653 Chenery Street
in San Francisco's Glen Park neighborhood
1-415-586-3733
[email protected]
Open to walk-in trade and browsing
Tuesday to Sunday
noon to six
Live Streams every weekend!
Refresh your browser to catch a show in progress!
Visit our Facebook page or YouTube channel!
But nothing beats being in the room with the music & the musicians!
Thursday, May 29th – 7 pm:
Self-Portrait of the Poet
Suicided by the MFA Degree
a reading by Justin Etc., with Amy K Bell & Jill Tomasetti
per the Press: The Gorillla Press is excited to release our first full-length book, a collection of poems by Oakland poet and SF State grad Justin, Etc. Featuring cover art by SF artist and poet Truong Tran, this little paperback is a beaut and a pleasure to read. Bird and Beckett Books has graciously given…
Sunday, May 25th – 4:30 to 6:30 pm
The Grant Levin Trio
Grant Levin, piano Glenn Richman, bass Mark Lee, drums Enjoy a group that epitomizes the joy of the piano jazz trio tradition. Â Grant Levin is one of the key young pianists on the local scene. Â Beginning in July, you’ll find him directing our 2nd Saturday “jazz club” sessions. Â Now, catch him in the comfort of…
Sunday, May 25th – 2:30 pm
Walker Talks! on Albert Camus
The conflict between the intellectual search for meaning in life when no inherent meaning is to be found there spawned the 1950s philosophy of the absurd explored trenchantly by French Algerian writer Albert Camus in his many books — including centrally, The Myth of Sisyphus (1942). Each month, save the summer months, Walker Brents III explores a…
Saturday, May 24 — 8-11 pm
Introducing
JAZZ CLUB Sat. Nights! Join up!
Michael Parsons at the piano,
with Jay Sanders, Charles Thomas & Vinnie Rodriguez
It’s the new thing at Bird & Beckett! Â May is the trial run, then we lay low in June and start in earnest in July… Â Catch dinner some Saturday at one of the neighborhood’s great restaurants, then come on up to Jazz Club for a couple sets of fantastic jazz ’til 11 p.m The second…
Friday, May 23rd — 5:30 to 8:00 pm
jazz in the bookshop every Friday!
tonight: The Chuck Peterson Quintet
with vocalist Dorothy Lefkovits
Chuck Peterson and Howard Dudune, reeds; Glen Deardorff, guitar; Dean Reilly, bass and Tony Johnson, drums, make up the regular fourth Friday band at Bird & Beckett, carrying on a long tradition of weekly jazz parties in Glen Park. Â No cover charge, but do bring some money for the musicians anyway! Â Supporting live jazz in…
Wednesday, May 21st – 7 pm
Book Event: Mingus Speaks
author/interlocutor John Goodman talks!
Author John Goodman will speak at Bird & Beckett the evening of May 21st on the man, Charles Mingus, and the book, Mingus Speaks: Interviews with Charles Mingus, 1972-1974 (John Goodman, author; Sy Johnson, photographer; University of California Press, 2013). From John Goodman’s website, www.mingusspeaks.com:  What is this thing called Mingus? Some have heard the name,…
Monday, May 19th – 7 pm
Sterling Bunnell reads
“Chaucer’s Squire’s Tale Completed”
— open mic follows
Live recording:  Sterling Bunnell will read his long-form poem, “Chaucer’s Squire’s Tale Completed.”  Bunnell retired from a long career in psychiatry some time ago, during which he was particularly known for his 1960s exploration of the use of hallucinogenic drugs in treatment regimens; he’s credited with introducing the first living strain of Salvia divinorum, Diviner’s Sage,…
Sunday, May 18th – 4:30-6:30 pm
The Charles Hamilton Trio
w/Calvin Keys & Joe McKinley
Trombonist Charles Hamilton directed the Berkeley High jazz program for three decades, training the likes of Joshua Redman, Benny Green, Josh Jones and Peter Apfelbaum — all players who have gone on to world renown. Â Born in San Francisco in the 1940s, Charles grew up in Louisiana, touring the region on trumpet with an R&B…
Sunday, May 18th – 2 pm
A life in beat zen poetry
Latif Harris reads and reminisces
Latif Harris has contributed to the San Francisco/North Beach literary scene since 1959. In addition to his publications of poetry, articles, reviews and various anthologies, Latif has published eleven books of poetry, including Bodhisattva’s Busted Truth. Latif’s skill, energy and devotion to the work is evidenced in the crucial BEATITUDE GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY 1959-2009, co-edited by Latif with Neeli…
Sunday, May 11th – 4:30-6:30 pm
Hamir Atwal-Michael Coleman Duo
Jazz to stretch your mind… Hamir Atwal, drums and Michael Coleman, piano. Both players have picked up a lot of playing time on the progressive edge of the Bay Area jazz landscape, as well as handling the straight ahead traditions with skill born of experience and training — at Oberlin for Michael and at Berklee…