Harvey Wainapel, reeds Adam Shulman, piano Peter Barshay, bass Sylvia Cuenca, drums Reuniting two old friends who have rarely played together in recent years, the Harvey Wainapel/Sylvia Cuenca Quartet promises an evening of fresh musical energy and material, with a mix of originals, “standards” and “ought to be standards!” Sylvia (who has played with Joe Henderson, Clark Terry, and Eddie Henderson, among many other greats) and Harvey (Joe Lovano, Airto Moreira/Flora Purim, Ray Charles) are thrilled to be joined by pianist Adam Shulman and bassist Peter Barshay, two of the strongest and most in-demand players in the Bay Area.

Sylvia Cuenca, a San Jose native who’s been a first call drummer on the jazz scene in New York City now for several decades, is passing through town and will play Bird & Beckett twice this week — tonight in a quartet with New York organ player Jared Gold and local icons Joe Cohen on sax and Jack Riordan on guitar. Friday, she’s back — in a quartet co-led by Bay Area saxophone legend Harvey Wainapel. with Adam Shulman on piano and Peter Barshay on bass. Sylvia got her start here in San Francisco before heading for New York City and putting in long, productive years touring in the quartets of saxophone titan Joe Henderson and legendary trumpet player Clark Terry, two substantial associations that speak for her talent and the high regard it’s brought her in a fiercely competitive environment. Organist Jared Gold was named a “Rising Star” in…

Ian Carey, trumpet Bob Kenmotsu, tenor sax Mark Levine, piano Robb Fischer,  bass Ron Marabuto, drums Fine, well traveled musicians right down the line, led by pianist Mark Levine — four decades plus playing at the highest levels of the jazz world, a dozen albums as a leader, two Grammy nominations, significant and satisfying bandstand and recording studio associations with the likes of Woody Shaw, Bobby Hutcherson, Freddie Hubbard, Wallace Roney, Tito Puente, Milt Jackson, James Moody, Art Farmer, Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Fortune, Eddie Harris, Stefon Harris, Eddie Henderson, Conrad Herwig, Clark Terry, Ingrid Jensen, Charlie Rouse, Bobby Watson, Chet Baker, Philip Harper, Mark Murphy, Art Pepper, Julian Priester, Bobby Shew, Steve Turre, Madeline Eastman, Enrique Pla and Poncho Sanchez… with particularly fruitful and intense extended stints on the bandstand with trumpeter Blue Mitchell and sax giants Joe Henderson, Harold Land and Dave Liebman, and with latin jazz titans Mongo Santamaria,…

Seabop! Don Prell, leader, on bass, with Al Molina, trumpet, and Jerry Logas, reeds.  Drummer tba. Bassist Prell got his start in L.A. in the 1950s, traveling for several years as a member of the Bud Shank Quartet. He’s been a cornerstone of the Bird & Beckett Friday night jazz series since its inception in 2002, and leads a group here on the first Friday of each month.    

Catch GG after the game! GG Amos, vocals and guitar Parris Bertolucci, organ Randy Lee Odell, drums GG Amos carries the torch of the African American guitarists and singers who created a distinct West Coast blues style during World War II and the decades that followed — musicians like Lowell Fulson and T-Bone Walker and younger players, notably including Johnny Heartsman. GG has released a single, “West Coast” in tribute to the genre and to Heartsman, who recorded prolifically, primarily as a sideman, in the 1950s and 1960s, then effectively disappeared. In the 1970s, he surfaced in Sacramento and again became a widely admired player, remaining active right up to his death in 1996. GG grew up in Sacramento and became profoundly influenced by Heartsman, though she has her own thang for sure, melding funky soul, jazz and latin elements into music that’s all GG! Read more and hear clips…

  The Principles Behind Flotation (Skyhorse Press, 2017) is the first novel from Alexandra Teague, a former NEA Fellow, Stegner Fellow, and City College of San Francisco instructor, currently an associate professor at University of Idaho. She has previously published two poetry books—The Wise and Foolish Builders (Persea 2015) and Mortal Geography (Persea 2010), winner of the 2010 California Book Award. Echoing novels like Karen Russell’s Swamplandia! and Carol Rifka Brunt’s Tell the Wolves I’m Home, Alexandra Teague’s lighthearted coming-of-age debut is perfect for anyone who’s navigated the strange seas of adolescence—and lived to tell the tale. A.Z. McKinney is on the shores of greatness. Now all she needs is a boat. When the Sea of Santiago appeared overnight in a cow pasture in Arkansas, it seemed, to some, a religious miracle. But to high school sophomore A.Z. McKinney, it’s marked her chance to make history—as its first oceanographer. All…

They’re fierce, they’re funny, and they’ll make your head spin while your toe’s tappin’. Plus, the Moby Dick album is deep. The rest is beyond category. Two sets, so you’ll get a generous helping of both. No cover charge per se: $10-20 donation suggested and appreciated. After you’ve supped, you’ll want to feast on the leftovers, so put El Rio’s Shit-Kickin’ Memorial Day show on your calendar for Monday.      

“Jazz on a Summer’s Day: A Tribute to Anita O’Day” featuring Melanie O’Reilly & Trio Frank Martin – piano Fred Randolph – bass Jack Dorsey – drums “….the ideal soundtrack to a hot summer night”  (Edinburgh Fringe Festival)  Award-winning jazz vocalist Melanie O’Reilly celebrates the legendary jazz singer Anita O’Day, capturing the essence of an unconventional musical genius. Interspersing narration between the songs, Melanie tells and sings the story of O’Day, who wanted to be a jazz singer and refused to let anything stop her.  The show, created and devised by O’Reilly, tells the story of a bold unconventional musical genius who shattered the traditional role of a “girl singer” with her smoky swinging style and brilliant sense of rhythm.   Overcoming the setbacks of poverty and addiction, O’Day becomes one of the world’s most enduring jazz artists –anointed for her legendary performance at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival captured in the ground-breaking film documentary “Jazz on a Summer’s Day,” O’Reilly’s riveting Anita O’Day tribute, which garnered 4-star reviews and standing ovations at the International Edinburgh Fringe Festival and from a growing number of Bay Area audiences, brings…

The literary profile of a revered Buddhist text and what it means for poets.  

The Jazz Philanthropists Union presents… Dan Neville, vibes Grant Levin, piano Piro Patten, bass Miles Tune, drums Originals by Dan Neville, including tunes from soon-to-be-released Golden Circle Sextet cd (due out in August). Dan is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, jazz performer, jazz big band arranger and a full time student. His credentials include seven seasons of SFJAZZ Center’s Monday Night Big Band, arranging for Adam Theis’ Realistik Orchestra and three outstanding musicianship awards from Reno, Chabot, and CSUEB jazz festivals. In April, Dan won 1st place in the 2017 Jazz Search West competition. Dan has studied jazz arranging and improvisation with Bennett Friedman at Santa Rosa JC, studied composition and piano with Rebeca Mauleon at City College of San Francisco, and is currently studying jazz education at the California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley, CA, working towards a BA.