$20 cover charge; sliding scale available DjangoSphere returns to Bird & Beckett! Howard Alden, a formidable guitarist with an international reputation, is in the midst of a second West Coast tour with violinist Kit Eakle,  well known as an historian of the violin in jazz, in Kit’s project called DjangoSphere — exploring the music of Django…

Bird & Beckett is proud to present a San Francisco poet of exquisite talents and profound dedication to humanity. Beau Beausoleil’s long history as a bookseller and his many years leading the Al-Mutanabbi Street Project speak to his dedication to to the word, to the world and to the heart. Tonight, Beau will read from…

$20 cover charge; sliding scale available Tammy Lynn Hall, piano Andrew Higgins, bass Leon Joyce, Jr., drums Tammy Lynne Hall is among the premier pianists in the Bay Area, with a richly deserved international reputation and audience. Her playing is steeped in jazz, gospel and classical influences. She is one of our most treasured artists…

Get the jump on Black History Month! Every February, the brilliant Chicago percussionist Kahil El’Zabar, a renowned leader in avant garde African-American music for five decades, takes his Ethnic Heritage Ensemble on the road, criss-crossing the continent with a brilliant program of music — “advanced frequencies” deeply rooted in America’s true classical music, the music…

$20 suggested donation; any amount appreciated It’s Macy Blackman’s Mighty Fine Trio! Macy is a piano professor of the first water. Says jazz writer Andrew Gilbert in Berkeleyside, “Macy is as comfortable rockin’ Ellington and Gershwin as he is swingin’ Joe Turner and Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson.” But it’s New Orleans’ music that’s at the heart of…

Please join us for an evening dubbed “Writers Painting Their Voices” as author John Curl reads from his powerful novel of McCarthy era resistance, The Outlaws of Maroon, joined by poet and literary critic Jack Foley performing some of this poems in tandem with his partner Sangye Land. These writers will use their voices to…

San Francisco Poet Laureate Kim Shuck in association with the Academy of American Poets and Bird & Beckett Books presents Fire Thieves 7 Fire Thieves Board the Peace Train Bird and Beckett Books, 653 Chenery Street in San Francisco Wednesday, January 29th at 7pm (doors at 6:30pm) Joyce Jenkins, Gary Gach, Judy Bernhard, Val Ibarra,…

Jun Jun Li invites you to Bird & Beckett this evening with this promise! “Tonight, you are going to a one of the kind life experience! Storytelling by Jun Jun, Dance performance by Jun Ting, Live music, Live painting, Living souls… Looking forward to see your beautiful faces at 7pm.” Jun Li’s Deep Sea in…

$20 suggested donation; pay what you can. Pianist Grant Levin has gained great acclaim on the San Francisco jazz scene since his move here in 2001; since that time, Bird & Beckett has been pleased and honored to present him hundreds of times — and we look forward with great anticipation to his last-Sunday-of-the-month bookings…

A rich gathering of poets will celebrate the work of Bob Kaufman, collected in a new volume from City Lights Books, edited by Neeli Cherkovski, Raymond Foye and Tate Swindell, with a forward by devorah major. Lawrence Ferlinghetti said of Kaufman, “He was an original voice. No one else talked like him. No one else…