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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]
Sunday, January 18, 5:00pm {$20 suggested for adults; byob. Students, $10. Kids, free. Kai Lyons with the Vince Lateano Trio. Ben Stolorow, piano. Peter Barshay, bass. Vince Lateano, drums. Kai Lyons, guitar. Swing to bop, bossa and beyond. Beyond being just an amazing and uniquely talented young guitarist, Kai is a serious musicologist who has traveled and internalized rhythms and musical languages and dialects from South America to the Caribbean to West Africa, the source of the blues that informs modern jazz. Heady stuff, all true! But don’t take it too serious… Vince runs a relaxed & fun trio. And then… Sunday, January 18, 7:30pm {pay what you like & byob} MUCH MORE FUN – Don’t take it serious! Angie Bennett & Sharon Wayne, two ukes let loose. ________________ Reserve a seat for any of our shows by calling the bookshop at (415) 586-3733. We’ll hold your reservation until the…
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Funk – Jazz – Tango – Jazz – Jazz Thursday, January 22, 7:30pm: Fog City Groove [Soul/Funk/Worldbeat] {$20} _____ Friday, January 23, 6:00pm: 230 Jones Street Band [Hard Bop]{$20} _____ Friday, January 23, 8:30pm: Tango No. 9 [Tango Nuevo y Más] {$20} _____ Saturday, January 24, 7:30pm: Kevin Gerzevitz Trio [plays Herbie Nichols] {$20} _____ Sunday, January 25, 5:00pm: Jam Session/Vince Lateano Trio [jazz] {$20} _____ Reserve a seat by calling the bookshop at (415) 586-3733. We’ll hold your reservation until the music starts. No advance ticket sales; plan to pay with cash at the door, and byob. _____ Thursday, January 22, 7:30–9:30pm {$20, $10 for students; kids free} Fog City Groove Soul/Funk/Worldbeat Shelley Sorenson, vocals/flute; Lisa Hartmeyer, tenor sax; Lear Blitzstein, bari sax; John Brixie, keys; Matt Flynn, guitar; Brian Bishop, congas; John Sweet, bass; Tom Misage, drums Friday, January 23, 6:00–8:00pm {$20, $10 for students; kids free} 230…
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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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Lucas Davis, trumpet Isaac Coyle, bass Miles Turk, drums $20 cover charge; byob. Students $10. For a reservation, call the store at 415-586-3733. The Lucas Davis Trio plays music created by artists who most inspire the trio’s leader, as well as his original compositions embracing a modern aesthetic rooted in the tradition of Black American Music. The trio focuses on improvisation to allow each musician the opportunity to contribute their voices. Lucas Davis is a creative musician dedicated to spreading peace and love by sharing his music with audiences across the world. He is a passionate improviser, performer, and composer in the jazz world, but has thrived in many genres. A graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Lucas studied jazz, roots, and American music under the mentorship of Mike Rodriguez, Mario Guarneri, Matt Brewer, Anthony Wilson, Marcus Printup, and more. He maintains an active career as a freelance…
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Charlie McCarthy, saxophone. Scott Foster, guitar. Luke Schwartz, guitar. $20 suggested cover charge; byob. Students, $5; kids free. For a reservation, call the bookshop at 415-586-3733. Arrive 15 minutes before showtime to claim your seat. Charlie McCarthy has been an acknowledged master of the reeds and flute for decades. His tone is impeccable, his sense of swing and inventiveness ever fresh and sure. A master on the regional jazz scene. Guitarist Scott Foster has been a key player at Bird & Beckett since we began presenting jazz in the bookshop on a weekly basis nearly a quarter of a century ago, in late 2002. Now, you can hear him on the third Friday of each month with a freshly conceived combo every time out. His duo date with young virtuoso guitarist Luke Schwartz a few months back was pure pleasure; this week he merges that delightful pairing with his determination…
