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!
$20 cover charge; byob; reservations, 415-586-3733. Trumpeter Josh Deutsch and guitarist Nico Soffiato have worked together since 2006 and perform regularly in the New York City area, also touring extensively and giving master classes and workshops in the US and Italy. This January, they’ve joined up with drummer Ken Mastrogiovanni for a short West Coast tour to include concert dates and workshops, kicking off their Bay Area segment with this show at Bird & Beckett. Deutsch and Soffiato met in Boston, and over the years, the musical relationship born through this collaboration has resulted in a set of music composed specifically for their ensembles, including many co-written originals and reinvented arrangements of music from jazz, classical and popular worlds. The music ranges from electronic loops to entirely acoustic pieces, balancing carefully crafted compositions with space for improvisations and interaction. Their third album, “Redshift” was released in 2020 on the label…
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Howard Wiley fronts the Luis Peralta Quartet Friday at 8:30. With Isaac Coyle on bass and Andre Sumelius on drums, it promises to be a fine quartet, indeed. But first, at 6, Eric Shifrin, Ari Munkres and Mark Lee take you on an easy stroll down Tin Pan Alley, everyone’s favorite thoroughfare beyond Bourbon Street in the time/spacewarp…with sidetrips!. Another great Friday evening at Bird & Beckett.
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An evening of Hindustani music performed by vocalist Madhurranjan Mohaan, violinist Krishna Parthasarathy and tabla player Ferhan Qureshi, in an ongoing series of concerts curated by Qureshi. Madhurranjan Mohaan is a vocal student of Shrimati Lalita Sharma and represents the Mewati gharana (style) that was made famous throughout the world by Pandit Jasraj. In addition to performing as an accomplished soloist, Madhurranjan leads the classical organization Sangeetaamsha, dedicated to supporting the spread of Indian classical music. He is also a founding member of the Indian classical fusion band BayRaagis. For this performance at Bird and Beckett, he will be accompanied by Krishna Parthasarathy on violin and Ferhan Qureshi on tabla. Various formats of South Asian classical music will be presented including khyaal, thumri, tabla solo and bhajan. $20 cover charge at the door (cash or venmo) Reservations, call the shop at 415-586-3733
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San Francisco State University professor emeritus Robert W. Cherny’s book, The Coit Tower Murals: New Deal Art and Political Controversy in San Francisco, published by University of Illinois Press in November 2024, follows a train of thought and explication developed over Prof. Cherny’s long career teaching and writing on American social and political history. Tonight at Bird & Beckett, Prof. Cherny will discuss the politics that swirled around the Coit Tower project in the New Deal era of the 1930s, and implications for political art in the present. The Coit Tower murals, completed in 1934, remain a highly visible and prized feature of San Francisco’s storied cultural and political history. In 2017, just as a local controversy over Victor Arnautoff’s 1936 Washington High mural was rising to a high boil, Cherny brought out his book Victor Arnautoff and the Politics of Art (also published by University of Illinois Press). That…
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“AVOTCJA’s poetry is music and Avotcja’s music is poetry. Both are as hot as fire and as soothing as snow flakes. And in both she brings the best of her talent in Spanish and English. Listen to her. Read her. Enjoy her. Celebrate her.” • Camincha – Peruvian Poet/Novelist; & Pacifica Poet Laureate, 2017-2021. _______________ Poet / Playwright / Essayist / Fiction Writer / Multi-Percussionist / Photographer / Teacher, Avotcja is a Bay Area icon and is renowned for her group Modúpue. At Bird & Beckett tonight, Modúpue will be a quintet with Avotcja joined by violinist Sandi Poindexter, saxophonist Francis Wong, bassist Heshima Mark Williams and talking drum master Baba Ken Okolulo. 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. Her…
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Electric & soul satisfying, GG Amos is a powerhouse singer and guitarist, a jewel in the crown of the North Beach blues scene, a fixture on the regional circuit and an avidly loved performer on international stages. You’ve heard her feeding the energy of the rowdy crowd at The Saloon on Grant Street. Now, enjoy the sublime concert setting of Bird & Beckett and savor what she can do, leading her terrific quartet with Parris Bertolucci on organ and piano, Marc Levine on bass and Randy Lee Odell on drums. $20 cover; byob.
