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!
Mitch Polzak – lead guitar & vocals Hank Maninger – bass guitar & vocals Joe Goldmark – pedal steel guitar Kenny Owen – drums You’ll find the Seducers playing songs of lovin’ and longin’ at Bird & Beckett on the second Sunday of every other month — January, March, May, July, September & November, the odd numbered ones… Twangtastic tunes and gorgeous convergence in honky tonk heaven. There’s so much more than just jazz at Bird & Beckett. Join us! BYOB and a twenty for the band. That’ll git it!
Read MoreGustavo Lorenzatti is an Argentine double bass player, composer and long standing member of the Symphony Orchestra of Córdoba. He has a background in jazz, improvised and, classical music, tango and argentinian folklore. He formally studied at the Rotterdam Conservatory of music with the soloist of the Netherlands Philharmonic, Hans Roelofsen. Gustavo will be performing a solo double bass concert which will feature a number of his own compositions characterized by the use of bowing, pizzicato, voice and percussion, all of which create a unique and stimulating experience.
Read MoreA year and a day since its theatrical debut, Emily Keeler’s Dark Days and a Black Dog returns to Bird & Beckett tonight, with live music. A solo turn by actor Andrea Snow, directed by Jael Weisman, Emily’s piece unspools seven heart-wrenching years in an intensely personal, darkly comic and breathtakingly recognizable theatrical experience. This time around, Andrea delivers Emily’s words with the expansive dimension of Randy Craig’s piano accompaniment. https://www.darkdaysandablackdog.com/fromthepiece Emily Keeler has been a dancer in San Francisco since 1974. She was a principal dancer for The Moving Company, Cliff Kuter’s New Dance Company, and Joe Goode Performance Group. She choreographed for numerous dance companies both ballet and contemporary including SF Dance Theater, Chrysalis, The Moving Company, DanceArt, Oakland Ballet, and Joffrey Dancers, and was a four time recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Choreographic Fellowship. She and has been an educator and artist in residence…
Read MoreMacy Blackman & the Mighty Fines come to Bird & Beckett tonight to deliver a rockin’ excursion through a couple dozen gems, known and obscure, from the musical minds of New Orleans greats like Professor Longhair, Dr. John, Irma Thomas, Allen Toussaint and Fats Domino. The Mighty Fines have been playing New Orleans R&B in San Francisco since 2003, with Ken “Snakebite” Jacobs arriving from the Crescent City in 2005 in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and taking on the bari sax and clarinet role in the band. With tenor player Nancy Wright out tonight, he’ll handle that aspect with alacrity. Mighty Fines stalwart bassist Bing Nathan and Macy are practically joined at the hip, and Mark Lee is a natural behind the drum kit. A good time, guaranteed. $20 cover charge (cash/venmo at the door) byob
Read MoreFriday, January 12, 6-8pm – $20 cover, byob ERIC & THE IN CROWD Every Second Sunday! Piano Professor Eric Shifrin’s Residency Continues in 2024! January 12th, introducing “THE COMPOSERS SERIES” Another great show each month featuring composers whose gem-like tunes have become jazz standards. This month’s spotlight falls on VINCENT YOUMANS & VICTOR YOUNG Think “More Than You Know” & “Tea for Two” and “Stella By Starlight” & “Beautiful Love” Friday late show! 8:30-10pm, $20 cover, byob Macy Blackman & the Mighty Fines featuring Snakebite on saxophone Macy Blackman, piano Bing Nathan, bass Mark Lee, drums New Orleans R&B at it’s rollicking best! Let the good times roll! Saturday, 7:30pm, $20 cover, byob Actor Andrea Snow performs in monologue Emily Keeler’s “Dark Days & a Black Dog” with live music by Randy Craig directed by Jael Weisman Sunday, 5-7pm, $20 cover, byob The Seducers! Honky Tonk! Mitch…
Read MoreAvotcja, poetry and small percussion Sandi Poindexter, violin Francis Wong, saxophones Heshima Mark Williams, bass Raul Ramirez, drums $20 cover charge reservations: call 415-586-3733 Avotcja & Modúpue kick off another great year of live music at Bird & Beckett! For more years than we can count, Avotcja, a formidably great poet/musician/composer/musicologist, has brought her ensemble of musical geniuses, Modúpue to Bird & Beckett on the first Sunday of the year to perform for you. 2024 continues the tradition! Performances by Modúpue are always a joy to experience. Modúpue was named best jazz group of the year twice, in 2005 and again in 2010, by the Bay Area Blues Hall of Fame. Avotcja herself was named a “Jazz Hero” by the Jazz Journalists Association in 2015. Her radio shows on KPFA (“Bebop, Cubop & the Musical Truth”) and KPFA (“La Verdad Musical”) have been soul satisfying for decades, expressing the boundless…
Read MoreJesse Levit, sax and EWI. Colin Hogan, piano. Dexter Williams, bass. Elé Howell, drum set. A fantastic band, top to bottom. You only regret the shows you miss! Join us! $20 cover charge at the door cash or venmo. byob. For a reservation, call the shop at 415-586-3733.
Read MoreAnnie Orzen, piano Maddox Rochman-Romdalvik, bass Will Davies, drums Lily Bogas, vocals Annie Orzen, born & raised in Glen Park, is studying jazz and contemporary media at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. She’s been home for the holidays and returns to school shortly, but first a stop at Bird & Beckett! The Annie Orzen Trio pushes the envelope of jazz, bringing a unique repertoire of original compositions and freshly interpreted standards to the Bird & Beckett stage. Heavily inspired by their training in jazz and their collective love for modern genres of music, the group combines jazz, r&b, gospel and funk into a contagiously exciting night of music. It’s the late show Friday the 5th, so enjoy a meal at Manzoni or Tekka House and walk up to the shop for an 8:30 start. $20 cover charge (cash or venmo at the door) $10 for teens and…
Read MoreWelcoming back to Bird & Beckett, for our first jazz show of 2024, Danny Brown, tenor man extraordinaire, in superb company — with Smith Dobson drums, Eric Markowitz on bass and young Graham Messer on piano. Brilliant players, all! Don’t miss it! $20 cover charge; byob. Reservations, call 415-586-3733.