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Kim Shuck,San Francisco Poet Laureate Emirta, hosts poetry readings on Zoom twice a month. The second Monday of each month, there are featured readers followed by an open mic. The fourth Sunday of each month, it’s all open mic. Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84350265713?pwd=eE84V3BYdWxiSFBHNHhmdUt1WTUzdz09 Meeting ID: 843 5026 5713 Passcode: 244211 Tonight’s featured readers are Kimi Sugioka and Nala Washington Kimi Sugioka is a mother, educator, songwriter and poet. Her newest book is Wile & Wing on Manic D Press. She is the poet laureate of Alameda, CA and believes that we must use our creative powers to manifest global benevolence. Best of the Net Nominee Nala Washington (she/her) is a poet, writer, and educator, completing her MFA at Texas State University. You can find her words currently/forthcoming in South Florida Poetry Journal, Midnight & Indigo Lit, The Hemlock Journal, Mouthful of Salt, The Santa Clara Review, Livina Press, Essay Magazine,…
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Mainstays of the Bay Area Americana scene for nearly a decade, Nashville Honeymoon has traversed country, rockabilly, bluegrass, and pop across four albums, writing songs that uplift the tangled mess of day-to-day life and investigate universal themes of love and loss – often at the same time. Their latest album, Sidewinder, is true to its title, offering a collection of songs that are grounded in classic country while edging into different sounds, genres, and themes that run through American pop music. Husband and wife, Hank Maninger and Lynne Maes write a lot of the material, mine the country catalogue and tease out some pop to deliver a spirited and charming evening of music with a terrific band that includes guest pedal steel player Joe Goldmark alongside bassist Tim Wagar and drummer Leo Beary. BYOB and $25 cash for the five-piece band. Students $10; kids free.
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Poetry – Jazz – Jazz – Jazz – Country _____ Thursday, January 8, 7:00 – 8:30pm: Sixteen Rivers Press poetry reading {free} _____ Friday, January 9, 6:00 – 8:00pm: Eric & the In Crowd [Songs that start with “C”] {$20} _____ Friday, January 9, 8:30 – 10:00pm: Chris Aschman & Skyy Daddy {$20} _____ Saturday, January 10, 7:30 – 9:30pm: Triology [Dickow / Kerwin / Moore] {$20} _____ Sunday, January 11, 5:00 – 7:00pm: Nashville Honeymoon {$25} _____ Reserve a seat by calling the bookshop at (415) 586-3733. We’ll hold your reservation until the music starts. No advance ticket sales; plan to pay with cash at the door, and byob. _____ Thursday, January 8, 7:00 – 8:30pm Sixteen Rivers Press poetry reading Patrick Cahill, Terry Ehret, Moira Magnussen, and translator Nancy Morales _____ Friday, January 9, 6:00 – 8:00pm Eric & the In Crowd play sngs that start with “C” Eric…
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Jazz – Jazz – Jazz y más! _____ Friday, January 2, 7:30pm: Andrew Higgins Trio {$20} _____ Saturday, January 3, 7:30pm: Noel Jewkes Quintet {$25} _____ Sunday, January 4, 5pm: Avotcja & Modúpue {$25-$40 sliding scale} _____ Reserve a seat by calling the bookshop at (415) 586-3733. We’ll hold your reservation until the music starts. No advance ticket sales; plan to pay with cash at the door, and byob. _____ Friday, 1/2/26, 7:30-9:30pm – $20 The Andrew Higgins Trio Colin Hogan, piano Andrew Higgins, bass Bryan Fishler, drums Ring in the New Year with new music! Andrew, Bryan and Colin will mix new and old to explore philosophical, sonic, and mathematical boundaries of music. What better way to start the year than with something that you definitely didn’t hear in 2025. A good hangover cure, physically and spiritually. ________ Saturday, 1/3/26, 7:30-9:30pm – $25 The Noel Jewkes Quintet Noel Jewkes,…
