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!

Monday, January 16th – 7-9 pm
POETS! Lida Parent & Geddes Fielder, followed by an open mic
Jerry Ferrraz, m.c.

Lida Parent was born in Inglewood,  in Southern California, and raised in nearby Chatsworth.   She writes: I began writing when I was 9 years old.  I learned it was a creative way I could connect my feelings to people.  My imagination took me to a live painting of opportunity.  I enjoyed reading literature, and began writing poetry at the age of 19. I loved what balance it gave to my words and the beauty poetry instilled. During my twenties,  I met with a group of 9 poets at a coffeeshop in Winnetka,  Ca.  They became close friends and introduced me to my first open mics and poetry readings,  where I began to embrace the art of performing.  In 2013, I completed a course the Community Literature Initiative,  and became a published author at the end of the year.  In 2015, by first book of poetry was relesed entitled,  “In Love and…

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Sunday, January 15th – 4:30-6:30 pm
Rick Brown Quartet
which way west Sunday concert series

Rick Brown, trombone; Steve McQuarry, piano; Carl Herder, bass, and Vinnie Rodriguez, drums

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Sunday, January 15th – 2-3:30 pm
Tamim Ansary presents his new memoir,
Road Trips: Becoming an American in the Vapor Trail of the Sixties

Afghan American author Tamim Ansary presents his latest work, Road Trips: Becoming an American in the Vapor Trail of the Sixties, which recounts stories from his years as part of the American ’60s and’70s counterculture, after he arrived from Afghanistan and “dropped out” of a society he’d never been a part of. Ansary writes memoir, history, fiction, and essays on politics, current events, arts, sports, philosophy and whatever else captures his imagination. His book West of Kabul, East of New York, was selected by San Francisco as its One City One Book pick for 2009.  

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Saturday, January 14th – 7:30-10 pm
Grant Levin Quartet, featuring Tony Peebles on sax
jazz club! when lights are low… every Saturday night

  Grant Levin leads a quartet, featuring Tony Peebles on sax with Giulio Cetto on bass and Jeff Minnieweather on drums. $10 cover.

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Saturday, January 14th – 4-6 pm
Grant Levin Duo

Don’t miss Grant Levin on piano and Joe McKinley on bass this Saturday afternoon. One day, these duo dates will go down in the annals of the San Francisco jazz scene as legendary.

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Friday, January 13th – 5:30-8 pm
Amplifier
jazz in the bookshop every Friday since 2002

Henry Hung (trumpet) assembles a hardy crew of jazz electronica habitués to explore the smoldering rubble that remains after last night’s Klaxon Mutant Allstars show. The band is called Amplifier, and the personnel includes Marcus Stephens (sax); Ian McCardle (keys); Giulio Cetto (bass); Jeff Marrs (drums).  

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Thursday, January 12th – 7:30-10 pm
Klaxon Mutant Allstars, jazz of the future

The Klaxon Mutant Allstars are no less than a fellowship of jazz musicians whose music lives between the worlds of jazz, electronica, indie rock, and hip-hop. Drawing from their impressive collective resumes, their recent album, Robot Invasion, weaves finely wrought compositions with compelling moments of improvisation, layered with an ear for today’s electronics.  Are you ready? Henry Hung (trumpet, keys, and live effects) Eric Garland (drums) Colin Hogan (keyboards) Kasey Knudsen (saxophone) Nathaniel Brenner (bass)

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7 events in 5 days! Thursday 1/12 to Monday 1/16