Read MoreJanuary 18th, Walker Brents III, gives one of his monthly live-streamed talks, this one on Marie Louise Von Franz, student of Carl Jung, who made great contributions in Jung’s footsteps as both thinker and therapist. Find it on our youtube channel or facebook page at 7:30pm Thursday. Want to come down and sit enthralled, listening in the dark? Call us, and we’ll let you in and find you a seat. byob. /// Then, starting Friday in the gloaming, it’s jazzz ’til the sun’s gone down on Sunday. Friday, 6pm: Guitarist Scott Foster, having just made a trip out to New Orleans, brings Mike Rinta on trombone, Ollie Dudek on bass and Larry Vann on drums, comprising a deep & wondrous quartet, to play some tunes that have been on his mind in anticipation of the trip, on the hallowed ground there and since his return. Scott’s 3rd Fridays residency has…
Read MoreBeau Beausoleil reads from his collection War News, a digital book published by AGITATE! War News is a collection of 90 poems, written one a day since October 8, 2023. The poems in the collection reflect on what it means to bear witness to war, killing and destruction in Gaza, Palestine. It asks, ‘what does it means to be alive at a time when even the death and suffering of children fails to elicit a response strong enough to end the war.’ This collection of 90 poems is a witness testimony from afar. It is an archive of grief, mourning and solidarity. It is an accounting of the cost of war. Through these powerful and devastating poems Beau reminds us that we cannot turn away. In the poet’s own words, “[O]ur humanity, our collective morality, requires that we bear witness and then take some kind of action.” Beau’s reading will…
Read MoreJinx Jones, guitar; Kurt Ribak, bass; Rob Hart, drums. Jazz club! when lights are low… Saturday nights at Bird & Beckett! $20 cover charge cash or venmo at the door reservations, call 415-586-3733 Jinx Jones is a titan of rockabilly guitar, a virtuoso of twang and surf, but he’s also long been drenched in the beauty of the jazz guitar as it’s traveled from the fingers of Charlie Christian through the hands of sublime musicians including Django Reinhardt, Les Paul, Tal Farlow, Wes Montgomery, Grant Green, Barney Kessel, George Barnes, Emily Remler and a constellation of others. As heard at Mr. Tipple’s, The Dawn Club, Jupiter, Local Edition, Blush and Rigger’s Loft, with less clatter, more books and rich acoustics, and with Kurt Ribak on bass and Rob Hart on drums–both musicians of vast experience in a wide spectrum of music and a deep engagement in jazz, Jinx’s trio will…
Read MoreGaea Schell on flute leads a fabulous aggregation of musicians in two sets of Latin jazz tonight! Conguero Carlos Caro is driving in from the Central Valley to join Gaea, bassist Saúl Sierra and vibraphonist Dan Neville for two sets of dynamic music. $20 cover charge (cash or venmo at the door). BYOB. Reservations: 415-586-3733 Every Saturday at 7:30pm, you’ll find San Francisco’s best jazz players plying their trade in Glen Park, San Francisco’s secret gem of a neighborhood–a stop on the Crosstown Trail with its own bookshop/jazz joint, BART station, Muni stops for the 23, 35, 36, 44, 52 and J-Church lines, off ramps from I-280 and the San Jose Boulevard expressway whisking traffic through the Bernal Cut, coffee shops, taqueria, bar, Chinese, Thai, Japanese and Italian restaurants… all in a couple blocks of businesses, with beautiful Glen Canyon Park just up the street. Come early to grab a…
Read MoreJazz – the late show! 8:30-10pm $20 cover; byob The Isaiah Javier Quartet Isaiah Javier, tenor sax Simon Aks, guitar Giulio Cetto, bass Louis Sweatt, drums Isaiah Javier, Simon Aks, Giulio Cetto and Louis Sweatt meet on the Bird and Beckett stage for the first time as a unit, playing original music and their favorite tunes. Isaiah and Louis are visiting from the east coast for the winter season with Simon coming up from LA to form a great group with Bay Area bassist Giulio Cetto. Says guitarist Simon Aks, “Super excited to be playing a show at @bird.beckett in Glen Park this Friday from 8:30-10! Looking forward to playing some great music and originals so come see what’s goin on. Such a great listening space for some of the most demanding and fun music I’ve been a part of in awhile. Tickets at the door or call to reserve.”…
Read MoreDuncan James, guitar Larry Chinn, piano Joe McKinley, bass Bob Blankenship, drums $20 requested donation; pay what you can. byob. reservations, 415-586-3733 Four long-time bandstand colleagues play jazz as if it’s second nature to them, which it is, actually… byob and settle in for a set or two amidst friends and neighbors at Bird & Beckett’s long-running Friday after work jazz happy hour. Provision yourselves! Duncan traditionally helps us close out the year each year with a gathering of friends and fellow musicians. The Duncan James Quartet date this evening is supported by Jazz in the Neighborhood’s Guaranteed Fair Wage Fund. Visit JitN’s website to find out how you can help them in their mission to raise the wage and working conditions standards for the Bay Area’s pool of fine professional jazz musicians. Jazz in the Neighborhood is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the economics of jazz performance…
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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.
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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