Live Streaming every show!
Refresh your browser to catch a show in progress!
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But nothing beats being in the room with the music & the musicians!
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653 Chenery Street in San Francisco's Glen Park neighborhood
Open to walk-in trade and browsing Tuesday to Sunday noon to six
phone: 1-415-586-3733 email: [email protected]
Walker Brents III talks on a subject of his choosing most months on a mid-month, mid-week date as befits his and the bookstore’s schedules. This time out, his subject is Patti Smith. Patti Smith has inspirational medicine. She shares her knowledge. She strengthens individual romantic belief. Humble and loveable, her hands are full of lightning. This is primarily a live stream, findable on our website, our YouTube channel and our Facebook page — though you can feel free to come into the half-light of the shop to hear Walker live and in person. If the gate or door are locked, knock on the window or holler. We’ll let you in and set you up with a chair. If you visit one of those livestream junctions, just refresh your browser at showtime to catch the talk. The stream won’t be in evidence until we’ve hit…
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A Tribute to Don Prell & SeaBop. Friday, June 19th — 7:30pm. Jim Grantham, tenor saxophone. Scott Foster, guitar. Ollie Dudek, bass. Omar Aran, drums. $20 cover charge / byob. Students $10 / kids free. For a reservation, call the bookshop at 415-586-3733. Bassist Don Prell, born in 1929, has passed at the age of 96. We’ll pay tribute this Friday to Don and his long-running band, SeaBop, when guitarist Scott Foster convenes a session with a few of the many SeaBop alumni who did serious jazz time with the irrepressible band leader. Don was a professional jazz musician from the age of 15, when he joined Los Angeles Local 47 of the American Federation of Musicians, requiring special permission to join because of his age. Soon, he went on the road with the Frank Ortega Band and along the way he played with prominent jazz musicians including Buddy Rich,…
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A Birthday Bash for Noel Jewkes. Saturday, June 20th – 7:30pm. $25 cover charge, byob. Students $10; kids free. For a reservation, call the shop at 415-586-3733. Noel Jewkes, reeds. Keith Saunders, piano. Heshima Mark Williams, bass. Mark Lee, drums. Kay Kostopoulos, vocals. Noel Jewkes and the Bird & Beckett proprietor, Eric, share a birthday, and try to rendezvous in the shop on or about the date each year for a performance by Noel and his compatriots. We’re pulling it off again this year. It’s always a pleasure to present the swingingest cat in Northern California jazz, and it’ll be no exception this year, as Noel turns 86 and Eric turns 70. Come out and help us celebrate! And enjoy some fine jazz in the bargain!
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Sunday, June 21st – 5-7pm. Sunday Happy Hour Show. The Smith Dobson Quartet. Smith Dobson, saxophone. Keith Saunders, piano. Eric Markowitz, bass. Tony Johnson, drums. It’s the Sunday happy hour show at Bird & Beckett, bring something to sip and pay what you can. Bring a snack for yourself or bring some food to share. Stay for a tune, stay for a set, stay for the evening. $20 is nice, but you decide what it’s worth, and what you can afford; students $0 to $10, your call; kids free. This long-running association of musicians held forth for years at the Club Deluxe on Haight Street. We’re still waiting for that great spot to be resurrected. In the meantime, you can recapture a bit of the magic — or capture it for your very first time — when saxophonist Smith Dobson fronts a rhythm section well known to Bird & Beckett…
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Jonah Hieb, trumpet. Brahm Sasner, piano. Isaac Coyle, bass. Guilhem Fourty, drums. $20 Cover Charge / BYOB. Students $10. For Reservations call (415) 586-3733. Guilhem Fourty, born and raised in Toulouse, France and now based in NYC, is bringing his modern jazz quartet to Bird & Beckett to present his original music and arrangements of jazz standards. His quartet at Bird & Beckett tonight features the fantastic young bassist Isaac Coyle, a vital member of the Bay Area jazz community, and two of Guilhem’s young colleagues on the New York scene, pianist Brahm Sasner, born and raised in San Francisco, and trumpet player Jonah Hieb, raised in Seattle. Isaac is jamming out to Glen Park for this gig from another engagement, so we’ll start with a short trio set of trumpet, piano and drums to set the stage for the full quartet. Fourty began drumming at the age of five…
