades-long constant in San Jose, the real deal. There is hardly anyone who didn’t cross his path.
That said, there is no one in San Jose cultural history more deserving of his own ghost tour than Chris Esparza. I can’t imagine a downtown building that isn’t haunted by his spirit.
Such an adventure wouldn’t even be limited to buildings. Anyone who rides the Ferris Wheel near Christmas in the Park or who attends the Bark in the Park fest on William Street has Chris Esparza to thank, at least partly. Anyone who breaks into the former Gordon Biersch patio on San Fernando will sense the hulking presence of Chris, who booked jazz acts there 30 years ago.
For me, the Esparza Ghost Tour might begin in the industrial wastelands of Santa Clara, at 1400 Martin Ave, the former site of One Step Beyond, the South Bay’s greatest all-ages live music club in the ’80s. Esparza was one of the bouncers. He stood there on stage when the Ramones played. The roster of bands would impress anybody. Motörhead. Ministry. Gene Loves Jezebel. The Stray Cats. The Red Hot Chili Peppers. Jane’s Addiction. The Sugarcubes. All in the ’80s.
From there, my tour might continue to Fil Maresca’s club, F/X, where Chris worked, and then on to the Ajax Lounge, a fantastic joint Chris helped open in 1991, upstairs above what’s now Mama Kin on South First Street. There was no place in San Jose like Ajax, before or since. It was a real-city bar that rivaled anything in San Francisco, Chicago or Los Angeles: oddball jazz, roots music, poetry slams, reggae, zoot suits, Americana, rockabilly, lounge lizards, novelty acts and all sorts of outré characters. The employees were just as eccentric as the customers and everyone knew everyone else.
After Ajax went kaput, Esparza opened Fuel at 44 Almaden, in the same building that later became the Blank Club. Fuel carried on with groovy roots, Latin and jazz vibes. Many employees and customers built lifelong friendships.
Esparza moved on to various restaurants, festivals and community events, always believing in San Jose. He eventually cemented himself on the east side, where he helped transform the Mexican Heritage Plaza, activating the neglected property in ways no one had previously thought possible.
Ultimately, this is my own personal version of the Esparza Ghost Tour. Anyone else can join the tour, 24/7, and follow their own memories of Chris around San Jose. I encourage you to do so. Keep thinking about the enormous impact he had on this town.
In fact, as you read this, people are already adding their own components: In his younger days, Chris threw parties and rented out spaces for all sorts of late-night shenanigans, from underground events in cannery buildings to raves upstairs above restaurants. In different decades, he started the first Kraftbrew Festival and the first PorchFest in Naglee Park. As a teenager, he sold men’s furnishings at Emporium-Capwell.
In this way, the ghost tour is an open-source project, a community-driven adventure. That’s what Chris was all about. Community. He built entire cultural ecosystems in San Jose, and he will always be a part of the landscape. We owe it to him to carry on.
Well done, Gary.
I live with Chris spirt every working day as I currently work in the One Step Building as it wasn’t eerie enough retracing my own steps from eons ago. I will miss that Giant as he will always be a chapter in my own life story. That Chapter will be named Employer, friend, wedding officiant & Brother from another mother. RIP Big Daddy.
Hector
We miss u pgoeltz
Goodbye Chris Esparza ~ Be free
Naglee Park Campus Community Association will greatly miss Chris. He was a warm, intelligent, and thoughtful person who did a lot for his neighborhood, Naglee Park. He brought Naglee Park Porchfest to us and persuaded us to incorporate Naglee Park into our official name, Campus Community Association while he served on our Board of Directors for a number of years. Chris will be sorely missed.
-John Turner, President CCA
I was so sorry to hear the news. I went to high school with Chris. I remember him working at Emporium and seeing him as the club back in the early 90’s. My thoughts are with his family.
Chrys
I have known Chris for over 35 years. I always described him as a great guy who knows what he is talking about and you can always trust him. He had a big heart and a great demeanor. During his bouncer days he said the best bouncer is the one that never gets in a fight. Ajax lounge was a once in a lifetime experience for all of us who “lived it”. Big Chris and Chris Ellerman created an experience we will most likely not have again.I was always comfortable referring people that wanted to invest in the downtown arts and music scene to Chris because he would always be open to give solid advice and elp people succeed. I always considered him a friend I was proud to have and I am shocked at his passing. My deepest sympathy goes out to his family and friends.
Chris did the opposite of what the city has done for downtown; he would make an idea happen, with the good of the people in mind.
So Upstairs at Eulipia became Ajax, with sofas and live jazz and a chill hangout that anyone would be comfortable in. That old garage at 11th and San Carlos? Grab Luis Silva, hammer out a menu, and let’s have live music on the patio, too, because that would be a cool thing to have.
Over and over, Chris made things happen, and San Jose has been demonstrably better because of it.
Godspeed, Chris.
Chris was a real risk taker and a passionate creator of SJ culture. he added to whatever he found. a lover of music and community. a connector and an enthusiast. a friend. It’s so sad he’s gone.
I lived in San Jose over thirty years, and used to work at Hotel De Anza. So saddened to hear about such a loss — someone who helped to make my home a vivacious, thriving environment. Chris brought cultural presence and life to a place I have always loved. Heart and soul. Blessings and embraces to Pilar and Olivia, and all Chris’s family and loved ones. 🦋✨