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!
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But nothing beats being in the room with the music & the musicians!
Mean to Me resurrects jazz of the 1920s through 1940s–sometimes twisted by the more modern stylings of Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, and Ahmad Jamal–and an eclectic variety of soul-jazz and latin-jazz. This mix reflects the interests of its three core members: Judy, who trained as a cabaret singer but whose love is for soul music; Ben, a pianist interested in exploring jazz’s roots after living in New Orleans; and Dave, a trumpeter drawn to more modern and funky sounds. All three grew up in San Francisco and have played together on and off for ten years now. For their Bird & Beckett date this Sunday afternoon, Mean to Me will perform as a sextet, with the guitar, bass and drums of Scott Foster, Kenan O’Brien and Cairo McCochran completing the band.
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Heshima Mark Williams presents The Ways & Means Committee, a tight quintet that delves deep into a book of straight-ahead jazz influenced by Herbie Hancock, Jerry Gonzalez, Buster Williams, and Fort Apache Band. For their Bird & Beckett date, this “boppish collective” comprises Gary Bean, cornet; Michael C. Bush, tenor sax; Sam Cady, piano; Joe McKinley, bass; and Ajayi Jackson, drums
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Chuck Peterson, who leads his quintet on tenor sax and flute this evening, started this ball rolling over twelve years ago… six hundred fifty Fridays ago! And not once since that start in late 2002 has Bird & Beckett been without the sounds of live jazz on a Friday night. We feel that’s quite an accomplishment– as is the fact that we added a Sunday afternoon series eight years ago that’s still going strong; added a Saturday night series last July that has its own special momentum; and added a monthly Sunday noon-time good-time rave up last November that’s one of those delightful things that gives you hope, despite the cold-hearted capitalist times we’re living in. You’re betting with your kind hearts, precious time and hard-to-come-by dollars when you come down to Bird & Beckett for the music and poetry and throw money in the pot to let us reward…
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On the second Saturday of every month, pianist Grant Levin assembles a quartet, choosing players from the ranks of San Francisco’s most talented jazz musicians. Tonight, enjoy Grant’s in-the-moment collaboration with tenor sax player Jonathan Bautista, bassist Chris Amberger and drummer Pepe Jacobo. Grant’s compositions are exceptionally lovely and exciting, his improvisational skills superb.  And his sensitivity to the dynamic, rhythmic and harmonic possibilities inherent in the material he works with, as well as his ears for the contribution of the other musicians on the bandstand always make for a thrilling, satisfying experience. Through the years, Grant has worked with the likes of Pete Yellin, Jerry Dodgion, Dayna Stephens, Noel Jewkes, John Santos, Howard Wiley, Ray Obiedo, Dean Reilly, Melecio Magdaluyo, Marcus Shelby, and numerous others. He has also performed with Little Anthony and the Imperials on keyboards. “jazz club” is what we call our weekly Saturday night series, now entering…
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Pianist Gaea Schell joined by Jeffrey Burr on guitar, John Wiitala on bass and Tony Johnson on drums. Gaea, in the judgment of Albert ‘Tootie’ Heath, “plays the heck out of the piano with them small hands.” Known among her peers for swinging every note, subtle phrasing, and honest lyrical writing, this West Coast-based pianist/composer/vocalist (also flutist) is a native of western Canada where she grew up playing music from an early age. Recorder lessons at age 6 with family friend, the late San Francisco based drummer Eddie Marshall, was one of her first musical ventures. Pursuit of a classical harp degree led to checking out Oscar Peterson, Wynton Kelly and Bill Evans records in the school library, inspiring a move East and subsequent graduation from the jazz program at acclaimed McGill University in Montreal. Â The real learning, however, came from playing on the bandstand with respected elders who spent…
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On the second Friday of each month, jazz in the bookshop features The Jimmy Ryan Quintet aka The Bird & Beckett Bebop Band!  Tonight, tenor sax player Joe Cohen and trombonist Stu Pilorz hold center stage, with Don Alberts on piano and Aaron Cohn on bass joining drummer Ryan to comprise the rhythm section! Jimmy’s regular band at Bird & Beckett on the 2nd Fridays is typically a quintet that includes two horn players – Henry Hung, trumpet; Stu Pilorz, trombone and/or Joe Cohen, sax; plus a fabulous rhythm section comprising Don Alberts, piano; Bishu Chatterjee or Aaron Cohn, bass — and Jimmy Ryan on drums, of course! Drummer Ryan learned his trade in L.A. in the ’50s, and hit the San Francisco scene (by way of a short stint in Monterey) in 1960.  Jimmy has played alongside influential musicians Putter Smith, Vince Wallace, Kent Glenn and Bishop Norman Williams, putting in significant time in the early days at legendary San Francisco clubs including…
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Join drummer Bryan Bowman and his collaborators to celebrate his new CD of original compositions, “Like Minds.” Bryan is among the top echelon of jazz drummers on the San Francisco scene, heard many times in the past at Bird & Beckett in a variety of configurations — and the other musicians on the CD are likewise experienced, much-in-demand players. Â Click here to visit Bryan’s website for his bio and other info.The CD itself is a polished gem of interesting tunes, superbly played — and hearing the material played live is guaranteed to expand your experience of the recording itself. Ian Carey – trumpet Bob Kenmotsu – sax Matt Clark – pianoDoug Miller – bassBryan Bowman – drums/leader
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Jorge Argueta and Jerry Ferraz share the featured slots on tonight’s reading — which coincidentally is Jerry’s birthday! Jerry has been hosting our reading series for more than a dozen years, and was on the first bill of poets we ever presented here. Â He’s a native son of the city, and has been wandering the streets with his pint sized guitars for decades, performing enigmatic yet epic song-poems and taking in the city around us. Â Surely, his heritage comes from the bardic and troubadour traditions of time gone by. Jorge has had a long and beautiful career in poetry, and bilingual children’s books as well. Â He has a warm heart, a fierce strength and a sage demeanor — and a beautiful way with language in both Spanish and English. An open mic follows.
