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!

Thursday, March 14th – 7-9pm
Mallar Bhattacharya & Ferhan Qureshi
sarod and tabla duo

Hindustani Classical Music Mallar Bhattacharya, sarod Ferhan Najeeb Qureshi, tabla $20/byob Reservations: 415-586-3733 Live stream found on our YouTube channel and Facebook page / donations appreciated Mallar Bhattacharya is a sarodist of the Acharya Baba Allauddin Seni Gharana of Maihar, India. Mallar began his musical training at the age of three, learning both Western and Hindustani violin from his father Dr. Jahar Bhattacharya, a student of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. Mallar became  a disciple of Ustad Aashish Khan at age 15 and has also studied the music of the Ali Akbar College of Music in San Rafael, California for over 35 years, having learned directly from Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and his archival material over that time. Mallar recently released a single of the raga Bhimpalasi, which is available on most streaming platforms: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM-ybSLfMPs&list=OLAK5uy_mRKN1uCZmznjvmUZ0wCIpIf7mS3eMCo9o. Ferhan Najeeb Qureshi is a senior disciple of the legendary tabla master Ustad Tari Khan. Prior to…

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Tuesday, March 12th – 7-9pm
Tim Berne Trio

Tim Berne, saxophone Tom Rainey, drums Gregg Belisle-Chi, guitar $20 cover charge (cash or venmo) at the door, byob Tonight, the seats have all been spoken for, but some limited standing room audience will be accommodated. (NB: Reservations for our shows are taken by phone starting three weeks before the performance date, and are cut off once 30 seats have been reserved.) For four and a half decades,  Tim Berne has recorded prolifically under his own name and alongside creative innovators of the jazz avant garde including his idol and mentor Julius Hemphill as well as Nels Cline, Vinny Golia, Paul Motian, Bill Frisell, Olu Dara, Herb Robertson, Hank Roberts, Mark Dresser, Ray Anderson, Michael Formanek, John Zorn and dozens more. He operates the Empire and Screwgun record labels and has recorded for Soul Note, Black Saint, JMT, ECM, Enja, Intakt and many others. His first recording on lp with…

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Sunday, March 10th – 5-7pm
The Seducers!
America’s Favorite Honky Tonk Band

  Raving it up on numbers by the masters of outlaw and classic country music, the Seducers entertain the regulars with tales of heartache, loneliness and wry self-aggrandizement, with the occasional trucking song thrown in for good measure. Joe Goldmark, pedal steel guitar Mitch Polzak, lead guitar and vocals Hank Maninger, bass guitar and vocals Kenny Owen, the Zen Cowboy Poet, drums BYOB and a twenty for the band.  

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POETS!ZOOM
twice monthly online poetry series
hosted by Kim Shuck
second and fourth Mondays
Monday, 3/11/24 – 7pm

Tonight, Kim Shuck (San Francisco Poet Laureate, 2017-2020) presents featured poets Garrett Caples and Julian Blackmon and conducts the open mic that follows. The Poets!Zoom series 2nd Mondays sessions always features two poets reading at length followed by an open mic. The 4th Mondays are all open mic. This evening at 7pm, join by Google Meet at this link: meet.google.com/njx-navd-vmp Or join by Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84350265713?pwd=eE84V3BYdWxiSFBHNHhmdUt1WTUzdz09 Meeting ID: 843 5026 5713 Passcode: 244211 Featured Poets Tonight: Garrett Caples is a poet living in San Francisco. He’s an editor at City Lights Books. His latest book Proses: Incomparable Parables! Fabulous Fables! Cruel Tales! will appear in May from Wave Books. Julian Blackmon, also known as Protected Poet, was born in Marion, Indiana, but found his poetic voice amidst the bustling streets of San Francisco. With his forthcoming poetry book, “PEACE OF ME,” set to release in May, he continues to captivate audiences across California…

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Saturday, March 9th – 7:30-9:30pm
The Ray Skjelbred Trio

Ray Skjelbred is in town for a string of dates on the Peninsula and in San Francisco before heading back up to Seattle, which he calls home these days. Ray is a unique pianist with a great feel for the piano masters of Chicago, the town where he was born and raised before moving with his family to Seattle. Early on he developed a great ear for the individualistic styles of Earl Hines, Jess Stacy, Joe Sullivan, Jimmy Yancey and Art Hodes as well as Mary Lou Williams, Thelonious Monk and Bill Evans and dozens of others. In the late ’50s, he gravitated to the Bay Area, where Burt Bales had set a standard beginning in the 1940s, when a trad jazz revival got underway with Lu Watters, Bob Scobey and Turk Murphy dominating the public perception. Ray wrote, “I was 18 the first time I saw Burt Bales playing…

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Friday, March 8th – 8:30-10pm
The Luke Schwartz Quartet

Tony Peebles – sax Luke Schwartz – guitar Andrew Higgins – bass Evan Williams – drums $20 / byob Influenced by contemporary and old-school players such as Jim Hall, Joe Pass, Jesse Van Ruller & Peter Bernstein, Luke Schwartz’s compositional style is inspired by that of post-bop icon Steve Swallow.  ​Luke returned to the Bay Area to make his mark on the local scene after stints in New Orleans and New York.  ​He can be found performing regularly at cafes, clubs, bars & restaurants throughout the Bay Area under his own name, The Luke Schwartz Trio & Quartet, as well as with a variety of other jazz, rock & eclectic musicians.

