The Creative Lives of Animals offers readers intimate glimpses of creativity in the lives of animals, from elephants to alligators to ants. Drawing on a growing body of scientific research, Carol Gigliotti unpacks examples of creativity demonstrated by animals through the lens of the creative process, an important component of creative behavior, and offers new…

Americana noir from a master songwriter, with bassist Mike Anderson.  

Bart Schneider’s new book from Kelly’s Cove Press, The Daily Feast, is a joyous and savory collaboration between old friends, Sonoma painter Chester Arnold and Berkeley poet Bart Schneider. All the work focuses on food and drink, from oysters on the half shell to dirty martinis, with an afterword by legendary Napa chef and restaurateur…

Come out for a special night with NYC-based jazz pianist Joe Davidian. A consummate musician, Joe’s deep affinity for feel-good rhythms and strong melodies is evident in his dynamic playing. Joined by local musicians John Wiitala (bass) and Brian Fishler (drums), the trio will regale us with tunes from The Great American Songbook with a…

Bird & Beckett’s events open to the public have been back since mid-June 2021. Mask up and come in! (do please bring proof of full vaccination. Not vaxxed? Please get vaxxed and join us!) Jazz, poetry & more live in the shop and live streamed Come to 653 Chenery if you’re in town! Doors open…

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…

Oakland-based ensemble The TOaG Quartet brings a dazzling breadth of improvisational music, all composed in response to and reflecting on the tumultuous last several years – which hit professional creatives especially hard. Described as “Swinging and Funky,” “Beautiful and Groovin,” “Dark and Spacey,” and “Raw but Refined,” The TOaG Quartet, under the direction of bassist…

Ed Cherry is one of the greats of jazz. He’s been on that course since the late 1970s, and is solidly in his prime. Tonight, he leads a trio in the intimate space that is Bird & Beckett. $20 cash cover charge. BYOB. Doors open at 7:20pm for the 7:30pm show. Call for reservations –…

Regarding Daniel Wolff”s new book from Four Way Books, More Poems About Money: Poet Rosanna Warren calls it “an angry and ingenious collection… [that] indicts global capitalism in a fury of word-play, rhymes, squint-eyed sonnets, and puns.” Author Jonathan Galassi describes the work as “razor-sharp, deeply witty, sardonic meditations.” This Wolff’s fourth collection; his poetry…

The Potrero Hillbillies — Joshua Raoul Brody, Joe Cunningham and Christopher Gray — dig into the songbook of one of the key bands of old, weird America. $20 cash cover charge, byob Reservations, call 415-586-3733. Live streamed on the Bird & Beckett YouTube channel and Facebook page.$10 suggested donation per the directions on the screen…

Jump rhythm & blues! Karina Denike, vocal Tom Griesser, sax Michael McIntosh, piano Joe Kyle, Jr., bass Randy Lee Odell, drums $25 cash cover charge ($20-25 sliding scale) BYOB Reservations, call 415-586-3733. Live streamed on the Bird & Beckett YouTube channel and Facebook page. $10 suggested donation per the directions on the screen (paypal, venmo,…

The New Squatoolas take you on a joyous romp in a New Orleans mode, playing the music of NOLA jazz, funk and soul pioneers – The Meters, Smokey Johnson, Fats Domino, The Nevilles, The Wild Tchoupitoulas, ‘Fess – as well as original compositions invoking the style and vibe of those and other greats of that…

Drummer Tony Johnson leads a quartet on the 4th Friday of each month. And here it is the fourth Friday! But he’s out tonight; we’ll see him with the 230 Jones Street band at the end of December. His regular colleagues tenor player Bob Kenmotsu and pianist Keith Saunders have recruited Doug Miller to fill…

Drive down to Bird & Beckett on Friday, with Thanksgiving and all its trimmings in the rear view. San Francisco born & bred Annette A. Aguilar is out west and stops in for some coquito & conga action with family and you, her newfound old time friends. After her teen years all over the latin…

Two shows on Friday: a happy hour rumba and an evening of jazz with the Bob Kenmotsu Quartet to follow! Saturday, it’s the New Squatoolas bringing the spirit of New Orleans, and Sunday, jump blues and R&B quintet, the Cottontails followed by the Potrero Hillbillies playing the music of The Band and a few other…

Bassist Peter Barshay and pianist Ben Stolorow join drummer Vince Lateano for two sets of jazz for your pleasure, and ours. BYOB and a twenty for the band! Our events are live streamed on our YouTube channel and Facebook page. Your kind donations while watching online help us pay the musicians and support the stream.…

A couple dozen “cranky” and concise essays by our esteemed San Francisco Poet Laureate Emerita Kim Shuck were published just a month or two ago by our good friends at Andover Archives Press, just on the eve of a 9,000 ramble around the country. She’s back now & we’ll celebrate by joining Kim for a…

    Sunday, November 20 – 4 pm – free – byob Kim Shuck hosts a reading to celebrate the new Beat Not Beat anthology Kim writes: Beat Not Beat is a collection of poems from poets Beat, Beat adjacent and parallel styles of writing. Many contemporary California writers benefit from literary stands taken by…

Daniel Fabricant on bass + Ben Goldberg on clarinet tonight! BYOB and a twenty for the band. Or donate & watch it in the stream on our facebook page or youtube channel! Rob Reich is quintessentially what makes the San Francisco music scene a vibrant and vital mecca for independent music; he’s become one of…

Saturday, November 19 – 7:30pm – $25-30 sliding scale – BYOB The man, the legend, the rumor – Ben Goldberg Ben is here with Ben Goldberg’s Glamorous Escapades, an all-sex star-tet! Who’s in this band, you ask? How about Rob Sudduth, tenor saxophone; Danny Lubin-Laden, trombone; Will Bernard, electric guitar; Owen Clapp, electric bass; Jordan…

Friday, November 18 – 7:30pm – $20 – BYOB Scott Foster joins forces with the Vince Lateano Trio Scott Foster, guitar Ben Stolorow, piano Peter Barshay, bass Vince Lateano, drums