Drummer Jimmy Ryan with his Bop City colleague, legendary alto player (now deceased) Bishop Norman Williams

On the second Friday of each month, jazz in the bookshop features The Jimmy Ryan Quintet aka The Bird & Beckett Bebop Band!

In June, Jimmy’s band features
Stu Pilorz, trombone
Joe Cohen, tenor sax
Don Alberts, piano
Bishu Chatterjee, bass
Jimmy Ryan, drums

Jimmy learned his trade in L.A. in the ’50s, and hit the San Francisco scene (by way of a short stint in Monterey) in 1960.  Jimmy has played alongside influential musicians Putter Smith, Vince Wallace, Kent Glenn and Bishop Norman Williams, putting in significant time in the early days at legendary San Francisco clubs including Jimbo’s Bop City, Ronnie’s Soulville in the Fillmore and the Jazz Workshop in North Beach, and in a more recent era, the Gathering Caffe on Grant Avenue.

Jimmy’s regular band at Bird & Beckett on the 2nd Fridays is typically a quintet and sometimes a sextet, comprising two to three horn players on the front line — Henry Hung, trumpet; Stu Pilorz, trombone and/or Joe Cohen, sax; plus a fabulous rhythm section comprising Don Alberts, piano; Bishu Chatterjee or Aaron Cohn, bass — and Jimmy Ryan on drums, of course!

jazz in the bookshop happens every Friday from 5:30 to 8:00 pm. 

There’s never a cover charge, but your generosity at the gigs
is crucial to help us pay the bands.  We suggest $10 per adult, kids free.  All ages welcome!

 Join your friends and neighbors for a lovely
end-of-the-work-week tradition.

1st Fridays – Don Prell’s Seabop Ensemble
2nd Fridays – Jimmy Ryan’s Bird & Beckett Bebop Band
3rd Fridays – The Scott Foster Ensemble
4th Fridays – The Chuck Peterson Quintet

5th Fridays  – special guests! In May, bassist Dave Parker’s quartet with Clifford Brown III, trumpet; Charles Hamilton, trombone; Jerry Logas, reeds; Greg German, drums