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Friday, March 8th – 6-8pm
Eric & the In Crowd
play tunes from the pens of
Mal Waldron & Jimmy Van Heusen

  Join us at our weekly Friday evening Jazz Happy Hour, 6-8pm! BYOB and a twenty for the trio. Kids are free. Students & teens, how about $10? The second Friday of each month in 2024, you’ll be regaled by Eric & the In Crowd, celebrating the tunesmiths who wrote the standards that jazz musicians have taught us to know and love. Pianist Eric Shifrin, bassist Ari Munkres and drummer Mark Lee will regale you this time around with compositions from the pens of Mal Waldron and Jimmy Van Heusen. Mal Waldron, born in 1925, spent the 1950s leading his own small combos while playing in the bands of Charles Mingus, Jackie McLean, John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy and composing for all of them, most famously the tune “Soul Eyes” that Coltrane played so memorably. Waldron was Billie Holiday’s accompanist from the spring of 1957 until her death in 1959,…

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POETS! read in the shop on the
first Thursday of each month.
March 7th, 7-9pm
Poets Judith Ayn Bernhard & Byron Spooner
open mic follows

Two veterans of the San Francisco poetry scene open the reading, and an open mic closes it out. Come to Bird & Beckett on the first Thursday of each month to take it in and lend your voice. Judith Ayn Bernhard is a founding member and past chair of Marin Poetry Center. She is the author of a book of poems, Prisoners of Culture. Her most recent work is Marriages, a collection of short prose pieces. She lives with her husband, Byron Spooner, in San Francisco. Byron Spooner is the author of Rounding Up a Bison: Stories (Andover Street Archives Press, 2021). He is retired as the Literary Director of the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library after 21 years. His writing has been published widely on a variety of platforms and won Honorable Mention in the 2021 Dillydoun International Fiction Prize competition for his story “The Acrobat Rides…

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Wednesday, March 6th – 7pm
Feminism and Storytelling in the 21st Century
Writers converge to honor
International Women’s Day

An event organized by writer Joan Gelfand. International Women’s Day is celebrated every March 8th around the globe, though its profile in the United States has generally been pretty low through the decades — we’d guess partly because of the patriarchy and partly because of the taint associated with that damned socialist impulse behind its first observance back in the spring of 1909, when the Socialist Party of America organized “Women’s Day” in New York City, that dual bastion of capitalism & revolution! Getting out ahead of the celebration by a couple of days — to get you ready to take to the streets on Friday — we’ll open the doors of Bird & Beckett to four writers and a moderator (herself a novelist, as well) to discuss the state of things for women and feminism in the here and now… discovering new narratives, as it were… Participating in this…

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Sunday, March 3rd – 5-8:30pm
Two CMC Student Jazz Combos
followed by an open mic
hosted by the Akira Tana Trio

Two jazz combos from the Community Music Center — one coached by Scott Foster and one coached by Charlie Gurke — will perform short sets starting at 5pm, with a 2-hour jam session open to all student jazz musicians following at 6:30pm. Celebrate CMC and celebrate jazz and the talented youth drawn to it! Come hear the music and consider the brilliance of these students, and think about what it takes to pursue jazz performance as a career! The Independent Musicians Alliance has ideas and schemes to make that more realistic in the Bay Area. We’ll clue you in if you come. And if you do come, bring a twenty to help us pay the musicians!

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Sunday, March 3rd – 2pm
Betty Wong’s CMC Year of the Dragon Concert

Each year, Betty Wong calls in the talents from San Francisco’s Community Music Center to celebrate the breadth of music that catches her ear and keeps her creative juices flowing. Marking the Year of the Dragon, she’ll bring a cavalcade of musicians – students, faculty and friends — to play music from a variety of cultures and traditions around the globe, capping the afternoon as always with a trio of jazz players that are long-time colleagues and friends — saxophonist Ken Rosen, pianist Randy Craig and bassist Richard Saunders. Following the trio, pianist/flutist Steve Shapiro, director of the CMC for 30 years until his retirement several years ago, will join his wife, the bassist Ellen Rosenthal, for a short set. Betty Wong is a bona fide treasure. Read this article to get a bit of a sense of what a power she is! And here are the Wikipedia facts. And…

