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, January 20th– 7:30-10:00 pm
James Mahone Quartet
jazz club! when lights are low…
  

The Jazz Philanthropists Union presents…   James Mahone, tenor saxophone; Ian Carey, trumpet; Josh Thurston-Milgrom, bass; Mike Mitchell, drums  

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Saturday, January 20 – 1-3 pm
Meet a typer!

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Friday, January 19th – 8:30-10:30 pm
Reinhart-Hamilton-Young-Matsuda Quartet
 

Chestnuts of early jazz & popular music Robert Young, saxophone, cornet & vocals Jeff Hamilton, piano & vocals Bill Reinhart, guitar & banjo Mikiya Matsuda, bass

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Friday, January 19th – 5:30-8:00 pm
The Scott Foster Trio: A Blues Reset for 2018
jazz in the bookshop
every Friday since October 2002
$10 suggested donation

  Scott Foster, guitar Lorenzo Farrell, organ Dan Foltz, drums Taking it down to the fundamental blues base of jazz, in myriad forms.

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POETS! every 1st & 3rd Monday
Monday, January 15th – 7-9 pm
Stephen Kopel and Clyde Always
read recent work
An open mic follows
Jerry Ferraz, m.c.

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Sunday, January 14th – 7:30-10:00 pm
The Seducers
Classic, Outlaw & Honky Tonk Country Music

Joe Goldmark, pedal steel guitar Hank Maninger, lead guitar and vocals Tim Wager, bass guitar and vocals Kenny Owen, drums [arve url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7S2j5JvYm6M” /]

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Sunday, January 14th – 4:30-6:30 pm
Craig and MacGregor 
which way west? Sunday concert series
$10 suggested donation

Randy Craig and Robbie MacGregor convene a revolving cast of characters, veteran players all, at the Marsh in Berkeley on a regular basis, for a romp through a cavalcade of rock, jazz and pop tunes. Tonight they bring their show to Bird & Beckett! [arve url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifP0KU5qslg” /]

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Saturday, January 13th– 7:30-10:00 pm
Cartoon Jazz Octet
jazz club! when lights are low…

The Cartoon Jazz Octet plays classic tunes from the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s by Raymond Scott & John Kirby plus a slew of originals! Jeff Sanford, reeds Eric Wayne, trumpet Hal Richards, reeds Andy Ostwald, piano Randy Johnson, guitar, banjo & vocals Zachariah Spellman, tuba Simon Planting, bass  Mark Rosengarden, drums

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Friday, January 12th – 9:00 pm
Reasons for Moving

Reasons for Moving Darren Johnston, trumpet Larry Ochs, sax Fred Frith, guitar Allison Miller, drums This all-improvised concert at Bird & Beckett by the group “Reasons for Moving” is in preparation for a 2018 tour of Europe starting at the Jazzdor festival in France, and will feature a first meeting of core members Frith/Ochs/Johnston with one of NYC’s most in-demand and creative drummers, Allison Miller.           This will surely be an exciting event not to be missed!! A limited number of seats can be reserved in advance by calling the bookshop Tuesday, January 2nd, until the allotment is exhausted. Some seats will also be available at the door. The cover charge for this show is $20.           This concert will mark a special reunion of the group, featuring guitar iconoclast Fred Frith, ROVA co-founder Larry Ochs, and musical chameleon trumpeter Darren Johnston, this…

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Sunday, January 14th – 2-4 pm
Benefit for North Bay poets
who lost their homes in the fires

Sonoma County Poet Laureates, past and present, and California State Poet Laureate Dana Gioia converge on Bird & Beckett to aid poets and artists of the county who suffered loss in the Santa Rosa and Sonoma fires in October. Past laureates Terry Ehret, Gwynn O’Gara, Bill Vartnaw and Katherine Hastings, current laureate Iris Jamahl Dunkle and Mr. Gioia will be reading their work on Sunday, January 14th at 2:00 PM.   The reading is free.  We are asking for donations, with all money raised going to poets who suffered from the Sonoma County fires.  Those unable to attend who wish to donate can send a check made out to Bill Vartnaw care of the bookshop or can go online to make a donation to creativesonoma.org/fire-recovery-resources  or to http://www.poetsinneed.org/. Please be sure to notate your check or online donation to indicate that it’s in connection with this benefit. Terry Ehret, the author of four…

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Friday, January 12th – 5:30-8:00 pm
Grant Levin Quartet
jazz in the bookshop
every Friday since October 2002
$10 suggested donation

jazz in the bookshop, every Friday evening, 5:30-8:00 pm Jonathan Bautista, sax Grant Levin, piano Chris Amberger, bass Jaz Sawyer, drums

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Monday, January 8th – 7:30 pm
RJAM JAM SESSION! (Monthly every 2nd Monday)
Students from the SFCM Roots, Jazz & American Music Program
host young Bay Area talent

The San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s brand new bachelor’s of music Roots, Jazz & American Music program sponsors this monthly jam. Local college and high school players particularly encouraged to come out! Free

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Sunday, January 7th – 4:30-6:30 pm
Avotcja & Modupue
which way west? Sunday concert series
  

Avotcja small percussion and spoken word Sandi Poindexter, violin Francis Wong, sax and flute Jon Jang, piano Sascha Jacobsen, bass Myron Cohen, snare drum $10-20 suggested donation; students – $5        

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Sunday, January 7th – 2-4 pm
Your Golden Sun Still Shines
– a reading by contributors

Contributors to the new anthology from Manic D Press Your Golden Sun Still Shines: San Francisco Personal Histories & Small Fictions Dee Allen Peter Case Patsy Creedy Michael Koch Kim Shuck Denise Sullivan

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Saturday, January 6th– 7:30-10:00 pm
Ben Stolorow – Sylvia Cuenca Group
jazz club! when lights are low…
  

The Jazz Philanthropists Union presents… Harvey Wainapel, reeds Ben Stolorow, piano Ken Okada, bass Sylvia Cuenca, drums $20 cover charge; students – $10

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SUPPORT BIRD & BECKETT - DONATE TODAY!

Your donation to the Bird & Beckett Cultural Legacy Project helps us pay for a multitude of operating expenses necessary to present, promote and preserve local music, poetry, and more.

Help us keep the arts alive and thriving!

The Bird & Beckett Cultural Legacy Project was created in 2007 "to present, document and archive the creative work of significant living writers and musicians in the San Francisco Bay Area, for a neighborhood audience and future generations." We've been doing that very thing for more than a decade and a half, continuing the work we began when the store was established in 1999.

Due to lapses in tax filings during and post-pandemic, the BBCLP's status as a registered nonprofit was suspended at the beginning of April 2024 while we reapply, which is expected to take about six months. Donations made after April 1st will not be tax-deductible until nonprofit status is restored.

However, we continue to present a full slate of programming live music and poetry, and producing literary chapbooks, and we seek and welcome your continued financial support in the interim. If a tax-deduction is not a major reason for your support to date, we hope you'll continue to ride with us while we navigate these next several months.

Click on "donate" in the navigation bar above, drop off a check at the bookshop, or drop one in the mail to:

Bird & Beckett Cultural Legacy Project
653 Chenery Street
San Francisco, CA 94131

Call us at (415) 586-3733 to find out how else you might lend your support.

TAKE OUR SURVEY

To take our SURVEY, click here, and help the BBCLP get to know you better! As Duke Ellington always said, we love you madly...

The Bird & Beckett Cultural Legacy Project

Our events are put on under the umbrella of the 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 [Read More ]

 


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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