Born and raised in San Francisco, Thea Matthews is an awarded poet, spoken word artist, activist, curator, bruja, revolutionary, collaborator, and scholar. She writes on the complexities of trauma, grief, resiliency, and ultimately, the triumph over trauma. Her work can be found in For Harriet’s Soar, Rag Queen Periodical, as well as SoundCloud, YouTube, and Ello. She has studied the poetics of June Jordan, Pat Parker, and Jewelle Gomez. As a seasoned performer, Thea frequents the San Francisco Bay Area literary scene; and has featured at literary festivals such as Beast Crawl Oakland, Lit Crawl San Francisco; and reading series such as Paseo Artístico, Lyrics & Dirges, Hazel Reading Series, Nomadic Press’s First Fridays and Get Lit. Currently, she is working on her first book– a thematic collection of poetry incorporating flower medicine.  https://www.theamatthews.com/ Jane Rades’ prismatic poetry seems deceptively simple and crystalline. She has read her work intermittently in San Francisco…

Guitarist Bruno Pelletier  leads a quartet featuring Rob Sudduth on saxophone, Ken Lenga on bass and Tom Hassett on drums, playing original composition and jazz standards. Born in Paris, France in 1960, Pelletier grew up in a musical family  and was encouraged to be a musician at a young age. Bruno notes that it’s been said that his father had played with gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt. “That is true,” he says. “However, it should be mentioned that they only played pool together…” After studying guitar and Jazz Composition at the University of Miami, Florida, Bruno moved to San Francisco in 1987 where he now works as a free-lance guitarist, bandleader and educator. He has performed Yoshi’s with his own quartet, at the SF Museum of Modern Art, at local jazz festivals and at the Mill Valley International Film Festival, and has played with Buddy Collette, Sonny Simmons, Norah Jones, Bruce Dunlap,…

Author event! Tango Lessons: A Novel by Adriana Díaz   “Adriana Díaz has captured perfectly the soul of Buenos Aires. Tango Lessons invites us into the suspense of a tango thriller infused with the unfortunate sinister days of the military dictatorship in Argentina. Her perspective recreates the uniquely porteño alchemy of sensuality, love, and death in a passionate plot that one wants to read in one sitting. Like a modern Agatha Christie, she captures the record of an unforgettable journey.” – Prof. Ana Jachimovicz, The Center for Spiritual Studies, Buenos Aires, Argentina  

In one of the sweetest rooms in the City, Imperial Jazz Co. brings together some of the brightest lights on the Bay Area music scene performing songs and instrumental standards with maximum swing, scorching solos, and delightful vocals.  The band includes: Phillip Greenlief (Lost Trio, Orchestra Nostalgico, Animals & Giraffes), reeds John Hanes (Smith Dobson V, Dream Kitchen and Actual Trio with John Schott, Orchestra Nostalgico), drums Myles Boisen (Past-Present-Future, Fred Frith, Orchestra Nostalgico, Franco Nero, Club Foot Orchestra, Miniwatt Trio/Quartet), guitar Kurt Ribak (Kurt Ribak Trio), bass John Ettinger (Miniwatt Trio/Quartet), violin Jill Rogers (Crying Time), vocals https://www.facebook.com/events/205922840216534/  

Drummer Lorca Hart brings in guitarist Mike Scott and organist Brian Ho for two sets of music rooted in the classic jazz organ sound (Jimmy Smith, Kenny Burrell, Larry Young, jazz standards and be‐bop) while also exploring more contemporary elements (John Scofield, Larry Goldings, r&b, pop, and original compositions).

It’s always a blast at Bird & Beckett at the end of the (conventional) work week. Jazz in the bookshop on Fridays from 5:30 to 8:00 pm every single week (since 2002!). And a 9:00 to 11:00 pm late show as well. Tonight in the early show, it’s the quintet they call Oop Bop Sh’Bam! Five veteran players who’ve never stopped swingin’. Al Molina, trumpet Jerry Logas, reeds, flute and vocals Jeffrey Burr, guitar Dean Reilly, bass Vince Lateano, drums

It’s always a holiday with the Evangenitals. Equal parts pious & pesky, and committed to our salvation!  