            The Klaxon Mutant Allstars burn the place down on Thursday, 1/12 – 7:30-10pm Eric Garland, drums; Kasey Knudsen, saxophone, Henry Hung, trumpet; Colin Hogan; keys; Nathaniel Brenner, bass Amplifier forges ahead across the smoldering rubble on Friday, 1/13 – 5:30-8pm Henry Hung, trumpet; Marcus Stephens, sax; Ian McCardle, keys; Giulio Cetto, bass; Jeff Marrs, drums   Grant Levin / Joe McKinley Duo (piano and bass) on Saturday, 1/14 – 4-6 pm Grant Levin Quartet, featuring saxophonist Tony Peebles on Saturday, 1/14 – 7:30-10pm with Giulio Cetto, bass, and Jeff Minnieweather, drums                     Writer Tamim Ansary presents his memoir, Road Trips: Becoming an American in the Vapor Trail of the 1960s Sunday, 1/15 at 2 pm The Rick Brown Quartet on Sunday, 1/15 – 4:30-6:30pm Rick Brown, trombone Steve McQuarry, sax Carl Herder, bass Vinnie Rodriguez, drums Monday,…

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Saturday, January 7th – 7:30-10 pm
Erik Jekabson Quintet, featuring Kasey Knudsen
jazz club! when lights are low… every Saturday night

Erik Jekabson Quintet, with saxophonist Kasey Knudsen, pianist Keith Saunders, bassist John Wiitala and drummer Smith Dobson. $15 cover charge http://www.erikjekabson.com/events/ http://www.kaseyknudsen.com/ http://keithosaunders.com/ https://originarts.com/oa2/artists/artist.php?Artist_ID=159 http://www.bayimproviser.com/artist.aspx?a=303

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Friday, January 6th – 5:30-8 pm
Don Prell’s SeaBop Ensemble
jazz in the bookshop every Friday since 2002

Don Prell (bass) leads his premiere ensemble, featuring Al Molina (trumpet), Jerry Logas (reeds), Ray Scott (guitar), Vinnie Rodriguez (drums). Don got his start in the 1950s with the Bud Shank quartet and put in 30 years with the San Francisco Symphony.

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Thursday, January 5th – 8-10 pm
GG Amos Trio plays West Coast blues

 

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Monday, January 2nd – 7-9 pm
POETS! All open mic tonight!

Bring your poems for an all open reading.

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Jazz on New Years Day… 1/1/17 – 7:30-9:30pm
the art of the trio
Grant Levin, piano
Giulio Cetto, bass
Mark Lee, drums

$15 cover

Trust in the beauty of the spirit that moves through the music.

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New Years Eve!
Broken Shadows: Darren Johnston & Friends!
7:30-10 pm – $20 cover

Broken Shadows… An eclectic trip into the brave beyond — where fear is not an option. 2017 is coming, like it or not! Kick this year to the curb and move on! “This band has gone through a lot of incarnations,” says Darren Johnston. “I’m trying to get all of my creative impulses under one roof… to get to something deeper, because there are aesthetic through lines of intentions between, say, straight ahead jazz and Macedonian brass band music. They touch on a similar truth, and it all filters through me and these musicians.” Dig? You will! Happy Brave New Year! It’s gonna be fun.  

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Friday, December 30th – 5:30-8 pm
Voz do Brasil!
featuring vocalist Liza Silva

Veterans of the Bossa Nova! The late-Sunday-night house band of the famed Club Deluxe, long-time favorite of the late Jay Johnson, the Deluxe’s heart and soul… Ray Loeckle on sax and Ray Scott on guitar, Alex Baum on bass and Bob Blankenship on drums.  Sao Paulo soul!!! Sao Paulo born, Liza Silva toured internationally for years with Walter Wanderley–the man who helped popularize bossa nova in America and around the world in the 60’s with the hit “Summer Samba.” She has also shared the stage with such Brazilian greats as Joao Gilberto, Elsa Soares and Beth Carvalho, with Sade, Boz Skaggs and Bonnie Raitt, with Tito Puente, and with such Bay Area luminaries as Paula West, Tammy Hall, Wayne Wallace, Denise Perrier and Kim Nalley. For years, she has dedicated herself to performing the traditional music of the Brazilian repertoire and presenting them to American and international audiences — Samba,…

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Fair Play Initiative

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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