653 Chenery Street
in San Francisco's Glen Park neighborhood
1-415-586-3733
[email protected]
Open to walk-in trade and browsing
Tuesday to Sunday
noon to six
Live Streams every weekend!
Refresh your browser to catch a show in progress!
Visit our Facebook page or YouTube channel!
But nothing beats being in the room with the music & the musicians!
Scott Foster, guitar. Luke Schwartz, guitar. $15 suggested donation, byob. teens and students, $5. kids free. Two generations, once teacher and student, now colleagues in the San Francisco jazz galaxy. Scott and Luke have developed their own unique style of duo guitar performance over several years of performing together, with an emphasis on counterpoint, conversation and texture, all the while staying true to the standard tradition. Luke Schwartz, born and raised in San Francisco, returned to the Bay Area to make his mark on the local scene after stints in New Orleans and New York. His guitar style is influenced by contemporary and old-school jazz players such as Jim Hall, Joe Pass, Jesse Van Ruller, Peter Bernstein & Kurt Rosenwinkel. His compositional style is also inspired by that of Steve Swallow, Wayne Krantz & Bud Powell. Scott Foster–Performing Arts Department Chair and Jazz Band Director at Urban School of San…
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Swerve Control is a ferociously adventurous new band featuring and co-led by Darren Johnston on trumpet, Kai Lyons on guitar, Rob Ewing on bass and Dillon Vado on drums. This band is known for playing expansive and strikingly original music; their improvisational approach is inspired by the late 60’s Miles Davis groups, informed by individual group members’ experiences with Brazilian, Cuban and Balkan rhythms. Swerve Control is dynamic, playful and fearless while also playing with sincerity and a deep passion for listening to one another. $20 cover charge, cash or venmo at the door; byob. For a reservation, call the shop at 415-586-3733.
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Luxurious guitar and exotica. Cool swing and soul with a hot trio. That’s Jinx’s jazz bag! Welcome a true apostle of the many towering gods of the jazz guitar traditions, from Freddie Green to Charlie Christian to Tal Farlow to Wes Montgomery to Barney Kessel to Joe Pass to Kenny Burrell to Grant Green to Emily Remler to Mimi Fox… byob and a twenty for the trio! Jinx Jones, guitar Kenan O’Brien, bass Ken Owen, drums $20 cover charge — cash or venmo at the door teens and students, $10 kids free for a reservation, please call the shop at 415-202-4870
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You never know who might drop in. Maybe you! The Vince Lateano Trio will make you feel right at home! BYOB and a twenty for the trio.
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David K. Mathews, piano Wayne de Silva, tenor saxophone John Wiitala, bass Akira Tana, drums $20 cover charge; byob. Reservations, call 415-586-3733 20 years with Santana after 15 years with Etta James, Dave Mathews first made his mark with three years in Tower of Power. Once he left Tower Of Power he worked on that playing with artists like Pete Escovedo, Sheila E. and Ray Obiedo. Eventually jazz became his great love, though Etta James and Carlos Santana have kept him very busy and happy indeed for decades… But he’s on break with Santana just now, and he’s having a blast re-integrating to the gigging jazz scene in San Francisco. For his Bird & Beckett date, he’s assembled a killer quartet. You don’t want to miss out on this. “Home grown Dave Mathews… he can play everything.” –Etta James “Dave K Mathews is imperative to the band because he’s got knowledge…
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The Good War is just out, and writer Elizabeth Costello invited Rent Romus and Suki O’Kane to share the stage to raise funds for Romus’s most excellent Outsound New Music Summit! Suggested donation for the event, $20 cash/venmo. BYOB. And bring your checkbook or the digital equivalent to make a donation to the Outsound New Music Summit, under preparation at this writing for your enjoyment this July! The Summit performance schedule includes music and sound ranging from free improvisation, to electronic manipulation, to noise, to sonic sculptural art reflecting genre-busting exploration and creativity. In addition, the festival promotes intermedia arts, fostering cross-pollination through film, dance, and writing. The Summit has supported more than 360 performing groups and artists since 2002! Part of Elizabeth’s debut novel, The Good War, takes place in the summer of 1964 in New York City and features a character who becomes obsessed with Eric Dolphy’s Out to…
