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!

Monday, November 13th – 7pm
On Zoom: VirtualPoets
hosted by Kim Shuck
Featured poets Zara Jamshed and KR Morrison
plus open mic

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84350265713?pwd=eE84V3BYdWxiSFBHNHhmdUt1WTUzdz09 Meeting ID: 843 5026 5713 Passcode: 244211 The featured poets this time out are K.R. Morrison and Zara Jamshed. An open mic follows.  Kim Shuck hosts. Since the pandemic, K.R. Morrison has been searching for mermaids in a sea town in Southern California, often returning to the Bay Area for her poetry nests and to play drums for two all-female fronted rock bands – Harriot and Unicröne. Morrison is a Pushcart Nominee for her poem, “Her Altar” and still enjoys readings and podcasts for Cauldrons, her first poetry collection published by Paper Press. Alongside years spent as a writer, activist, and musician, K.R. spent 17 years as a sea captain for the teens – using creative writing and books, she worked with countless students at Galileo High School in San Francisco, earning the name “Mama Mo” with many who left her classroom armed with writing and tools for healing.…

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Sunday, November 12th – 8pm
INSECT LIFE

. . . Sometimes words just get in the way…

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Sunday, November 12th – 5-7pm
America’s favorite honky tonk band!
The Seducers!

Mitch Polzak –  lead guitar & vocals Hank Maninger – bass guitar & vocals Joe Goldmark – pedal steel guitar Paul Revelli – drums You’ll find the Seducers playing songs of longin’ and lovin’ 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. Every second Sunday of the year, you’ll find sin & redemption, mourning and celebration in an Americana vein… December 10th, Maurice Tani & the American bass player Mike Anderson…February 11th, Jim Campilongo & Sam Reider… There’s so much more than just jazz at Bird & Beckett, though we do love our jazz more than you know… Join us! BYOB and a twenty for the band. That’ll git it!  

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November 9th to 12th
Ben Esposito, Eric Shifrin, Marina Albero…
Trevor Watts / Jamie Harris / Karl Evangelista / Lisa Mezzacappa…INSECT LIFE: Ben Goldberg, Ben Davis, Gerald Cleaver, Raffi Garabedian & Danny Lubin-Laden… Howard Wiley, Luis Peralta & Isaac Coyle (with Ben Esposito)… Garry Williams & Carl Herder (with Eric Shifrin)… Josh Setala & Billy Edwards (with Marina Albero)… plus, The Seducers!

An immense amount of amazing jazz the weekend of 11/9-12, a packed roster of fantastic, well-traveled musicians of all ages, and a honky tonk band beyond compare to wrap it all up in a glittering package! Kicking it all off on Thursday, 11/9 at 7:30pm, the young drummer Ben Esposito brings the esteemed saxophonist Howard Wiley, the sharp & fantastic young bassist Isaac Coyle and the amazing emerging pianist Luis Peralta. You might want to call for a reservation for this one… 415-586-3733. Bring twenty for the cover and something to sip. Jazz is thirsty work! Under 21? Bring soda pop! Students, pay what you can afford. Five or ten bucks will do it for you, and you can use venmo. What’s not to like about that? For most of our shows, a twenty dollar bill is the starting point, sometimes a bit more for larger ensembles, ________________________ Two shows…

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Saturday, November 11th – 7:30-9:30pm
Trevor Watts + Jamie Harris
with Karl Evangelista and Lisa Mezzacappa

Trevor Watts, saxophone Karl Evangelista, guitar Lisa Mezzacappa, bass Jamie Watts, percussion $20 cover charge (cash or venmo at the door, please). BYOB Reservations, call 415-586-3733 Legendary English saxophonist Trevor Watts (Spontaneous Music Ensemble, Amalgam, Moiré Music) and his frequent collaborator, percussionist Jamie Harris, visit the Bay Area for a special evening of free improvisation and avant-garde jazz. Joining them at Bird & Beckett are local firebrand Karl Evangelista (guitar) and multitalented bassist Lisa Mezzacappa. In the 1960s, the English saxophonist Trevor Watts permanently expanded the parameters of jazz, co-founding Spontaneous Music Ensemble and leading the equally groundbreaking Amalgam. In the early 1980s, Watts formed the first of several ensembles under the Moire Music banner, blending rhythms from Africa and Asia with jazz-steeped virtuosity, and performing on six continents. With a quarter century of collaboration under their belts, Watts’ duo with percussionist Jamie Harris distills 60 years of Watts’ immersion…

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Friday, November 10th – 8:30-10pm
The Josh Setala Dream Trio
featuring pianist Marina Albero

Marina Albero, piano Billy Edwards, bass Josh Setala, drums Pianist Marina Albero is the toast of the Seattle jazz scene — drummer/trio leader Josh Setala’s hometown. To gain her participation in this concert is a tribute to Josh’s abilities and, for him, a dream scenario. Bassist Billy Edwards adds a brilliant dimension. Expect an intensely engaging and enjoyable evening  of jazz! Marina was born in Barcelona and toured as a child on stages all around the world with her family, picking up whatever instrument they needed her to play, performing Iberian and early music, creating new shows wherever they went. She studied in Barcelona’s Conservatory (El Bruc) and later in La Havana (ISA), where she finished her classical piano studies with the great professor and pianist Mrs. Teresa Junco. She’s never stopped exploring, delving into jazz, flamenco, early music, Andalusie, classical Indian, Latin son & Latin jazz. $20 cover charge…

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Friday, November 10th – 6-8pm
Eric & the In Crowd
play jazz for you!

