birdbeckett

Misisipi Mike gathers a few close personal friends to give a nod to Woody Guthrie and Jack Kerouac. Ken Owen reads Kerouac’s ideas on spontaneous prose, bits of “October in the Railroad Earth” and some Kerouac haiku, with the inestimable Henry Salvia on piano. Plus Dylan’s poem for Woody and a couple of Guthrie’s tunes by…

Four old pros create young jazz! These musicians are up to the task. They’re superbly attuned to each other — a quality that doesn’t necessarily come without great effort backed with solid skill and deep experience. Jim Grantham’s quartet dates here have always started with a sound of surprise that can come as a shock to…

Smith Dobson, alto saxophone, leads a fine quartet featuring Keith Saunders, piano; John Wiitala, bass; and Evan Hughes, drums. Smith has been a leading figure in the young Bay Area jazz scene for a decade or more, equally acclaimed on sax, vibes and drums. He leads a quartet at Bird & Beckett the first Saturday…

The indigenous people of the Haida Gwaii, an archipelago of islands off the coast of what is now British Columbia, date back 17,000 years and to this day retain a rich vein of stories — mythopoeic gems, as Walker Brents III would have it. This Sunday afternoon, Walker will tell a few of their stories,…

Saxophonist Matt Zebley joins guitarist Luke Westbrook and bassist Don Prell in drummer Vinnie Rodriguez’ quartet this Saturday, for two sets of straight ahead jazz and bebop. Matt Zebley released his first solo CD, “Live at Moondog” in 1999, and over the years has collaborated with the likes of Tony Bennett, Dave Brubeck, Wynton Marsalis, Yusef…

Pianist Grant Levin continues a series of duo performances (taking place on the 2nd and 4th Sunday afternoon of each month), which has spawned fruitful collaborations with a number of bassists and percussionists. This afternoon, drummer Pepe Jacobo shares the stage with Grant.  Pepe received his Diploma in Music from the University of Costa Rica. He…