The Seducers play classic country music from Bakersfield to Nashville and tread the outlaw path as called for.  They’re a fantastic band, led by Joe Goldmark, a master of the pedal steel guitar, and fronted by Mitch Polzak, just a kid gas jockey from Fremont or Hayward who dedicated himself to music one day and never looked back. He’s a terrific guitar picker, a great songwriter, a spontaneous wit without equal. Pam Brandon takes it all to another level on bass and vocals, and Kenny Owen? He finesses the beat with the elan of a tireless wrangler, whose taste for a good soft bed and a volume of poetry at the end of the trail is evident.  Canyon moonlight music series at Bird & Beckett, every Thursday night!

Avotcja, the name conjures up feelings of wisdom and strength. Her voice and music have given life to several instances of social injustice, propelling her audiences to be inspired and to make change. Avotcja has been published in English & Spanish in the USA, Mexico & Europe, and in more Anthologies than she remembers. She is an award winning Poet & multi-instrumentalist playing with the likes of Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Bobi & Luis Cespedes, John Handy, Sonido Afro Latina, Dimensions Dance Theater, Black Poets With Attitudes, Bombarengue, Nikki Giovanni, Los Angeles’ Build An Ark, Dwight Trible, Diamano Coura West African Dance Co., Terry Garthwaite, Big Black, The Bay Area Blues Society & Caribeana Etc. Shared stages with Sonia Sanchez, Piri Thomas, Janice Mirikitani, Diane DiPrima, Michael Franti, and Jayne Cortez to name a few… Daniel Brady has been the host of the Sacred Grounds Cafe open mike for over five years! His…

Featuring Idris Ackamoor on saxophones; Sandy Poindexter, violins and vocals; Skyler Stover, acoustic and electric bass; Sandor Moss, drums; Raul Ramirez, congas & drums; Bobby Cobb, guitar. Hosted  by Rhodessa Jones. Idris Ackamoor continues his intergalactic musical odyssey with the release of “WE BE ALL AFRICANS” by Idris Ackamoor ☥ the Pyramids, incorporating Fela-like African rhythms, George Clinton urban funk, and soaring improvisations into a unique world music blend.   The Pyramids’ Bird & Beckett appearance on October 15th celebrates the album’s release and its vision, and doubles as a bon voyage party for the band as it embarks on it 12th European tour. The tour will make stops at Theatre des Bouffes in Paris, Uber Jazz Festival in Hamburg, Café Oto in London, and the J.A.W. Family Reunion in Berlin before returning to the U.S. Idris is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, actor, tap dancer, producer, administrator, and director — Founder and Co-Artistic Director of…

Saxophonist Lincoln Adler, keyboard player Greg Sankovitch and drummer Randy Lee Odell join bassist Kurt Ribak for a couple sets of originals and standards. This quartet has years of experience working together and playing throughout Northern California, and it shows! Kurt Ribak (pronounced REE-bok, like the shoes) showed a penchant early on for finding rhythm and music where he could. His parents were not players but lovers of music. Ancestors include a female leader of an all-male band (“Stella and her Fellas”) and Simon Rodia, the creator of the Watts Towers, a major work of folk art. When Kurt was about four years old his mother found him dancing to the sound of the dishwasher. More conventional early musical experiences included playing ‘cello and singing in the San Francisco Boys Chorus, which performed with the San Francisco Symphony and Opera. A Berkeley, CA native, Kurt attended UC Berkeley, where he continued playing…

Odilia Galvan Rodriguez, Sharon Elliott, Jabez W. Churchill, Avotcja, Antoinette Nora Claypool, James Downs,  Cathy Arellano,  Genny Lim and Cesar Love read to celebrate this new anthology, edited by Rodriguez and Francisco X. Alarcon (University of Arizona Press, 2016). On April 20, 2010, nine Latino students chained themselves to the main doors of the Arizona State Capitol in an act of civil disobedience to protest Arizona s SB 1070. Moved by the students actions, that same day Francisco X. Alarcon responded by writing a poem in Spanish and English titled “Para Los Nueve del Capitolio”/”For the Capitol Nine,” which he dedicated to the students. The students replied to the poem with a collective online message. To share with the world what was taking place, Alarcon then created a Facebook page called Poets Responding to SB 1070 and posted the poem, launching a powerful and dynamic forum for social justice. Since…