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2025 is our year! Let’s own it! Poets’ open mic on Thursday 1/2/25 starting at 7pm, hosted by Michael Koch and Jerry Ferraz. ___________________ Friday 1/3/25 from 6-8pm, $20 at the door (cash or venmo), byob. Saxophonist Jim Grantham brings his quartet featuring Mark Rossi on piano, Richard Saunders on bass and David Rokeach on drums. Jim graduated from Berklee School of Music and taught there before coming out to San Francisco in 1978 to teach at SFSU; here, he immediately made the scene at Todd Barkan’s Keystone Korner, the fabled club Jim refers to as the “Rahsaan Roland Kirk School of Music.” In the eight years from 1973 to 1981, Keystone Korner presented a great many of the legendary giants of jazz, typically in three and four-night runs, providing fertile ground for Jim’s development as a master saxophonist and educator. Keystone Korner is lodged in the consciousness of jazz…
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Annette A Aguilar drummer/percussionist San Francisco native, New York’s finest returns to the Bay for a New Years show! Quintet & Descarga with John Calloway, flute Murray Low, piano Mike Arnold, bass Ricky Aguilar, percussion Annette A Aguilar, drums plus special guest pianist, from Colombia, Carolina Calvache $25 cover charge ($25-$50 sliding scale) byob
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Jam Session! All serious jazz musicians welcome! Last Sunday of every month hosted by the Vince Lateano Trio. Vince Lateano, drums. Peter Barshay, bass. Ben Stolorow, piano. No charge to play. Audience donations appreciated, $20 suggested, to help us pay the trio.
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Denny and Chuck dig into the Great American Songbook, augmented as suits their mood, for an hour of tunes to cheer you on this winter Sunday. Donate something to help us gather a decent guarantee for these long-time professional musicians. And bring something to sip if you’re so inclined. Stick around once they’re done to enjoy our monthly jam session that starts at 5pm.
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Duncan James, guitar. Larry Chinn, piano. Carla Kaufman, bass. Bob Blankenship, drums. $20 cover charge; byob. Reservations, call 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 two sets of hard bop, bossa, swing and hot jazz at Bird & Beckett’s long-running Saturday night “jazz club” series. Duncan traditionally helps us close out the year each year with a gathering of friends and fellow musicians.
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Skylar Tang, trumpet. Matt Clark, piano. Essiet Okon Essiet, bass. Sylvia Cuenca, drums. $20 cover; byob. Sylvia Cuenca splits her time between New York and the Bay Area, where she was born and raised, performing in a great variety of situations domestically and internationally. She shared the bandstand with saxophone legend Joe Henderson for four years and with trumpet legend Clark Terry for 17 years, and has led her own groups and freelanced continuously since. During Sylvia’s tenure with the Joe Henderson Quartet, they toured extensively throughout Europe, in Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Austria, Belgium, England, Switzerland, France, Italy, and Germany, and performed in venues across the U.S. In a trio setting, she performed with Henderson and Charlie Haden in 1989 and with Henderson and George Mraz in 1994. During her time with Clark Terry, Sylvia performed frequently with the Clark Terry Quintet and Big Band at the Village Vanguard, Birdland…
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It’s a bebop to bossa, blues to Broadway night at Bird & Beckett when Tony Johnson calls the 230 Jones Street crew to assembly, this time out joined by the mighty and soulful vocalist Darlene Langston. Rooted in the 2002 Chuck Peterson Trio, the 230 Jones Street Band is our legacy ensemble, an assemblage of jazz veterans–colleagues who got their start in the late 1950s and early ’60s as professionals, and union activists, by and large, advocating for fair wages and good working conditions. They get both at Bird & Beckett, a point of pride for us, and a good audience as well: respectful, well schooled in jazz and enthused! Tonight, under Tony’s leadership, the band consists of: Darlene Langston, vocals Charlie McCarthy, saxophones and flute Sam Cady, piano Chuck Bennett, bass Tony Johnson, drums The musicians must be paid, and you’re the key to making it possible for that…
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Dan Neville brings Colombian vocalist Xiomara Torres and the rich musical traditions of the Pacific coast of her native country to the San Francisco latin music scene for a special boxing day concert at Bird & Beckett. Xiomara Torres, vocals Dan Neville, vibraphone Aaron Germain, bass Brian Andres, drums $25 cover charge; byob. Reservations, call 415-202-4870.
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Playing for your browsing pleasure! Denny is one of the great lyrical pianists on the San Francisco scene. Enjoy his music on this holiday Sunday afternoon. No charge. A dozen chairs… A donation bucket to help the shop pay the performer and fund its ambitious concert series! Denny will perform a dozen or so tunes, ranging from traditional 19th century (Hard Times Come Again No More) to music from the Great American Songbook (People Will Say We’re in Love, A Woman is a Sometime Thing, In a Sentimental Mood, So in Love), to a jazz standard (Elm), a film music piece (On Golden Pond), a new look at Joni Mitchell (Both Sides Now) and, of course, holiday music (Greensleeves). Happy holidays!
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SUPPORT BIRD & BECKETT - DONATE TODAY!
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