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Wednesday, June 24th — 7pm. Three San Francisco poets read their new collections from Colorado’s Lithic Press. Ava Koohbor, Of Flesh and Frequency: A Poetics of Sound Making Jessica Loos, Tambourine Marina Lazzara, The House Begins an Alphabet with music by Blind Van de Monk. _____ Thursday, June 25th – 7:30pm. Tango No. 9 performs nuevo and classic tango. Catharine Clune, violin. Greg Stephens, trombone. J Raoul Brody piano & accordion. Zoltan diBartolo, tenor. _____ Friday, June 26th – 7:30pm. Byrds of a Feather jazz reggae Forging resistance and a solution for the pollution of this administration with new releases Vampire President and Garden of Delights. David Byrd, saxophone & vocals. Toho Saunders, bass & vocals. Eli Goldlink, keys. Jordan “J Bird” Davis, drums. _____ Saturday, June 27th – 7:30pm. B3B4 plays Hammond organ jazz classics and originals. Kevin Gerzevitz, organ. Tom Griesser, saxophone. Scott Foster, guitar. Dan Foltz, drums. _____ Sunday,…
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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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$20 cover charge; byob. A deal! Students $10; kids free. Mo bettah! Reservations: call the shop at 415-586-3733 Will and Beth interrupt their regular programming to introduce Ken Emerson, a long time friend and collaborator. The evening will include, along with Will and Beth’s compositions, a selection of vintage jazz and blues as well as Hawaiian slack-key, hula and hapa-haole songs with Will on guitar, Beth on clarinet and voice and Ken on lap steel and resonator guitars. This will fun meeting of the spirits. Will and Ken have performed before, notably at Kauai’s Red Clay festival where they teamed up with Ken’s Hawaiian trio to perform 30’s an 40’s Hawaiian music. Beth and Will have collaborated for decades. BETH CUSTER Beth Custer is a member of the ensembles Russian Telegraph, Club Foot Orchestra,Trance Mission, Eighty Mile Beach, Will Bernard/Beth Custer and Beth Custer Ensembles, Clarinet Thing, and The Mighty…
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Gail (Li’l Bit) Muldrow, guitar and vocals. Paul Lamb, bass. Nick Otis, drums and vocals. $20 suggested donation, but pay just what you can for our Sunday shows. byob. Students, $5-$10 suggested; kids free. Come for a tune, come for the afternoon, it’s all fine. For a seat reservation, call the shop at 415-586-3733, but your seat is up for grabs at showtime, so don’t be late! Nick Otis returns to Bird & Beckett tonight with all the Otis family’s funk and soul, driving a mighty blues/rock trio featuring the powerhouse guitarist and vocalist Gail Muldrow. Nick, a hard rockin’ drummer leading the party from behind the kit, is the rightful heir to the Johnny Otis legacy, alongside brothers Shuggie and Jon, Nick’s son Niko and Shuggie’s son Eric. And then there’s Gail, a fierce guitarist who played and sang with Sly & the Family Stone and Graham Central Station, who…
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Bruce Ackley, soprano saxophone. Steve Adams, alto saxophone. Larry Ochs, tenor saxophone. Jon Raskin, baritone saxophone. $20 Cover Charge / BYOB. Students $10; Kids Free. For Reservations call (415) 586-3733. Rova returns to the bandstand for its first concert in two years, presenting new and recent works. Think of the human voice in music. The most primal of instruments, it can melt you or move you to tears on the spot. Then it’s the saxophone, one-step removed from the human voice, and the next most powerful messenger in music. Johnny Hodges, Albert Ayler, Steve Lacy, Pharoah Sanders, Oliver Lake, King Curtis, Tim Berne, John Butcher – to name only a few of the many singular voices on the instrument who, with one short phrase or even one sound, can take your breath away, or excite and inspire you to great heights. Multiply that power, that capability, times 4, and you…