Patrick Wolff, tenor sax Keith Saunders, piano Eric Markowitz, bass Tony Johnson drums Injecting swing into jazz classics, a little Monk, some Kenny Dorham, some Lucky Thompson– you can’t really go wrong with these musicians and this music! “The kid can play…so lyrical, and deft and swinging to boot.” —ROBERT PINSKY, UNITED STATES POET LAUREATE Patrick Wolff is a saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and educator, originally from New York, and currently residing in San Francisco. He attended New York University, where he studied with Ralph Lalama, George Garzone, Frank Foster, Ron McClure, and Frank Kimbrough. In the jazz world, Patrick Wolff has toured heavily with the Glenn Miller Orchestra, worked with Shane Endsley, Matt Wilson, Grant Stewart, Dena DeRose, Josh Roseman, Judi Silvano, Marcus Shelby, and Ron McClure, and has had the great fortune of performing with many of the world’s greatest musicians, including Louis Hayes, Tootie Heath, Peter Bernstein, Roy…

Piano professor Macy Blackman has played it all, and plays it for you tonight with Bing Nathan on bass… From the Clovers to the Orioles, Fats Domino to Professor Longhair… they’ll play the tunes and tell the stories that we crave!

Smooth Toad presents the dusty American folk ragas of surrealist/dada poet G. P. Skratz, romantic fiddler/bard Hal Hughes, and legendary theater artist Bob Ernst.   The trio weaves an authentic collaboration that conjures original hymns wherein Captain Beefheart meets Lord Byron. Their words and tunes explode into a whole new art form: think nightingale on a branch overlooking the RNC. Each has published and performed poems, done theater, and played arcane American music. Together, they’ve been Smooth Toad for a good stretch. Skratz taught at Naropa on Allen Ginsburg’s invitation. Bob was a founding member of the Blake Street Hawkeyes, a legendary East Bay theater troupe that included Whoopi Goldberg and John O’Keefe. Hal was at the nascence of the Blue Dolphin, has been with Subterranean Shakespeare, North Beach Beckett, and much more. The Zombie Stomp (click here!) will give you a clue, and that’s just Skratz & Hal– we’ll…

Smith Dobson is a triple jazz threat, a respected and much sought player on saxophone, vibes and drums. He’s heir to several generations of family talent — his father was a top pianist on the scene through his untimely death in 2001, and his mother is a jazz singer and teacher of repute. Tonight, Smith is joined by long-time colleagues Adam Shulman on piano, Eric Markowitz on bass and Evan Hughes on drums — first-call players all heard regularly at every significant jazz venue in the region.  Two sets of bop, standards and originals.    

Trumpet player Al Molina, reed player Jerry Logas and drummer Vinnie Rodriguez join bassist Don Prell for two generous sets of live jazz. Decades of professional experience and tons of improvisational skill on the bandstand tonight. Don first made his mark on the jazz scene in the 1950s, when he was an integral part of the Los Angeles area activity that centered on Howard Rumsey’s Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach (where so-called “West Coast Jazz” was born, developed, codified and made world famous), as well as the Central Avenue clubs where African-American musicians dominated the scene, clubs including The Hague in downtown Los Angeles, and many other storied venues. Don was the bassist in the hugely successful Bud Shank Quartet, along with pianist Claude Williamson and drummer Chuck Flores, making several records and touring internationally to great acclaim. He was also in a handful of movies you may well remember, generally…

Avotcja Jerry Ferraz Francisco Herrera Genny Lim Kaylah Marin Kim Shuck Bill Vartnaw Nellie Wong plus open mic! Stars of Bay Area Poetry read to benefit KPFA!     More headliners as they confirm, so stay tuned! Don’t touch that dial! KPFA is crucial always, particularly in these trying times. Help them get through a dire financial crisis! Bring your checkbook, or contact the station directly.