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Larry Ochs (Rova Saxophone Quartet) unveils his latest musical collective featuring Lisa Mezzacappa, Darren Johnston & Ben Davis In the perfect environment for close listening, Larry Ochs once again brings a new ensemble to Bird & Beckett and invites you, the listeners, to join the musicians in enjoying their spontaneous but carefully sculpted music as it happens, in real time. Through repeated performances, musical discussions after shows, and rehearsals, this music slowly but confidently evolves. The audience and the performance environment matter. There’s no more perfect environment than Bird & Beckett to hear the intimate sound sculptures that Tales End will perform on February 28 @ 8:30 PM. Conceptually, Tales End might be said to be administratively led by Larry Ochs. The music itself will develop collectively, with a small pool of like-minded musicians rotating in to listen, play, and respond, when available. Ben Davis – cello Darren Johnston – trumpet Lisa Mezzacappa – acoustic…
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thanks to your generous support, the good life goes on in San Francisco! (Click through to see the February schedule and take peak at March’s calendar as well–if you’ve already clicked through, scroll down!) Make it a point to get back to where
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Good news! In mid-September, we signed on with a fiscal sponsor–the 501(c)3 nonprofit Jazz in the Neighborhood–and are now offering tax-deductibility for your donations to the Bird & Beckett Cultural Legacy Project (“BBCLP”). Write your check to Jazz in the Neighborhood and note “BBCLP deductible donation” in the memo line, then drop it off at the shop or mail it to us. We’ll forward it to Jazz in the Neighborhood. Cash is fine if you prefer. Or donate through Paypal, once or on a recurring basis. Bright moments ahead, thanks to you! The BBCLP makes it possible for Bird & Beckett to present live cultural events, paying a guaranteed fair wage to the musicians and at least a modest stipend to our featured poets, and also to pursue our publishing activities. Where it stands now: In 2024, Bird & Beckett celebrated a quarter century in business since our doors opened…
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Bird & Beckett’s events open to the publichave been back since mid-June 2021.Mask up if you’re inclined, and do come in!(Not vaxxed? Please get vaxxed and be safer!) Jazz, poetry & morelive in the shopand live streamed Come to 653 Chenery if you’re in town! Doors open at 7:20 for our 7:30 shows.$20 cover for trios and quartets$25 for quintets, $30 for sextets, etc.Cash at the door please!BYOB and BYOglass, and pack out what you pack in! Please feel free to wear a mask in the shop.We trust the science and its processes,and we trust SF’s DPH to keep us up to date on best practices! Advised best practices as of early September 2021 was to wear a mask indoors around people. If that makes you a little more comfortable being inside this winter, then do feel free. Sure you’re vaccinated and even if you contract the virus it’s unlikely…
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Hungry to hear some of Bird & Beckett’s past live streams? On the home page you can scroll down to read the individual posts for the shows we’ve mounted in the past several months, a hint of what’s gone down since the pandemic lock-down began. In more amazing times, it would take you right back to the very first show of the current period, back on March 12, 2020, but that beautiful skein is no longer quite so easily accessed. Still, the evidence is there for those who dig. The March 12, 2020 show that signaled the shift was a Thursday evening performance by New York saxophonists Jessica and Tony Jones, both alumni of the Berkeley High jazz program, with NYC bassist Stomu Takeishi and local hero Deszon X. Claiborne on drums. The quartet’s booking for the night before at the Backroom over in Berkeley had been cancelled. A few…
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The posts that follow show you what’s come and gone. Search the videos on our youtube channel or facebook page to find evidence of what you remember, or what you missed! Then, make sure you catch the next thing that catches your fancy. The live streams are great, but live music in a room with folks you know or ought to get to know, that’s irreplaceable…
