Heshima Mark Williams presents! The Ways & Means Committee: Dr. Gary Bean, trumpet Michael Bush, alto sax Dr. David Ferrazares, tenor sax Art Khu, piano Mark Williams, bass Julian Hogan, drums  

Colleagues making jazz music for you. Live. Once in a lifetime. Two sets: 5:30-8:00 pm!  

4:30-6:30 pm: The Walter Earl Trio. 7:30-10 pm – The Seducers.  

Noel Jewkes, one of the Bay Area’s legendary talents in jazz, is featured this week with Grant Levin’s quartet.  Chris Amberger on bass and Jaz Sawyer on drums guarantee a deep and swinging evening of jazz. Jazz club is what we call our Saturday night shindig.  $10 at the door.  Best ten bucks you could spend on a Saturday night! Featured saxophonist Noel Jewkes was born in Utah in 1940 and migrated to San Francisco as an adult to become one of the most revered local masters of the jazz saxophone, but only after playing for years, from the age of 12, in the family swing orchestra headed by his mother and father. The Jewkes Orchestra traveled widely in the region, delivering a swinging and danceable beat to audiences of hip Indians, farmers and city slickers in rural assembly halls, lakeside resorts and downtown hotels. Talented beyond measure on piano…

  The Don Alberts Quartet with Ian Carey, trumpet Stu Pilorz, trombone Aaron Cohn, bass Top flight bebop, standards and originals… with guest Jeff Kaliss reading some of Don’s poetry Don Alberts is a triple threat, as a jazzman, poet and novelist. Add jazz historian for his valuable compilation of oral interviews called Diary of the Underdogs: Jazz in the 1960s in San Francisco. Born and bred in the Bay Area, with a long stint on the Portland jazz scene, he was house pianist at Jimbo’s Bop City in the early 1960s, played Pearls in North Beach, Ronnie’s Soulville in the Fillmore, and all manner of other clubs up and down the coast.  A key figure in jazz piano as it’s been played in these parts for five decades!

Smith Dobson, tenor sax Jack “Tone” Riordan, guitar Miles Wick, bass Timothy Angulo, drums. Timely and timeless jazz classics by Thelonius Monk, Bud Powell, Charlie Parker and Duke Ellington.

Scott Foster, guitar, and Vinnie Rodriguez, drums join bassist Don Prell on the bandstand. Always something new under the jazz sun!  

Jerry Ferraz hosts our twice-monthly poetry series. Buford Bunton and Steve Carolan feature tonight, followed by an  open mic. Bring something to read! Don’t write poetry? You can always bring the work of a favorite poet to share. Of course, poets love an audience, so you can come as that if you wish! All welcome…  

Shel Silverstein — yes, the one famous for Where the Sidewalk Ends, A Light in the Attic, The Giving Tree — wrote hit songs for Johnny Cash, Dr Hook and The Medicine Show, Marianne Faithful, Bobby Bare and Willie Nelson, among others. In fact, he helped put together the band Dr Hook and the Medicine Show as a vehicle for his songs. San Francisco’s premier country music singer/songwriter and bandleader Misisipi Mike Wolf, invites Rik Elswit (guitarist for Dr Hook and friend of Silverstein), Gayle Lynn, The Shut-Ins and Maurice Tani to join him at Bird & Beckett to sing some of their favorite Shel songs and a few originals, too. Don’t miss out on Bird & Beckett’s burgeoning Sunday night series.  We’re calling the series Canyon Moonlight and it features bands sharing drummer Randy Odell on the first Sunday of the month (Eric & the In Crowd, EaR Candy,…

Roy Brown, organ Larry Douglas, trumpet and vibes Rusty Aceves, drums Roy Brown was born in Sacramento and exposed to jazz at the age of 5 by his parents. He played viola, clarinet, alto and tenor saxophones before realizing the piano was his true calling. In 1994, Roy released an independently produced CD entitled “Courage” on his own label, Roday Records, featuring the late legendary drummer George Walker, who was a mainstay in the Wes Montgomery group for years. Subsequently, Roy studied composition and theory with internationally acclaimed pianist Mark Levine, and after moving to the Bay Area, was soon working with the likes of pianist and educator Dee Spencer, drummer Babatunde Lea, guitarist Eric Swinderman, drummer Kamau Seitu, alto saxophonist Bishop Norman Williams and singer Frankye Kelly. In July of 2005 Roy performed at the Jazz Las Casas festival in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico and in…

Walker Brents III offers a personal interpretation of the mythology, history, and imagery of a deeply rooted artistic tradition.

North Beach Brass Band is both a traditional brass band playing early jazz and golden standards with forays into bebop and an electrified funky jazz act playing classic blues, Motown and soul tunes The band covers almost every American genre, from Louis Armstrong’s favorites to danceable covers of Seventies hits from legends like Aretha Franklin, Jimmy Reed, Buddy Guy, War, Hugh Masakela, The Meters, Jobim, and Miles Davis. Ed Ivey is, like, our favorite person on the planet! C’mon out! Daniel Herrera, trumpet Ed Ivey, tuba Dave Bullers,sax Byron Rynes,guitar Blake Ritterman, traps

“HowellDevine plays The Music with the original feel, intent and spirit, and you can tell they love the music while delivering some real blues in their own way. The singing and playing is never strained and they play with easy confidence…they don’t have to prove anything. There’s tasty slide, harp and rhythm with relaxed vocals that all blend together for a wonderfully satisfying experience…it knocks me out to hear a group playing such good quality blues today.” ~ Charlie Musselwhite “What a pleasure to find a young band that really gets the blues…Deep and true to the roots. Really digging this record and so glad they’re on the scene. ” ~ Bonnie Raitt “We love them – they are great!” ~ Elvin Bishop