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Joshi Marshall, tenor saxophone. Sam Heminger, upright bass. Micah McClain, drums. $20 Cover Charge / BYOB. Students $10; kids free. For reservations call (415) 586-3733. The Joshi Marshall Project will be performing music ranging from bebop to Bob Dylan, including selections from Joshi’s 2009 debut album “In the Light.” Joshi had a large role in the Acid Jazz and Hip Hop Jazz scene in the San Francisco club area known as South of Market, culminating perhaps with the locally renowned and internationally famous touring outfit Mingus Amungus. Coming out of the fertile Berkeley High jazz generation of the late 1970s to early 1990s, he played and recorded with seminal groups of the era including Groove Shop, Daddy Goddess, Human Flavor, The Mofessionals, Jungle Biskit, Alphabet Soup and Bop City. By 1995 Joshi had established himself as one of the premier sax players in the Bay Area and became one of…
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6/12/26, Friday, 7:30pm, $20. Joshi Marshall Project. Joshi Marshall, saxophone. Sam Heminger, bass. Micah McClain, drums. 6/13/26, Saturday, 7:30pm, $20. Rova Saxophone Quartet. Jon Raskin, bari sax. Bruce Ackley, soprano sax. Steve Adams, alto sax. Larry Ochs, tenor sax. 6/14/26, Sunday, 5pm, $20. The Nick Otis Orchestra. Gail (Li’l Bit) Muldrow, guitar & vocals. Paul Lamb, bass. Nick Otis, drums & vocals. 6/14/26, Sunday, 8pm, $20. Beth Custer, clarinet. Will Bernard, guitar. Ken Emerson, slack key & lap steel guitars.
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5/29/26, Friday – 7:30pm: The David Parker Sextet plays Mingus, Dolphy, Coltrane, Coleman and more. Henry Hung, trumpet; Charles Hamilton, trombone; Hal Richards, bass clarinet & tenor sax; Karl Evangelista, guitar; Dave Parker, bass; Valentino Peeps, drums. $25-30 sliding scale cover charge; byob. Students $10; kids free. 5/30/26, Saturday – 7:30pm: Klaxon Mutant All-Stars. Henry Hung, trumpet; Kasey Knudsen, saxophone; Colin Hogan, keyboard; Jonathan Herrera, bass; Eric Garland, drums. $25 cover charge; byob. Students $10; kids free. 5/31/26, Sunday – 5pm: Jam Session hosted by the Vince Lateano Trio. 5/31/26, Sunday – 7:30pm: Jairo Vargas, aka Rojai, brings his band Rojai in the Pocket to celebrate the end of the school year! When Rojai isn’t carrying on the work of rocking the hip hop foundations of San Francisco’s soul — along the path trod by Bayonics, Hot Pocket and other outfits through the last couple of decades, Jairo is…
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Kai Lyons of San Francisco, versatile guitarist and devoted musicologist, travels extensively to learn from the musical traditions of cultures beyond the borders of the U.S., particularly to various African countries as well as Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. Over the years, he has often visited Cuba, and most often recently the city of Guantánamo, capital of the southeastern province of Guantánamo, from whence hails the gran maestro reginero, freestyle poet/lyricist José Andrés Rodríguez Ramírez of the Latin Grammy nominated Grupo Changüí de Guantánamo. In 2023, at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, Kai encountered José Andrés, recently retired from Changüí de Guantánamo and living in Tampa, Florida. This is the third visit to San Francisco of José Andrés that Kai has facilitated. Grupo Changüí de Guantánamo, historically the foremost proponent of its genre, was formed in 1945 by the Veranes brothers, “Chito” Latamblé Veranes, renowned…
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Big Lou, accordion Kit Robberson, viola da gamba David Golia, guitar Bing Nathan, bass $20 adults / $10 students / kids free Playing such old French music hall tunes as “The Poor People of Paris”, aka “La Goualante de Pauvre Jean,” and “El Choclo,” Innuendo invites you to listen and savor the romance of yesteryear in Paris.
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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," 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.
Click on "donate" in the navigation bar above. Better yet, make a check out to the “Bird & Beckett Cultural Legacy Project” and drop it off or mail it to:
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.
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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