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Saturday, March 2nd – 7:30-9:30pm
Mo’Fone
new album! “3 Skidoo”

Larry De La Cruz, alto saxophone Jim Peterson, baritone saxophone Jeremy Steinkoler, drums $20 cover charge; byob Students 25 and under $10 Kids 12 and under free   With its surprising and highly combustible line-up of two saxmen and one drummer, Mo’Fone has thrilled audiences with some of the funkiest jazz—-and jazziest funk-—being played today. Powering its way through inventive high-energy original compositions, Mo’Fone explores the sonic landscape of its unique instrumentation with a relentless adventurousness, creating a huge sound that belies its compact size.The band is celebrating the release of their 4th album, 3 Skidoo, featuring all original compositions by all 3 members. “If Mo’Fone doesn’t blow your socks off, you’re not paying attention.”  “Snaps and crackles like James Brown’s Famous Flames mixed with a New Orleans second line.” Mo’Fone’s improvisations and concept have twice earned them the award for Best Jazz Group in the East Bay Express Readers’…

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Friday, March 1st – 8:30-10pm
Rob Woodcock Quintet
new album! “GoGo7”

Henry Hung – trumpet Charlie Gurke – bari sax Dave Gibbons – piano Rob Woodcock – bass Evan Williams – drums $20-30 sliding scale cover charge. Help us pay a fair guaranteed wage to these musicians! Students 22 and under, $10 Watching in the live stream? Donate! Come out to the intimate concert space that is Bird & Beckett to hear an exciting combo celebrating the release of their new recording, executing the compositions of bassist and leader Rob Woodcock. http://robwoodcock.com/ Your cover charge at the show helps us guarantee a fair wage to the musicians that work here. Individual donations from a great many generous members of the Bird & Beckett community are also necessary. If you can and haven’t, please join their number. Bird & Beckett will always be a work in progress… Thanks for being part of the solution with your dollars, ears, intellect and loyalty!

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Friday, March 1st – 6-8pm
Klobas/Kesecker Ensemble
new album! “Blues Elixer”

Pat Klobas, bass; Tommy Kesecker, vibes; Terrence Brewer, guitar; David Rokeach, drums. $20 suggested per adult; byob. $10 teens and music students. Kids free. Reservations, call 415-586-3733. The Klobas/Kesecker Ensemble has an exquisite chemistry that makes for a special concert experience, and they arrive at Bird & Beckett with a new cd on the verge of release, their third, called “Blues Elixer.” They promise a delightful mix of original compositions new and old, and a scattering of beautifully conceived arrangements of jazz standards. Regarding their second cd, “Moment’s Notice” it was noted that “the timbre of textures seems unlimited and is applied with artistic savvy. The recording’s title cut, featuring Kesecker on vibes, is done with a new and distinct K/K Ensemble arrangement that cuts across jazz and Brazilian parameters. Kesecker’s vibes, Brewer’s guitar, Klobas’s acoustic bass and Rokeach’s drums are truly an ensemble that stands out as an original…

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Wednesday, February 28th – 7:30-9:30pm
50th Anniversary Tour!
Kahil El’Zabar’s Ethnic Heritage Ensemble
New album releases March 8:
“Open Me: A Higher Consciousness
of Sound & Spirit”

Kahil El’Zabar percussion, kalimba, voice Corey Wilkes trumpet Alex Harding baritone saxophone THE EHE’S ANNUAL BLACK HISTORY MONTH NATIONAL TOUR WRAPPING UP AT BIRD & BECKETT & CELEBRATING FIFTY YEARS! $30 cover at the door (cash or venmo) byob reservations, call 415-586-3733 As the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble wraps up its annual Black History Month tour, the Ensemble is sporting a new release, out March 8 from Spiritmuse Records, entitled “Open Me: A Higher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit.” Open Me is a joyous honoring of potent new directions of the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble; it’s a visionary journey into deep roots and future routes, channeling traditions old and new. It mixes El’Zabar’s original compositions with timeless classics by Miles Davis, McCoy Tyner, and Eugene McDaniels. Thus, the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble continues affirming their indelible, half-century presence within the continuum of Great Black Music. February 28th marks the EHE’s sixth date at…

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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.

We continue to present a full slate of programming of live music and poetry readings, and produce a literary journal and poetry chapbooks, and we seek and welcome your continued financial support by way of donations through our fiscal sponsor, Jazz in the Neighborhood.

Click on "donate" in the navigation bar above. Better yet, send or drop off a check made out to our fiscal sponsor, Jazz in the Neighborhood, with BBCLP in the memo line. Our mailing address is:

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

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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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