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 to the very first show of the current period, back on March 12, 2020, but that beautiful skein is no longer quite so easily accessed. Still, the evidence is there for those who dig.

The March 12, 2020 show that signaled the shift was a Thursday evening performance by New York saxophonists Jessica and Tony Jones, both alumni of the Berkeley High jazz program, with NYC bassist Stomu Takeishi and local hero Deszon X. Claiborne on drums. The quartet’s booking for the night before at the Backroom over in Berkeley had been cancelled. A few hardy individuals showed up as audience for the quartet here — it was great music but few heard it, though the audio recording exists still. There’s no video of that show; that capability was pioneered by our own Angela Bennett the next evening, Friday, March 13th, using her smartphone to capture two tunes, streamed live over facebook, by saxophonist Michael Zilber’s trio (Jason Lewis on drums and the bassist Tyler Harlow in his Bird & Beckett debut).

We had to cancel the Saturday 3/14 show given concerns about health risks to the audience we expected would assemble for Otonowa, Akira Tana’s group. A few folks were in the audience the next day Sunday the 15th for a Brazilian outing by flautist Rebecca Kleinman and guitarist Julio Lemos.

After that weekend, the era of livestreams with no audiences whatsoever began. Pianist Gaea Schell and bassist John Wiitala in duo got it rolling, and on it’s gone…

Little by little through the months, the live streamed shows grew more robust as we improved the technology and found our footing; beginning with the watershed Javier Santiago/Giulio X. Cetto duo date on May 29th and a return of the duo on July 24th, the technical level stepped up considerably. Nicolas Mesa brought his sound engineering skills to bear on those dates and helped us immensely in the ensuing months to bring our technical capabilities and skills up to a level that does justice to the artistry of the musicians, with Angie learning the ropes that allowed us to fly the stream with lovely result. Nico got us to the point where beautiful streams are second nature to the Bird & Beckett enterprise, full of life and full of human flaws, as well, none of which detract from the wonders of the cultural and artistic expression that flows from the shop. Tom Misage is routinely engineering our Friday night shows and occasional others now, with the proprietor handling most all of the rest; Angie is enjoying a glorious and well-earned freedom from the demands of the sound board.

Over time, we’ll add bits of the videos from the individual shows to each of the posts below, but for the time being you can find them all in all their rough glory by visiting the videos tab on our facebook page. Use this link:  https://www.facebook.com/pg/bird.and.beckett/videos/?ref=page_internal. The shows can also be found on our YouTube channel. These days, you’ll find we stream most everything that happens on the Bird & Beckett stage. The little video screen at the top of this website is the best place to start! Expand that to fill the screen of your computer or device, and do listen through a good set of speakers!

But keep in mind! If you’re able, a visit to the shop to take in the music and poetry live and in person is the very best way to go! Do come if you can!