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Sixteen Rivers Press is a shared-work, nonprofit poetry collective dedicated to providing an alternative publishing avenue for Northern California poets. Founded in 1999 by seven writers, including Terry Ehret, one of the poets presenting tonight, the press is named for the sixteen rivers that flow into San Francisco Bay. Learn more about the collective here. Tonight’s reading will include Terry Ehret and Nancy J. Morales reading their translations of poems by Ulalume Gonzalez de Leon, and, reading their own poems, Patrick Cahill, Bonnie Wai-Lee Kwong and Moira Magneson. Patrick Cahill’s If we are the forest the animals dream is just out from Sixteen Rivers Press, following The Machinery of Sleep, also from Sixteen Rivers Press, published in 2020. His poems have twice won the Central Coast Writers Award. A cofounder and editor of Ambush Review, a San Francisco–based literary and arts journal, he was also a contributing editor for the…
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Tuesday, December 30, 7:30pm {$25} Levit/Behrman Collective Joel Behrman, trumpet; Jesse Levit, saxophone; Matt Clark, piano; Joshua Thurston-Milgrom, bass; Jeff Marrs, drums. Hard bop and contemporary sounds; originals and jazz classics. Nothing beats a trumpet/saxophone front line with a solid rhythm section, and these players are among the very best of the local scene. Here’s video from the quintet’s 4/17/25 Bird & Beckett performance (click on the image to go to the recording): ***** Reserve a seat by calling the bookshop at (415) 586-3733. We’ll hold your reservation until the music starts. No advance ticket sales; plan to pay with cash at the door, and byob. ***** Bird & Beckett invites you to enjoy live jazz in the bookshop every weekend, a long tradition that dates back to 2002 in Glen Park. Shows every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and other events sprinkled through the week — author events, poetry…
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Friday 12/19, 6-8pm: Scott Foster / David Boyce Duo {$20}…Friday 12/19, 8:30-10pm: Tommy Noble Trio {$20}…Saturday, 12/20, 7:30-9:30pm: Steve Carter Quartet {$25}. Sunday, 12/21, 5-7pm: Vince Lateano Trio with guest Erik Jekabson on trumpet {$20}. Sunday, 12/21, 7:30-9:30pm: Tim Lin Quartet “Heartfelt” Album release concert, with Charles Chen, piano; Nick Panoutsos, bass; Jason Tiemann, drums {$20}. ***** Make seat reservations by calling the bookshop at 415-586-3733. We’ll hold your reservation until the music starts. No advance ticket sales; plan to pay with cash at the door, and byob. Thanks for supporting live jazz in San Francisco. We’ve been presenting four to five shows a week for several years, with the tradition here dating back to 2002, nearly a quarter of a century! Poetry and other literary and community events as well. ***** Sunday 12/21, 5pm: The Vince Lateano Trio with guest Erik Jekabson, trumpet. Drummer Vince…
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Novelist Bart Schneider with poet Genine Lentine Thursday at 7pm Eric & the In Crowd Friday at 6pm $20 Russian Telegraph, a sextet, Friday at 8:30pm $30 The Michael Mitchell Quartet Saturday at 7:30pm $20 Deep Thicket Dwellers live album recording Sunday at 7pm $20 Saturday, noon to 3pm, while Santa bounces the kiddies on his knee down the street and internalizes their consumerist dreams (that’s Christmas, baby!), Art Walk SF sponsors a pop-up with artist Angelia Lim in the shop. To expand on all that high hilarity: Thursday at 7, writer Bart Schneider brings us Giacometti’s Last Ride, following the Swiss sculptor and painter Alberto Giacometti in Paris during his last years. Once Giacometti meets Caroline, the “working girl” who…
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Michael Mitchell is a fabulous drummer who came to the Bay Area from NYC several years ago, to our great good fortune. The quartet comprises Raffi Garabedian, sax; Michael Potter, piano; Nico Martinez, bass; and Mike on drums. $20 cover charge (cash at the door, please); byob. students, $10. For a reservation, as true for all of our shows, you can, and should, call the shop at 415-586-3733.
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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.
TAKE OUR SURVEY
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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
