Thursday at 7, writer Bart Schneider brings us Giacometti’s Last Ride, following the Swiss sculptor and painter Alberto Giacometti in Paris during his last years. Once Giacometti meets Caroline, the “working girl” who becomes his lover and final model, his life shifts into high gear. Schneider gives readers a cellular sense of Giacometti in his body with all his kinks and mannerisms, as he works with unrelenting intensity in his legendary atelier and falls in mad love with Caroline. Schneider captures the milieu of Paris in the early 1960s, with Giacometti’s friends—Jean Genet, Samuel Beckett, Pablo Picasso, and the beguiling Eli Lotar—spilling through his life. The novel is enhanced with eighteen works of art by Chester Arnold, whose prodigious craft and pure painting add deeper dimension to Giacometti’s ride. Arnold’s portraits of the artist and depictions of his atelier already have the feel of classics. This volume is the second collaboration between Arnold and Schneider, after their much-loved 2022 book,The Daily Feast. Come to Bird & Beckett Thursday evening, December 11th at 7pm, for a reading by Bart and poet Genine Lentine!

Next up, two shows Friday evening — at 6pm you’ll hear Eric and the In Crowd, Born to be Blue, playing a sheaf of jazz standards and other marvelous, and marvelously played tunes starting with the letter “B”. Eric Shifrin, piano; Jeff Saxton, bass; Chris Cortez, drums.

And at 8:30pm, Russian Telegraph, mixing the funk and soul of Curtis Bumpy, the art song of the Beth Custer Ensemble and the worldly compositional stylings of David James’s GPS. Along with original music by its members, the collective also performs their arrangements of songs by Caetano Veloso, Soundgarden, Paolo Conte, Nelson Cavaquinho and others. Beth Custer – clarinets, voice David James – guitar, voice Chris Grady – trumpet, flugelhorn Jordan Glasgow – keyboards Keith McArthur – bass John Hanes – drums. $30 cover for this six piece band. Students of the younger and poorer variety always $10.

Saturday at 7:30, it’s the Michael Mitchell Quintet. Mike is a fabulous drummer from NYC who moved to the Bay Area several years ago, to our great good fortune. The quintet comprises Raffi Garabedian, sax; Kai Lyons, guitar; Michael Potter, piano; David Ewell, bass; and Mike on drums. $25 cover charge (cash at the door, please); byob; students, $10. For a reservation, as true for all of our shows, you can, and should, call the shop at 415-586-3733.

Sunday at 7pm, you’ll enjoy Deep Thicket Dwellers, a four-piece band mixing Bluegrass, Old-time, Gypsy Jazz, and a bit of John Hartford-inspired whimsy into their own unique style of Hillbilly Jazz. Rooted in Alaska and Virginia and now based in Oakland, this lively group delivers high-energy, fiddle-driven shows that are unrivaled at generating foot-stomping good times. They’ll be recording the evening for release as a live album, so do please join us for what promises to be an unforgettable evening. Forrest Allen, fiddler & Band Wrangler; Tarah Williams, drummer and Minister of Shenanigans & Whimsy; Iggy, guitar & Chord Keeper; Scotty Brown, bass & Minister of Groove & Greenery. $20 cover!

It’s all fun at Bird & Beckett. Thanks for helping us sustain these great local musicians! That’s what we’re here for, that and entertaining you… and selling you the occasional book as well!