Three colleagues play in true jazz time.

A few pix of the May 12 backyard benefit, which raised a month’s rent for Bird & Beckett and the Cultural Legacy Project! It’s quite amazing that we have the support of so many wonderful people. This here is the very nicely sunny tip of the iceberg. Thanks, Jerry. Thanks to the artists. To Billie. To Jessica! Thanks to everyone. And thanks to Jeanne Marie Hallacy and Gary Bridges for these pix! Thank you all! Thank you, Jerry!  

[arve url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwKYRAYyIho” /] Viktorija GečytÄ— & the Gene Perla Trio 10th Anniversary Tour             Spring into Summer, 2018 Their third Bird & Beckett appearance! 7:30 – City Jazz Sextet John Luu, trumpet     Dianne Douglas, alto saxophone Megan Wegman, piano     Ollie Dudek, bass     Raul Menjivar, drums Helen Palma, vocals and small percussion 8:30 & 9:30 – Viktorija GečytÄ— & the Gene Perla Trio Viktorija GečytÄ—, vocals Sean Gough, piano     Gene Perla, bass     Jon Arkin, drums At this link, find more video of Viktorija, Gene & Sean (collectively, Go Trio) with a variety of side musicians, and Viktorija in other settings as well, through many seasons of exquisite jazz in far flung locales https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMqAvsRLeeLvc-bgWiyD6lYO3XTc9yObK

Come to an end-of-the-year party for City College Jazz Club! The CCSF Jazz Club is made up of musicians who’ve played for decades as well as musicians who are new to jazz. There are 3 vocalists, 2 pianists, 5 horn players, and a rhythm section that includes fretless electric bass. The club was created in early 2017 so that jazz musicians at CCSF could play together, network, learn and get performance opportunities.  Come hang with the musicians and enjoy a set of performances that will show their range and chops in a congenial atmosphere for sure!    Set: Big Bertha Autumn Leaves Gibraltar Chega De Saudade Cry Me A River Sunny Black Nile Jelly Roll Nica’s Dream The Jody Grind Yearnings What Is This Thing Called Love Lonelyville C-jam Blues The band: Adina Pernell, vocals Helen Palma, vocals, violin Stephanie Woodford, piano, vocals Megan Wegmann, piano John Luu, trumpet, flute…

Walker Brents III addresses a different topic in each of his monthly talks, holding us in thrall with his storytelling prowess and his insights born of a wide-ranging sensibility and curiosity. This Sunday, he takes on the epic of Gilgamesh, born between the Tigris and the Euphrates, older than the Iliad, older than the Bible, older than the Koran, yet startlingly alive. An elemental drama to challenge our ideas of good and evil.

Aaron Germain’s Chance Ensemble plays a night of all original compositions, with a mix of straight ahead jazz, Brazilian, funk, and fusion. Arrangements include duos and trios within the quartet featuring: Mary Fettig, flute Murray Low, piano Jon Krosnick, drums Aaron Germain, upright and electric bass FB event: https://www.facebook.com/events/368193923692006/ Youtube clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcnw0E6T5Qw The Chance Ensemble and Bird & Beckett thank Jazz in the Neighborhood for underwriting this show through its “Guaranteed Fair Wage Fund” — supplementing your cover charges to guarantee each musician a fair night’s pay, placed at $150, for an honest night’s work. No tip jar. Learn more at https://jazzintheneighborhood.org/guaranteed-fair-wage-fund/

Two legendary players of the avant garde! Larry Ochs, reeds Donald Robinson, drums Per Bay Improviser, a crucial site for tracking avant garde music in the Bay Area (found at, no surprise, bayimproviser.com): Larry Ochs works on and breathes music. He composes. He plays saxophone. He looks for adventurous ideas to take on and for other artists – musicians and friends in other art mediums – to take them on with him. Ochs is primarily found in the worlds of “avant-garde” or “improvised music.” That means that he composes music for “structured improvisation” in general, and in particular for musicians steeped in the art of improvisation, an art form that has really only come into its own in the past 50 years in Western music, primarily thanks to the development of jazz as influenced by the blues and then Western art music, as well as to the increased exposure of…