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!
Friday, 8/22, 6pm, Tony Johnson’s 230 Jones Street Band. w/Charlie McCarthy, sax; Sam Cady, piano; Chuck Bennett, bass. Hard bop & swing! $20 cover charge; $10 students; kids free. ~##~ Friday, 8/22, 8:30pm – Byrds of a Feather: saxophonist David Byrd & friends. Jazz Reggae & Vocalese ala Eddie Jefferson! $20 cover charge; students $10 ~##~ Saturday, 8/23, 7:30pm. JAMMING AT 84 WITH AVOTCJA Francisco Herrera, Heshima Mark Williiams & Val Serrant. plus special guests, including San Francisco Poet Laureate Genny Lim, SF Poet Laureate Emerita Kim Shuck, Jordana, David Kubrin, Kaylah Marin, Gregory Pond, Maurisa Thompson & Dan Brady. $25 cover charge; students $10; kids free. ~##~ Sunday, 8/24, 5pm, The John Calloway/Larry Dunlap Duo (flute/piano). $20 cover charge; students $10; kids free. ~##~ Sunday, 8/24, 8pm, The Simon Aks Quartet. Simon Aks, guitar. Kevin Person, Jr., piano. Giulio Xavier Cetto, bass. Miles Turk, drums. $20 cover charge; students…
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Saturday, 8/23, 7:30pm JAMMING at 84 with AVOTCJA Francisco Herrera, Heshima Mark Williiams & Val Serrant plus special guests, including San Francisco Poet Laureate Genny Lim, San Francisco Poet Laureate Emerita Kim Shuck, Jordana, David Kubrin, Kaylah Marin, Gregory Pond, Maurisa Thompson, Dan Brady and possibly, schedules permitting, Rico Pabon & blues guitarist Ronnie Stewart Join us to celebrate Avotcja’s 84 years on the planet! Avotcja’s 85th year is already underway! And she’s going strong! If you don’t know, find out! At Avotcja.org. Then tell everybody to tell everybody! $25 cover charge; students $10; kids free. Donate more if you can! Avotcja is a natural national hero! Aside from being among our most valued poets, Avotcja is a deep musicologist and displays her wares weekly on KPFA (Tuesdays 8-10pm) and KPOO (Fridays noon-3pm) Below, you’ll find video of Avotcja’s most recent appearance at Bird & Beckett, in January of this…
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Can’t make it to Sacramento for the 10th Annual Hot Jazz Labor Day Weekend Jubilee? We have a premier New Orleans jazz trio for you Saturday, the 30th! You can catch drummer Benny Amón’s New Orleans Pearls here at Bird & Beckett with two highly regarded practitioners of the art. Get your fix of this great music in Glen Park… you can always get another dose of hot jazz of various stripes on a run up to Sacramento on Friday or Sunday… The New Orleans Pearls Marc Caparone, trumpet Jeff Hamilton, piano Benny Amón, drums $20 cover; byob. Students $10; kids free! To reserve a seat, call the shop at 415-586-3733 Benny was raised on the music in the Sacramento area, got his degree at UC Berkeley, then spent a decade in New Orleans under the tutelage of the Preservation Hall gang. He’s been a tremendous asset to the…
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Here at Bird & Beckett Books, we’ve always relied on the kindness of neighbors and strangers to make it all work; and we’ve always found that strangers don’t stay strangers long! Your tax-deductible donations to our 501(c)3 nonprofit, the Bird & Beckett Cultural Legacy Project, FEIN 261906810, are the secret sauce. Book sales and cover charges at the shows are crucial, but only go so far to fill the cornucopia of culture that you’ll find here at Bird & Beckett! You can donate through our website using PayPal. Or if you prefer, you can drop off or mail us a check made out to the “Bird & Beckett Cultural Legacy Project” — write “tax-deductible donation” in the memo line. Cash is fine if you prefer. Use your donor-advised fund if you have one. See if your employer offers a matching donation. You can also donate on a recurring, monthly basis…
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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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Jack Tone Riordan, guitar Ben Stolorow, piano. Ollie Dudek, bass. Vince Lateano, drums. $20 cover charge, cash at the door; byob. For a reservation, call the shop at 415-586-3733. The trio returns for their ongoing 3rd Sundays residency at Bird & Beckett. Leader Vince Lateano has been a cornerstone of the San Francisco jazz scene since he arrived in 1966, gigging and touring assiduously for decades before settling in behind the drum kit as the leader of the house band at Jazz at Pearls, the famous club that was situated in North Beach opposite City Lights on Columbus Avenue just off the corner of Broadway. His jam sessions at Pier 23, the Dog Patch Saloon, the Seven Mile House, Sweeties and Bird & Beckett have been a staple of the local jazz world for decades. Vince’s trio with the great bassist Peter Barshay and the elegant pianist Ben Stolorow has…
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Bruce Williamson, saxophone. Brad Buethe, guitar. Peter Barshay, bass. Ron Vincent, drums. $25 cover charge; cash at the door. Reservations, call the shop at 415-586-3733. Drummer Ron Vincent returns with a quartet for the second Sunday running, this time featuring the saxophonist Bruce Williamson, a musician of great repute who left San Francisco for New York after working here with great jazz artists including Mark Levine, Bobby McFerrin, Art Lande, Mark Isham and Benny Green. You can read more on Bruce at this link. Ron has been New York-based for decades, but has in the past couple of years become bi-coastal, with a home just down the coast, and has quickly made his mark as a key component of the San Francisco jazz world. We’ve been lucky to give him a good berth and great audiences, and we’ve all been well rewarded for our efforts. Last week’s outing featured Rob…
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Søren Lee, guitar. John Wiitala, bass. Brian Melvin, drums. $20 cover charge, cash at the door; byob. Reservations, call the shop at 415-586-3733. Brian Melvin is a San Francisco native who’s made his base in Estonia for many years, traveling extensively in Europe for gigs and workshops and returning to the States, and San Francisco, a couple times a year. He’s a propulsive and creative drummer with few equals, and we always look forward to his appearances at Bird & Beckett–of which this is his fifth in three years. On his last two appearances, asd on this one, he’s joined by a steady European collaborator, the Danish guitarist Søren Lee, whose contribution to the Brian Melvin sound is huge. With bassist John Wiitala, a local hero of the first order, the trio offers up two sets of awesome jazz. You shouldn’t miss it. Here’s a recording of the trio’s “Tranesformation”…
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Jesse Foster, vocals. Scott Foster, guitar. Andrew Higgins, bass. $20 cover charge requested; cash at the door; byob. Students $10; kids free. Reservations, call the shop at 415-586-3733. Jesse Foster has a truly individual style and deiivery born of decades of soulful San Francisco jazz experience. With Scott and Andrew, you’ll enjoy an evening of music that’s beyond your day-to-day expectations. You can trust us on that. Jesse and his wife Michelle run a wonderful monthly house concert series on Oak Street, Jazz in the Basement, that’s one of the sweet spots for live jazz performance in San Francisco.
