$20 cover charge; sliding scale available On paper, the Pedro Pastrana Ensemble might seem like your traditional jazz quartet, composed of a horn, bass, drums and a chordal instrument, in this case, the cuatro. However, it’s the integration of the cuatro that defines the Ensemble’s unique style, connecting the earthy quality of a folk sound…

$20 suggested donation; any amount appreciated For black history month, David Boyce leads the band and audience through a discussion and performance of the history of Black Music in America, and specifically, Jazz. The stories behind the music as it evolved from its New Orleans roots, through the swing era, be bop, hard bop, the…

Triple Book Release Reading for Gossamer Nevele Grimoire, by Derek Fenner (Bird & Beckett); Death Under Construction, by Ava Koohbor (Ugly Ducking Presse/Bird & Beckett); and Resolution of the West, by Nicholas James Whittington (Bootstrap Press) Derek Fenner is an artist, educator, poet, and researcher. He earned his MFA in writing and poetics from the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University. In 2000,…

Kimi Sugioka’s brand new Manic D Press poetry book is Wile & Wing. Anne Waldman said, “Kimi Sugioka is a poet with a lot of guises: maternal, witchy, passionate, detached observer…She moves through the female cycle confidently, poised, strong in her observance and power.” Born in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and raised in Berkeley, California,…

$20 suggested donation / pay what you can In the tradition of brother vocal duets and the classic bluegrass trio, three veteran bluegrass musicians grace the stage this afternoon.

In conversation with Alice Adams’ son, the San Francisco artist Peter Linenthal — and indulging in a slide show that captures Adams through the years — Adams’ biographer, Carol Sklenicka, brings the towering fiction writer back to life. Alice Adams, born in Virginia in 1926, raised in North Carolina, educated at Radcliffe and a long-time…

$20 cover charge / sliding scale available A JitN Guaranteed Fair Wage Fund date Without question, Calvin Keys is one of the greats of Bay Area jazz guitar, with a worldwide reputation and a long career under his belt. He’s released at least a dozen albums as a leader since his 1971 debut, appears as…

$20 suggested donation; any amount appreciated Five spectacularly talented players bring the passions of youth to the romance of Valentine’s Day.

Two poets, long-time friends, descend on Bird & Beckett this evening. Timotha, from her home a stone’s throw away and Bob, from elsewhere. Timotha, chodpa, gate player, has pilgrimaged in Tibet, Nepal and India following the footsteps of Machig Lapdron, an 11C female Buddha/saint. She has climbed to 14.8 thousand feet to sit in ancient,…

$20 suggested donation; any amount appreciated Riley Bandy & James Mahone, saxophones Matt Clark, piano Caroline Chung, bass Ruth Price, drums Citizens Jazz is a revolving collective of some of the Bay Area’s best up-and-coming and veteran musicians led by bassist Caroline Chung, who has been gigging professionally for over a decade playing in bands…