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Two sets of straight ahead jazz, blues, Brazilian and Afro-Cuban tunes performed by a terrific sextet led by drummer Steve Nelson, with his long-time musical collaborator Sharman Duran on piano and vocals. The sextet will cover ground from Cole Porter to Jobim to Monk and much more.  Though mainly rooted in the jazz, The Steve Nelson Sextet can take a standard and rearrange it into their own unique musical styling. And besides classic jazz standards, you’ll likely hear James Taylor, Joni Mitchell or even the Beatles arranged in a nice Latin or funk style. Though the sextet is the project of drummer Steve Nelson, the ensemble’s unique musical mix would not be possible without the vocal and piano stylings of his long-time musical associate Sharman Duran. Along with vocalist/flautist Saskia, the sextet features tenor saxophonist Jim Grantham, vibraphonist Dan Neville and bassist Bill Lanphier.
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Bootstrap Press’s Derek Fenner presents poet Tongo Eisen-Martin with his new book, someone’s dead already. About the book: “Eisen-Martin’s syntax lands somewhere between Sphinx and Thelonious…through poem he makes spare, efficient, wild-eyed jazz…rubs mud and accountability into the pores of the zeros and ones in the glass and steel city. Throughout SOMEONE’S DEAD ALREADY, I return to the wonder of the writer’s economy of language, how deftly the words infuse their amulet casings with blood temperature at the edge of boiling. This work is as hungry as revolution, a necessary, deadly still in these shifting times…”—Marc Bamuthi Joseph About the author: Born in San Francisco, Tongo Eisen-Martin is a movement worker, educator, and poet who has organized against mass incarceration and extra-judicial killing of Black people throughout the United States. He has educated in detention centers from New York’s Rikers Island to California’s San Quentin State Prison. His work in…
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Smith Dobson, a formidable young tenor sax player, leads off our Saturday “jazz club” series each month, on the first Saturday of the month. Tonight he has a stellar rhythm section — Keith Saunders on piano Eric Markowitz on bass Tony Johnson on drums. V’s Quartet… generations in the making, now!
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We’ll call this booking the after-party for the annual Glen Park Festival, which will be wrapping up just as guitarist Josh Workman is taking the stage at Bird & Beckett. Josh is bringing in a tight quartet featuring David Udolf on piano; Ravi Abcarian on bass and Bryan Bowman on drums, to cover some of Workman’s originals, both from his debut CD and ones he’s working on for the next release, mixed in with an exciting and eclectic mix of jazz, Latin, and Brazilian compositions from the past 100 years. Josh has toured and recorded with a broad variety of artists, including the likes of jazz greats Jon Hendricks, Benny Green, Noel Jewkes, Larry Vuckovich and the Jazz Passengers; gypsy jazz favorites The Hot Club of San Francisco; swing specialists Indigo Swing and Brian Setzer, punk diva Debbie Harry, and even Wonder Woman herself, Lynda Carter.  His playing and compositions have…
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Beginning in 1933, in Ascona, Switzerland, there gathered annually an intellectual conclave of Jungians and Pythagoreans, philosophers and theologians, orientalists and historians of religions, ethnologists, Indologists, Islamists, Egyptologists, mythologists and scientists, to present learned and imaginative papers, interact with one another, enjoy the invigorating setting and relax in the hospitality in those early years of a singular woman, Olga Froebe.  A “jahrbook” gathering the papers presented at the conference was published for each one, and the connections and conversations that transpired took on lives of their own. This Sunday, at 2:30 pm, Walker Brents will delve into the history and richness that developed at  this pinnacle of intellectual interchange.  Each month, except when he goes wandering for the summer, he spins his thoughts and insights on a range of topics mythological, poetic and otherwise, and leaves his listeners intrigued, edified and a bit dazzled…
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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
