$20 cover/sliding scale available. Trumpet player, composer, arranger & visual artist George Sams, from St. Louis, leads a quintet comprising Richard “Zyc” Wood on sax and flute (from Los Angeles), Aaron Parker on flute (from St. Louis) and still, to this day, residing in the Bay Area, Carleton Hoffman, percussion; Joe McKinley, bass; and Gerald…

Hosted by San Francisco troubadour-in-chief Jerry Ferraz and San Francisco Poet Laureate Kim Shuck. Owen was writing serious poetry from the time of the late ’60s ferment at SFSU and continues to this day; Greg has four highly regarded collections of poems to his name.  Both fine poets, for sure! No charge, but bring a…

Art Blakey is one of the fathers of modern bebop drumming. For decades his group the Jazz Messengers was a proving ground and launching pad for many young musicians who became jazz giants in their own right. As part of his enduring legacy, it’s our privilege to honor the memory of Art Blakey 100 years…

By now, the poet Tongo-Eisen Martin needs little introduction in San Francisco. A native son, he’s made his unique and indelible mark in poetry, prison education and hip hop, and has gained huge respect in recent years for his public poetry recitations of work alluded to in, if not quite contained by, two remarkable books:…

Evan Price – violin Owen Clapp – bass Jordan Samuels – guitar Evan Price is steadily gaining recognition as one of the world’s most confident voices in extra-classical string playing. A native of Detroit, MI, his musical background includes some earnest dues-paying in a variety of genres. From square dance bands to string quartets, from…

Scott Foster, guitar David Boyce, saxophone Bill Noertker, bass Dave Mihaly, drums For more than fifteen years, guitarist Scott Foster has been giving Bird & Beckett a great jazz ride — each time out across new terrain. Nowadays, we count on him for a great show on the third Friday of every month. Tonight, he’s…