Two favorite collaborators join one of San Francisco’s most astonishingly talented pianists for two sets of standards, bop, little known gems and originals. Grant Levin, piano Charles Thomas, bass Pepe Jacobo, drums

Novalis, arch Romantic poet of the 18th century, precursor to Goethe, perceptive of the ancient wisdom embodied in Heraclitus’ observation, “Wisdom is a dry light.”

The Jazz Philanthropists Union presents…   The Lost Shapes   Darren Johnston, trumpet Kasey Knudsen, alto sax Mark Clifford, vibraphone Safa Shokrai, bass Jason Levis, drum set   All five members contribute compositions to the band’s book.

Talk about your San Francisco jazz… On the fourth Friday of each month, our weekly jazz in the bookshop series features The 230 Jones Street, Local 6 Literary Jazz Band — once the province of the estimable Chuck Peterson — five musicians whose history on the local jazz scene dates back 60 years, to the very early 1950s. Ray Loeckle and Jerry Logas, reeds Duncan James, guitar Dean Reilly, bass Tony Johnson, drums

Dan Liberthson is a Glen Park resident, and a poet with five published collections to his credit, including his newest, A Poetry of Birds: Poems About Birds and the Photographs that Inspired Them (2017). A Poetry of Birds comprises 38 poems about various bird species paired with photographs of the birds by naturalist and wildlife photographer Ron LeValley. The poems reflect on the beauty, lives, and behaviors of the birds, both in themselves and as they relate to human life. Dan was born in Rochester, New York, and attended Reed College, Northwestern University (BA, history) and SUNY at Buffalo (PhD, English). His poetry and writing are driven by a few core beliefs: the importance of telling a story, the need to tell it in a disciplined way, and a belief that the sound of the language, too often neglected, is a forceful agent of expression. Most of his books of…

wordWind is QR Hand, Lewis Jordan and Brian Auerbach — 3 poets, with Lewis Jordan doubling on saxophone. Two very special guests will also be on hand — trumpeter George Sams and poet Tongo Eisen-Martin. q.r. hand, jr., voice and poetry, moved to the SF Bay Area from NYC about forty years ago. Originally published in the 1968 classic, Black Fire: An Anthology of Afro American Writing, edited by Amiri Baraka (Leroi Jones) and Larry Neal, which has recently been reproduced by Black Classics Press, he is the author of three poetry books, i speak to the poet in man (jukebox press), how sweet it is (Zeitgeist Press) and whose really blues, new & selected poems (Taurean Horn Press). Lewis Jordan, saxophone and poetry, is the producer of Music at Large (an interdisciplinary music and arts project).  He focuses on creative structures for improvisation, and his interest continues to be meeting and working with performers who delve into their deeper resources…

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

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

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

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” /]

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” /]

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

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…