Three on a Match: The New, Improved Reading Series!         This round with Kim Addonizio, Paul Fericano and Peter Cherches Need a break from the insanity and anxiety of our times? Come join us at Bird & Beckett for an afternoon of reason, rascality and resistance. Join Bay Area favorites Kim Addonizio and Paul Fericano & Brooklyn native Peter Cherches as they serve up words spun like cotton candy on sticks of dynamite. Hosted by San Francisco’s own, the inimitable klipschutz. Come one, come all!

Sony Holland, in duo with guitarist and songwriter Jerry Holland, sings jazz standards, classic bossa novas, modern folk and originals from a collection of  songs she’s been compiling for years, delivering the material with vulnerability, confidence and cool passion, showcasing her love for great songwriters and their work. Released in 2017, Sony’s cd “Soft POWER” presents her considerable talents and chemistry with partner Jerry Holland, supported beautifully by bassist Dan Feiszli and drummer David Rokeach working in a home studio in El Cerrito to build uncluttered tracks around the duo’s intimate arrangements.  

  Al Molina, trumpet and flugelhorn Jerry Logas, flute and reeds Jeffrey Burr, guitar Dean Reilly, bass Vince Lateano, drums    

 Xxavier Edward Carter is an artist and writer from Dallas, Texas. His written work is heavily influenced by the poetry of Amiri Baraka, the artistic works of Young Hae Chang Heavy Industries, and a love for the plays of Shakespeare. In middle school you could catch him reading Aristotle’s Metaphysics one day, Anna Deavere Smith the next, and Bret Easton Ellis the next all with the same intensity. An early exposure to an eclectic array of music imparted a dynamic lyricism into Xxavier’s poetry. With this also came a consciousness of the diversity of realities people experience across the world and an interest in how people express themselves. Xxavier has shown artwork in England, Japan, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, and South Korea. Moving forward, Xxavier looks to find collaborators to translate his work into other languages while creating more audio, video, and performance works. Sun English, Jr. is a QTPOC (they/them),…

The Bird & Beckett Cultural Legacy Project and the Jazz Philanthropists Union, with financial support from the Zellerbach Family Foundation, present Alternative Acts: Seeking Truth Above #F a series of six concerts beginning April Fools Day and concluding May 20th   April Fools Day: Ourboros Sheldon Brown, bass clarinet, tenor saxophone and clarinet Clark Coolidge, drums Andrew Joron, theremin Joseph Noble, flute, alto flute, alto saxophone and soprano saxophone   The “Alternative Acts” series is devoted to improvised and other avant garde musical approaches by locally based artists: — April Fool’s Day, Ouroboros Sheldon Brown and Joseph Noble, reeds; Andrew Joron, theremin; Clark Coolidge, drums — April 18th, Dalachinsky:Cherkovski:Coolidge 3 poets, with a musician or two tba –  April 20th,  Drummer Scott Amendola’s 3-in-1 with Raffi Garabedian, saxophone and Zach Ostroff, bass — April 21st, animals and giraffes Phillip Greenlief, saxphones and Bb clarinet Claudia La Rocco, text and voice Danishta Rivero, voice…

Erik Jekabson, trumpet Dave Ellis, saxophones John Wiitala, bass Evan Hughes, drums Another fabulous night at jazz club! when lights are low… $20 cover charge tonight. Thanks for supporting the music!

Phillip Greenlief, reeds Dan Seamans, bass Tom Hassett, drums two decades redefining the jazz standard  

Clifford Brown III, trumpet; Charles Hamilton, trombone;  Hal Richards, tenor sax and bass clarinet;  Jerry Logas, baritone sax; Dave Parker, bass; Dillon Vado, drums;  with guest lyricist Scribe Sayar.

A fine guitarist who has shifted his focus to education and composition, Camilo Moreiro Coro is a summa cum laude graduate of the Cuba’s top performing arts school University of the Arts (ISA) where he was recognized by the faculty as the best student-teacher of his graduating class. Since 2010, he’s been teaching harmony, composition, computer music and ensemble practice at the country’s top conservatory for secondary students, the National School of Music (ENA). He also directs the school’s jazz band which was recently invited to perform at Jazz at Lincoln Center in April of 2016. This year (2017), Camilo has taken on the important task of reviving and directing ISA’s Jazz Band. This is easily the most important jazz education initiative in the country.

Amy Farah Weiss will come to Bird & Beckett on Tuesday, the 27th, to discuss her mayoral campaign and to specifically address how ranked choice voting can assure that a progressive candidate takes the Mayor’s office in the upcoming June election. She’ll also talk about a tool she has developed to evaluate the performance of the new mayor, whoever it might be, in achieving goals important to the electorate, a “Mayor Outcomes Tracker.” Bring your questions and concerns, to engage with a candidate whose progressive values and solutions-focused ideas really have the potential to reshape San Francisco in the years to come.

Sandi Poindexter, violin; David Udolf, piano; Ron Belcher, bass; Myron Cohen, drums.   “Billy Higgins used to say you have to get inside the music…listen,use your ears, and play from your heart, as you have people’s feelings in your hands… Also make the other musicians on the bandstand feel good so they can get their sound across… be supportive and uplifting… above all the drummer must swing plenty! …leave some space, and don’t play too many notes.” –Myron Cohen

Grant Levin, piano David Ewell, bass Jeff Minnieweather, drums Grant Levin has been one of the top jazz pianists in the Bay Area since arriving on the scene. His talent seems to have no limitations. We’ve been pleased to present him dozens of times at Bird & Beckett. His playing never fails to thrill the audience, and he never fails to put together a terrific group of collaborating musicians for the date.

Walker Brents III plumbs the poetic psyche of Gary Snyder.