The late great poet Al Young said of Avotcja, “Introducing herself as storyteller, ‘wild woman,’ a ‘bonafide sound junkie,’ nothing slows or dampens Avotcja’s passion for the power and wonder of music. Guided by ancient, ancestral wisdom, she refuses to separate poetry and storytelling from song or dance. In ‘Blue to the Bone,’ her rhapsodic…

Pianist Art Lande is a legendary and unique figure on the jazz landscape, has been so for five decades or more, and we’re pleased & honored to present him again at Bird & Beckett tonight, this time in the context of a trio that has been coming together to create some beautiful music for the…

Kelley Cutler has worked with the unhoused population in San Francisco for the last 20 years. She accompanied Lelani Farha, United Nations special rapporteur on adequate housing, on Farha’s 2018 visit to San Francisco to observe and assess the human rights emergencies on our streets. From that visit, Farha found the City to be in…

The Late Show: Darren Johnston’s Double Detour doubles down tonight… a return engagement after their March 12 debut! If you caught that one, you’ll want to catch this one. And if you didn’t, then you will! Darren Johnston – trumpet Ben Goldberg – clarinet Jeff Denson – bass Gerald Cleaver – drums What’s the music…

EAST MEETS WEST! ROBERTA DONNAY & KEITH SAUNDERS (WEST!) with HARVIE S & RONI BEN-HUR (EAST!) plus guest artist Noel Jewkes BYOB, a mask and $20 cash for the cover charge. Doors open at 6:50pm for the 7:00 show. NOTE THE EARLY START – 7PM! Tonight there’s a 9PM band as well (separate admission) For…

Don Beck, trumpet Tammy Lynne Hall, piano Ravi Abcarian, bass Jack Dorsey, drums BYOB, a mask and $20 cash for the cover charge. Doors open at 7:20pm for the 7:30 show. Reservations, call the shop at 415-586-3733. We’ll hold your seat ’til showtime. Can’t make it to the show? Check it out in the live…

Urban School Band director & Performing Arts Department Chair Scott Foster — a cornerstone of Bird & Beckett’s Friday jazz programming for two decades — brings in an 11-piece student ensemble. Come hear what the youth can do! A jam session led by drummer Akira Tana follows. With Michael Zisman on bass and Keith Saunders,…

The Sun’s Not Broken A Cloud’s Just In the Way – 2nd Edition. Early childhood educator & long-time social justice advocate Sydney Gurwitz Clemens — a Glen Park neighbor for many decades — brings a lifetime of progressive philosophy and experience to bear when encountering the youngest children, meeting them on their own turf, offering…

Noel Jewkes is a legend among Bay Area jazz cognoscenti for his 6+ decades on the scene as a master of the tenor saxophone and a number of allied instrument, a disciple of the great Lester Young, an expert in swing. Come hear him with a rhythm section comprising long-time associates, among the best in…

Henry Miller, the great novelist and essayist of mid-century (20th) American letters, Brooklyn-Paris-Big Sur, wrote prolifically on poets, particularly D.H. Lawrence, Ezra Pound (Henry’s crazy brilliant essay on Money and How It Got That Way is a reply to Pound) and of Arthur Rimbaud. Walker will ponder Miller’s thoughts, working Dante into the equation in…