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!

Saturday, 1/28/23 – 7:30-9:30pm
Gerald Beckett Quintet
Jazz club… when lights are low

Gerald Beckett, flute
Michael Gold, saxophone
Greg Jacobs, piano
Carl Herder, bass
Greg German, drums

$25 cover charge; byob
Reservations, call 415-586-3733

Streamed live on our YouTube channel and Facebook page.

Born and raised in Texas, flutist Gerald Beckett is a stalwart of the San Francisco music scene. Eight years of classical training at the San Francisco Conservatory, combined with extensive jazz studies with some of the leading teachers in the Bay Area, has left Beckett with a firm command of both his instrument and the jazz idiom.
About his most recent CD, his sixth, Downbeat Magazine had this to say:

A common juke-joint sound is pervasive on several of flutist Gerald Beckett’s compositions—particularly on “Down Low,” “Club Raven” and “Shacktown.” Each tune has a rollicking mood that resonates with a gut-bucket blues feeling.

But there are other sounds on MOOD, and none more chocked with hard-bop ingredients than “Minor Funk.” Beckett is led on this furious Cyrus Chestnut-penned jaunt by drummer Greg German, impelling the flutist to exert the full range and force of his instrument. Was that a Hubert Laws orchestral turn, an Eric Dolphy flutter? Perhaps, but mostly it’s Beckett’s personal arsenal of tonality and exposition. Appealing, too, is the way Beckett blends his shimmering flute effects with Ruben Salcido’s tenor saxophone and Steve McQuarry’s piano on Wynton Marsalis’ “Waterfalls.” A torrent of notes merge here to create a tapestry of expressive beauty and enchantment. And the bandleader’s shift to the alto flute gives the tune an even deeper lushness. Despite the often changing ensemble of musicians from track to track, there is an unerring sense of completeness, and this might be attributed to Beckett’s unifying direction. On “John Neely–Beautiful People,” Beckett offers a relaxed feeling that could very well be background music for a social affair—a stark contrast to the blistering nightclub beat he evokes on “Ode To Ray Wood,” where Noah Frank’s trumpet is a delightful embellishment. The moods here are as variable as Beckett’s artistry—and that is profound and lustrous.

His prior CD, “The Messenger” (2014), peaked at #12 on the national JazzWeek charts.

Read more on Gerald at www.geraldbeckett.com

 

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The Bird & Beckett Cultural Legacy Project

Our events are put on under the umbrella of the nonprofit Bird & Beckett Cultural Legacy Project (the "BBCLP"). That's how we fund our ambitious schedule of 300 or so concerts and literary events every year.

The BBCLP is a 501(c)(3) non-profit...
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The Independent Musicians Alliance

Gigging musicians! You have nothing to lose but your lack of a collective voice to achieve fair wages for your work!
The IMA can be a conduit for you, if you join in to make it work.

https://www.independentmusiciansalliance.org/

Read more here - Andy Gilbert's Feb 25 article about the IMA from KQED's site

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