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This month, Walker considers Thich Nhat Hanh: The timeless simplicity of his teaching defies our surfaces even as it nourishes our depths. A skillful conveyer of the great lucidities: poetry, art, parable, history, myth; he was also a disciplined expositor of ancient meditative techniques. A stranger in a strange land, a voice for the voiceless, and a humble monk. Martin Luther King nominated him for the Nobel Prize, back in 1967. He credited Nhat Hanh’s influence as one of the factors in his decision to publicly oppose the war in Vietnam. Walker Brents III’s talks, which take place most months during the academic year on a mid-month, mid-week schedule, are presented by live stream on our YouTube channel and Facebook page, which can both be accessed via the video window at the top of our website’s home page. The talks remain available and accessible after the fact on both platforms.…
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Sir Kahil El’Zabar, voice, trapset, cajon, kalimba. Corey Wilkes, trumpet. Kevin Nabors, tenor saxophone. $35 at the door, cash or venmo please! Teens and students $15; kids free byob. For a reservation, call the shop at 415-586-3733. Sir Kahil El’Zabar’s Ethnic Heritage Ensemble is touring the United States and Canada this February on its 2025 Heart & Soul tour! Catch the EHE’s 7th Black History Month appearance at Bird & Beckett since February 2017, the year that core trio mates Corey Wilkes and Alex Harding joined the Ensemble. Alex is committed to dates with the Sun Ra Arkestra this time out, but Kevin Nabors, a Chicago phenom, has joined up for the 2025 tour. The EHE’s 2025 Bird & Beckett performance will be the first of just three West Coast stops on the 2025 Heart & Soul tour–their 14th stop in 19 shows scheduled from the East Coast to…
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Idris Ackamoor, saxophone. Bobby Cobb, guitar. Heshima Mark Williams, bass. Randy Merritt, drums. $20 cover charge; byob. Cash or venmo at the door please; no plastic! For a reservation, call the shop at 415-586-3733. Premiere performance of Idris Ackamoor’s new quartet, presenting new material and kicking off a series of performances by Idris in multiple configurations — his recently formed trio with Carlos Niño and Nate Mercereau (Feb 19 at the Chapel), his long-running (since 1972), internationally acclaimed touring band, the Pyramids (April 19 at The Lab), and his Ankhestra (June 15 at SFJAZZ). The Ankhestra’s debut album “Artistic Being” is soon to be released! It all started with the Pyramids in Paris and Africa, continued in San Francisco with Cultural Odyssey, his amazing, long-running collaboration with Rhodessa Jones, and continues on with the trio, quartet and Ankhestra! Don’t miss this quartet stop at Bird & Beckett! In honour of…
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SUPPORT BIRD & BECKETT - DONATE TODAY!
Your donation to the Bird & Beckett Cultural Legacy Project helps us pay for a multitude of operating expenses necessary to present, promote and preserve local music, poetry, and more.
Help us keep the arts alive and thriving!
The Bird & Beckett Cultural Legacy Project was created in 2007 "to present, document and archive the creative work of significant living writers and musicians in the San Francisco Bay Area, for a neighborhood audience and future generations." We've been doing that very thing for more than a decade and a half, continuing the work we began when the store was established in 1999.
We continue to present a full slate of programming of live music and poetry readings, and produce a literary journal and poetry chapbooks, and we seek and welcome your continued financial support by way of donations through our fiscal sponsor, Jazz in the Neighborhood.
Click on "donate" in the navigation bar above. Better yet, send or drop off a check made out to our fiscal sponsor, Jazz in the Neighborhood, with BBCLP in the memo line. Our mailing address is:
Bird & Beckett Cultural Legacy Project
653 Chenery Street
San Francisco, CA 94131
Call us at (415) 586-3733 to find out how else you might lend your support.
TAKE OUR SURVEY
To take our SURVEY, click here, and help the BBCLP get to know you better! As Duke Ellington always said, we love you madly...
The Bird & Beckett Cultural Legacy Project
Our events are put on under the umbrella of the Bird & Beckett Cultural Legacy Project (the "BBCLP"). That's how we fund our ambitious schedule of 300 or so concerts and literary events every year.
The BBCLP is a [Read More ]
The Independent Musicians Alliance
Gigging musicians! You have nothing to lose but your lack of a collective voice to achieve fair wages for your work!
The IMA can be a conduit for you, if you join in to make it work.
https://www.independentmusiciansalliance.org/
Read more here - Andy Gilbert's Feb 25 article about the IMA from KQED's site
