Reasons for Moving Darren Johnston, trumpet Larry Ochs, sax Fred Frith, guitar Allison Miller, drums This all-improvised concert at Bird & Beckett by the group “Reasons for Moving” is in preparation for a 2018 tour of Europe starting at the Jazzdor festival in France, and will feature a first meeting of core members Frith/Ochs/Johnston with one of NYC’s most in-demand and creative drummers, Allison Miller.           This will surely be an exciting event not to be missed!! A limited number of seats can be reserved in advance by calling the bookshop Tuesday, January 2nd, until the allotment is exhausted. Some seats will also be available at the door. The cover charge for this show is $20.           This concert will mark a special reunion of the group, featuring guitar iconoclast Fred Frith, ROVA co-founder Larry Ochs, and musical chameleon trumpeter Darren Johnston, this…

jazz in the bookshop, every Friday evening, 5:30-8:00 pm Jonathan Bautista, sax Grant Levin, piano Chris Amberger, bass Jaz Sawyer, drums

The San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s brand new bachelor’s of music Roots, Jazz & American Music program sponsors this monthly jam. Local college and high school players particularly encouraged to come out! Free

Avotcja small percussion and spoken word Sandi Poindexter, violin Francis Wong, sax and flute Jon Jang, piano Sascha Jacobsen, bass Myron Cohen, snare drum $10-20 suggested donation; students – $5        

Contributors to the new anthology from Manic D Press Your Golden Sun Still Shines: San Francisco Personal Histories & Small Fictions Dee Allen Peter Case Patsy Creedy Michael Koch Kim Shuck Denise Sullivan

The Jazz Philanthropists Union presents… Harvey Wainapel, reeds Ben Stolorow, piano Ken Okada, bass Sylvia Cuenca, drums $20 cover charge; students – $10

Vocalist Denise Perrier with Oop Bop Sh’Bam… Al Molina, trumpet Jerry Logas, sax Jeffrey Burr, guitar Dean Reilly, bass Ulf Bjorkbom, drums $15-20 sliding scale cover charge; students – $10

Young players from the SF Conservatory of Music’s “Roots, Jazz & American Music” BMUS program kick off Bird & Beckett’s 2018 live music schedule. This evening, Friday, January 5th, from 5:30-8:00pm, it’s the Knox Barber Quartet! Setting the bar for the future of San Francisco jazz! Jayden Clark – tenor sax Liam Hughes-Butler – guitar Knox Barber – bass Julian Archer – drums You can also hear these young musicians and their SFCM classmates at a monthly jam session at Bird & Beckett — every second Monday of the month. Local college and high school jazz players are encouraged to turn out to meet their peers and participate!  

Guitarist Tony Corman and trombonist Frank Phipps join forces for two sets of duo work, closing out another year of beautiful music at Bird & Beckett — San Francisco’s southernmost outpost of literary and jazz culture!

Grant Levin, piano Aaron Cohn, bass Ruckus, drums! $15-20 sliding scale cover charge; students – $10

  Bliss Rodriguez piano Erik von Buchau vibraphone Myron Cohen drums      

Time Landscape is J Grabowski’s first release of writing coupled with drawings – reflecting his day to day notebook process that he has continued for over a decade; making work on the go, wherever he is; bringing the studio to the place. The book was written while walking to and from work over the past few years; along with some typewritten works made between 2010-13. In the gallery is a selection of his studio works; small colorful explorative paintings on plywood made in the last two years. J Grabowski lives and works in Manhattan. He cofounded The Heliopolis Project (2010-15) and runs PUSH Press with Jason Morris.   jgrabowski.com

You’ve taken on your first teaching assignment from the San Francisco Unified School District, at Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School: five classes of 8th graders studying U.S. history. Say, 150 students. And a class in the graphic novel open to 6th to 8th graders. Imagine contemplating the $300 materials budget the District has given you for the year. And then realizing that your school in the Portola District has virtually no students from the upper economic echelons whose families might lavish their school with a bit of their personal wealth to make up for the District’s  lack. Fortunately Jackson Whittington (full disclosure, the proprietor’s son), who’s found his way to just such a position, has been generously supported in his efforts by Bird & Beckett patrons. For the past couple of months, they’ve been donating books and cash to help him build up a deep classroom library. He’s made…

Last chance to get in with the in crowd in 2017 — capping more than a dozen In Crowd shows since we started harboring a handful of Riptide refugees back in the late summer of 2015 in the series we’ve called “canyon moonlight music.”  $10-15 requested donation tonight. Be here or be squeere! Eric Shifrin knows his way around the piano– an affable virtuoso of rueful good cheer! He’ll be joined on the bandstand by bassist Paul Smith and the percussionist/traps drummer Raul Ramirez, two long-time associates well suited to bringing out the best in Eric’s music. It’s just what you need to round out what’s been a rough year in Amerikkka! Holding out hope for an effective resistance in 2018… For our part, Bird & Beckett would like to dedicate tonight’s show to Ralph Carney. Ralph, who passed away on December 16th, was a fantastic talent and a legend in the…