2025 is our year!
Let’s own it!

Poets’ open mic on Thursday 1/2/25 starting at 7pm,
hosted by Michael Koch and Jerry Ferraz.

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Friday 1/3/25 from 6-8pm, $20 at the door (cash or venmo), byob. Saxophonist Jim Grantham brings his quartet featuring Mark Rossi on piano, Richard Saunders on bass and David Rokeach on drums. Jim graduated from Berklee School of Music and taught there before coming out to San Francisco in 1978 to teach at SFSU; here, he immediately made the scene at Todd Barkan’s Keystone Korner, the fabled club Jim refers to as the “Rahsaan Roland Kirk School of Music.” In the eight years from 1973 to 1981, Keystone Korner presented a great many of the legendary giants of jazz, typically in three and four-night runs, providing fertile ground for Jim’s development as a master saxophonist and educator. Keystone Korner is lodged in the consciousness of jazz musicians and fans throughout the world, and a great many of the performances that happened there are documented in nearly three dozen albums. Jim was able to perform at Keystone on occasion in those late years of its run, and also developed and taught jazz theory at the club in the afternoons, producing The JazzMaster Cookbook, a comprehensive look at jazz theory and improvisation. In 1981, on a fantastic record date under the leadership of the late pianist Jessica Williams, “Orgonic Music,” Jim plays alongside trumpeter Eddie Henderson, guitarist Henry Robinett, drummer Dave Tucker and bassists Kim Stone and Richard Saunders — Richard joins Jim on tonight’s quartet date at Bird & Beckett. With five decades of performing and teaching experience, as well as running the entertainment company Nightbird Music, Jim is a well respected and key member of the Bay Area’s rich jazz community. $20 suggested donation / byob. Students $10; children free.

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Friday 1/3/25 from 8:30-10pm, Trio Cotier takes the stage, with Ken Chou, piano; Paul Clanon, bass; and Jay Dold, drums. Trio Cotier has developed a sound that’s “inspiring, expansive, and a little bit dangerous, much like our California coast.” The trio can be heard frequently at Asiento and Curio in the Mission and at Sheba Piano Lounge in the Fillmore. $20 cover charge / byob.

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Saturday 1/4/25 from 7:30-9:30pm, the GG Amos Band — with GG Amos, guitar and vocals; Parris Bertolucci, keys; Mark Levine, bass; and Randy Lee Odell, drums — play the blues. For decades, GG Amos has riveted music lovers with her “leave it all on the stage” performances. She’s an innovative, electrifying performer, unique songwriter and arranger in the west coast blues style. GG brings a blend of blues, jazz, funk and latin elements. Her guitar has been described as molten and stinging; her voice is supple and powerful. GG’s band is a fixture at the Saloon in North Beach and wherever your finer electric blues is purveyed.

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Sunday 1/5/25 from 5-7pm, Avotcja and Modupue return for their annual first Sunday of the year booking at Bird & Beckett. Avotcja is an invaluable part of the Bay Area’s cultural fabric, as poet, musician, musicologist and radio disk jockey, heard weekly on both KPFA and KPOO. Her band Modupue expands to fit the stage available and always features profoundly talented and experienced musicians from a great diversity of cultural roots. Tonight, Sandi Poindexter, violin; Francis Wong, saxophone; Baba Ken Okolulo, talking drum; and Heshima Mark Williams, bass, are featured in Avotcja’s ensemble, with bright moments ensured.