Jack Riordan is just one of the top jazz guitarists in the region, no question — and he’s playing a three-venue run of shows in the company of ace organist Wil Blades and famed drummer Mike Clark: at Birdland Jazzista Social Club in Oakland on the 17th, Bird & Beckett on the 18th, and the Sutter Creek Theatre in his hometown in the Gold Country on the 21st! All three shows will be recorded for an upcoming cd!  

POETS! a twice-monthly series hosted by troubadour Jerry Ferraz. Every first & third Monday, 7-9 pm Tonight’s featured poets are Eugene Berson and Vince Storti. They’ll be followed by one of the best open mic sessions in San Francisco – a city of poets!  Gene Berson says, “I’ve been writing seriously for many years, and live in the northern California foothills. I grew up in the bay area. I’ve published in American Poetry Review, Bastard Angel, Beatitude, Vanishing Cab, the online magazines Abalone Moon and Referential Magazine and the anthology Honeydew. American Academy of Poets prize, SFSU, BA,MA in English Literature. I have two manuscripts of poems I hope to publish this year, one entitled Yuba Grooves — poems written the last ten years and focusing on the Sierra Foothills; the other, Relative Orbits, includes more family-inspired biographical work. I co-ordinated Poetry in the Schools in the early seventies for several…

Last chance to catch the Seducers on a Sunday at Bird & Beckett! In September, look for them on the third Thursday of every month from 8 to 10pm. But it’s still, August, so here they are, big as life! This classic/outlaw country band, featuring pedal steel ace Joe Goldmark, long, tall, loquacious guitarist/vocalist Mitch Polzak, and solid rocking drummer Kenny Owen have just bid “so long” to long-time Seducer Eddie Kendrick, who got himself seduced into marriage. Silver wings have taken Eddie to bliss in Colorado. We’ll all miss him a whole lot, more than we can express! But the Seducers will work their magic in new and sweetly familiar ways, with  Hank Maninger on bass and vocals. If Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson are your glass of bourbon, this is your music. This weekly Sunday night series that we’ve been calling canyon moonlight music was inaugurated…

Last glimpsed at Bird & Beckett in a Merle Haggard tribute with the Seducers a few months back, we’re beyond happy to bring Henry & Kathleen Salvia to the stage in our which way west? series for two sets of their own particular brand of mischief.  The Flying Salvias have been called “Ameri-kinda Alt Everything” and “Alt Cabaret” — Henry is well known for his expressive piano style and impressive chops, and Kathleen’s voice can go from a whisper to a roar and back again with heartfelt emotional appeal. It’s said that their musical palette is large and many-colored. Their lyrics might seem whimsical, but don’t be fooled — there’s always an under-painting of deeper meaning. They take great pleasure in blurring all musical boundaries, giving any given song whatever touch of blues, country, jazz, tango, or rock ‘n roll strikes them as the thing to do. She’s a musical…

Grant Levin never fails to astonish when he takes to the piano at Bird & Beckett as he does several times each month.  2nd & 4th Saturday afternoons showcase Grant in a duo format with one or another of his closest jazz collaborators.  2nd Saturday nights, Grant has led a quartet date since the beginning of our “jazz club” series in the summer of 2014. As a jazz pianist, Grant is one of the best kept secrets in the Western World, just ask anybody! Saturday, 8/13 – 4-6 pm: The Grant Levin – Charles Thomas Duo.  This week, the versatile and deep bassist Charles Thomas shares the stage with Grant. Charles is equally comfortable in classical, funk, r&b and jazz settings – and it seems to be jazz that’s closest to his heart. If you haven’t made one of these duo dates, you owe it to yourself to hear just…