Bassist Walter Savage has returned to the Bay Area — living now up in Vallejo — after a too-lengthy sojourn in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Walter grew up in Watts, where his father was a preacher and where he couldn’t imagine not singing– which he still does plenty. Walter picked up the bass while serving in the military in the 1960s, taken with the work of the great Paul Chambers with Miles Davis. Once back in Los Angeles, he bought a bass and took lessons from legendary musicians of two generations, Al McKibbon and Leroy Vinnegar, and played in the rhythm sections of Bobby Hutcherson, at Howard Rumsey’s Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach, as well as Horace Tapscott, Arthur Blythe, Gerald Wilson, Taj Mahal, Gloria Lynn and plenty of others. Walter eventually made his way up to San Francisco and environs, where he was heard regularly at Yoshi’s, Jazz at Pearl’s, Enrico’s, Bach…

Latif Harris and David Meltzer — two poets with deep, deep roots — hold the stage. Each is in his 70s, each dedicated to poetry since the 1950s, each with children dear to them all along the way. At David’s first reading in the store, we urged him to read his poem “The Red Shoes,” that has him nimbly skittering over his kids’ scattered debris in a mad acrobatic dash of language. And Latif’s first reading here, sweet and profound, actually took place on Fathers Day 15 years ago, and was a moment of reunion with his son Raphael. We’re more than pleased to host Latif and David together on this occasion! It’s no small matter that both are important poets in a much larger sense.

The heart and soul of jazz at Bird & Beckett are this band and singer Dorothy Lefkovits.  Tenor player Chuck Peterson started the whole Bird & Beckett jazz program back in late 2002, and Dorothy converged with the scene right back at the beginning.  Nowadays, Chuck leads a group that comprises five wonderful musicians who all got their start in jazz five or six decades ago, and who have played together in many, many different circumstances all along the way.  Regular bass player Dean Reilly has other commitments this month, so we’ll have cornerstone bassist Al Obidinsky taking his place for the evening alongside drummer Tony Johnson, guitarist Glen Deardorff, reed player Howard Dudune and, of course, Chuck on sax and flute. Dorothy joins the group on vocals for several songs on each set. Music ends at eight, so don’t be late! This Friday, we’ll dedicate the jazz party to…

A jazz & literary evening in celebration  of Bloomsday! Joyce & Jazz Featuring celebrated Irish celtic-jazz vocalist Melanie O’Reilly with Frank Martin on piano   $15 cover charge / $10 seniors and students      Join us for an evening with Melanie O’Reilly, award-winning  Irish jazz singer and songwriter, teaming with top Bay Area jazz pianist Frank Martin to perform original music inspired by writings of James Joyce, interwoven with readings from Joyce’s works by renowned actors Esther Mulligan and John Ilyin. Melanie and Frank also offer a jazz take on songs Joyce himself loved and mentions in Ulysses and various of his writings. “thoroughly modern take on the jazz tradition…. utterly transformative.” Ken Kubernik, Music Connection Melanie O’Reilly is one of Ireland’s foremost jazz singers and her own unique style of Celtic Jazz , which she has brought to international audiences, has been described as “A gorgeous sound..Celtic Cadence with a jazz sensibility. ” Contra Costa Times and “Breathtaking,… sheer virtuosity” Irish Times.  Her music has…

On the second Sunday of the month, The Seducers continue a traditional booking that started at the Riptide Bar out on Taraval, and continues at Bird & Beckett until the Riptide is rebuilt and the doors flung back open. This lovely band is led by the self-effacing pedal steel master, Joe Goldmark, with loquacious and gracious Mitch Polzak and modest, melliflous Eddie Kendrik fronting the outfit, all propelled by the well tuned drums of Kenny Owen.  If you’ve got a taste for Merle Haggard, Buck Owens, Johnny Paycheck, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson… this band will please you no end.