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Brian Lohmann, vocals J. Raoul Brody, piano and vocals Dave Terry, vocals Bill Ortiz, trumpet Wallow with Johnny Lonely in an evening of your favorite pop hits of rejection and dejection. Music director & sidekick J. Raoul Brody might try to lighten the mood with his fruitless insistence on something as harmless as the occasional shift to a major key. It’s too much to ask. Johnny is constitutionally unable to oblige. You’d think JRB would know that by now, but, oh well. He tries, yearning for just a little brightness in the dark corners of Johnny’s psyche. Expect “Cry Me A River,” “Misery,” “You Keep Me Hanging On” and, yes, a dollop of “Sunshine and Lollipops,” bound to turn dark. You’ll get tunes by the likes of The Beatles, George Jones, Julie London and Motown, all with one thing–heartbreak–in common, assayed by Messrs. Lonely and Brody with the indulgence of…
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Sunday, 8/10, 8-10pm – jazz: The Annie Orzen / Joe Gloss Quintet – Annie is back in the neighborhood on summer break and brings a young quintet featuring Joe Gloss on vocals and Annie Orzen, piano. $25 cover charge; $10 students. Joe Gloss – Voice: Joe is a Bay Area-based jazz vocalist, educator, and trumpeter with deep ties to Los Angeles and Maui County. Currently pursuing a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Vocal Performance at USC’s Thornton School of Music, he studies with acclaimed artists including Katie Thiroux and Grammy-winner Luciana Souza. Drawing inspiration from jazz legends like Horace Silver, Freddie Hubbard, and Charlie Parker, Joe brings a soulful and improvisational spirit to timeless melodies. With experience leading ensembles across California and Hawaii, his work reflects a passion for music as a transformative force—one that captures the complexity of the human experience and the power of collective expression. Annie Orzen…
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Sunday 8/10, 5-7pm – Honky Tonk, Classic Country Duets & Originals: Nashville Honeymoon – Hank Maninger, guitar & vocals; Lynne Maes, guitar & vocals; Joe Goldmark, pedal steel guitar; Tim Wagar, bass; Leor Beary, drums. A duo in the spirit of George & Tammy, Loretta & Conway, Johnny & June, Nashville Honeymoon plays Bird & Beckett on the second Sunday of every fourth month, in March, August and December. $20 adults; $10 students._///_ Sunday, 8/10, 8-10pm – jazz: The Annie Orzen / Joe Gloss Quintet – Annie is back in the neighborhood on summer break and brings a young quintet featuring Joe Gloss on vocals and Annie Orzen, piano. $25 cover charge; $10 students. Joe Gloss – Voice: Joe is a Bay Area-based jazz vocalist, educator, and trumpeter with deep ties to Los Angeles and Maui County. Currently pursuing a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Vocal Performance at USC’s Thornton…
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Saturday 8/9, 7:30-9:30pm. The Ron Vincent Quartet plays Gerry Mulligan. Rob Sudduth, baritone sax. Ben Stolorow, piano. Jeff Saxton, bass. Ron Vincent, drums. For a reservation, call the shop at 415-586-3733. BYOB. $25 adults; $10 students; kids 12 and under, free. Ron revisits material he played as a member of the Gerry Mulligan Quartet and Mr. Mulligan’s Re-Birth of the Cool Tentet from 1989 until Mr. Mulligan’s passing in 1996.
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Richard Batelaan – tenor sax. Sebastian Parker – piano. Colin Williams – bass Rick Rivera – drums. $20 cover charge. byob. Students $10. Sebastian, Colin and Rick have rorked as a trio for over a decade, rendering jazz standards and an ever growing batch of originals with elegance and hip precision. Now with tenor player Richard, the trio is a quartet and takes on a new dimension.
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Eric Shifrin, piano Ari Munkres, bass Mark Lee, drums $20 suggested cover charge; byob. students $10; kids free. Reservations, call the shop at 415-586-3733. Jazz, blues, stride and novelty tunes from a master pianist and his trio. Always a good time, the 2nd Friday of each month!
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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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We're immensely appreciative of Jazz in the Neighborhood for having stepped in as our temporary fiscal sponsor for a few months, while we straightened out some paperwork to get nonprofit status restored to the BBCLP. We're happy to say that's been done, and all past, present, and future donations made directly to the BBCLP are fully tax-deductible!
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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