Good times! That’s why they call it Happy Hour! Eric Shifrin, piano Carl Herder, bass Garry Williams, drums As seen on tv and at your finer estabishments! BYOB and a twenty for the band! No reservations necessary. All ages welcome.

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Thursday, November 9th – 7:30-9:30pm
The Ben Esposito Quartet
featuring saxophonist Howard Wiley
with guest vocalist Tiffany Austin

Howard Wiley, tenor saxophone Luis Peralta, piano Isaac Coyle, bass Ben Esposito, drums with special guest Tiffany Austin

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Sunday, November 5th – 5-8pm
Urban School Bebop Combo + Student Jam Session

Scott Foster sends in the terrific Urban School Bebop Combo  to show what they’re made of. The ensemble will play a 45-minute set and then take part in a jam session hosted by the Keith Saunders Trio (Ollie Dudek, bass, and Tony Johnson, drums). The jam session is open to students coming from all directions, so take this opportunity to share the stage with top emerging talent and high level professionals with decades in the business. Adults, bring a twenty if you can afford it to help us pay the professionals in the trio leading the jam session, and to help us pay a small honorarium to each of the students in the featured combo. As a guitarist, composer and bandleader, Scott Foster has been a cornerstone of Bird & Beckett’s jazz programming for 21 years, holding down a 3rd Fridays residency, and is the Performing Arts Chair at Urban,…

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Saturday, November 4th – 7:30-9:30pm
in flitters: 49 Bits From B*ck*tt
Noertker’s Moxie

Celebrate the release of a new Noertker’s Moxie CD—in flitters (49 bits from B*ck*tt)—with bassist/composer Bill Noertker and his cohorts, woodwindist Annelise Zamula, pianist Brett Carson, and drummer Eli Knowles. During the dark days of the Covid-19 pandemic, as a way of staying sane, bassist Bill Noertker began composing strange and repetitious little ditties. As he re-read Samuel Beckett’s Watt—a book whose enigmas had long intrigued him—he saw the similarities between his compositions and Beckett’s absurdist novel. He was compelled to create a sonic universe that paralleled Watt. The result is in flitters, a suite of 49 short and whimsical pieces brought to life by the brilliant members of his long-standing ensemble Noertker’s Moxie. Byob and a twenty for the band!    

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Friday, November 3rd – 8:30-10pm
Grant Levin / Gaea Schell Duo
piano + flute

Two great San Francisco-based jazz artists unite for two sets of flute & piano duo work. $15 cover charge (cash or Venmo at the door, please), byob. An intimate and thrilling evening of music guaranteed. Gaea Schell’s new album “In Your Own Sweet Way” (Saphu Records, 2023) prominently features her flute work and vocals alongside the piano chops that have made her an important contributor to contemporary jazz. She  made her California debut as a twice-featured performer at the San Jose Jazz Festival and has been performing professionally and internationally in diverse contexts all along the way. Recently, work on flute with Cuban son groups has captured her devoted attention. Her experience includes everything from teaching elementary school flute choirs, trio to quartet to orchestral performance. Notable artists she has shared the stage with include Nancy King, John Stowell, Albert ‘Tootie’ Heath, Clare Fischer Big Band, PJ Perry, Marcus Shelby,…

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Friday, November 3rd – 6-8pm
have guitar, will travel!
From NYC:
Amanda Monaco Quartet

“A cliché-free, inventive player who doesn’t neatly fit into any of the usual modes of contemporary jazz guitar playing.” —Jazz Times. Amanda Monaco, guitar. Jason Gillenwater, tenor sax. Lisa Mezzacappa, bass. Jeff Davis, drums. $20 suggested (cash or Venmo at the door, please). BYOB. Acclaimed guitarist Amanda Monaco is traveling from NYC out to the west coast with drummer Jeff Davis to perform with Bay Area-based musicians Jason Gillenwater (saxophones) and Lisa Mezzacappa (bass). Friends and musical colleagues for over 25 years, the quartet’s reunion will be celebrated on November 3rd at Bird & Beckett.  Here’s an original composition from her 2017 Posi-Tone Records release, Glitter, with Lauren Sevian on bari sax, Gary Versace on organ and Matt Wilson on drums: Amanda Monaco – Dry Clean Only  Details here: https://www.posi-tone.com/artist_monaco/artist_monaco.html Get the complete picture from Amanda’s website: https://amandamonaco.com/about/ As for critical acclaim: “Monaco’s guitar playing is well within the modernist…

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Thursday, Nov 2nd – 7-9pm: Poetry Post Jerry!
Michael Koch Carries On
Featured poets Keith Felton & Andrena Zawinski read their work, with an open mic to follow

Back in 1999, the year we opened Bird & Beckett, Jerry Ferraz was on the first poetry reading we presented, alongside Justin Desmangles and Dan Richman. He’s remained at the center of our poetry presentations ever since. Until now. Jerry has been saying for years that his “compass points North” and now he’s done it, moved on from the City That Knows How, now the City At a Bit of a Loss, to Portland & environs up in Oregon. His ex, Shelley, drove him up there with his two suitcases and a box or two of art supplies and notebooks and not a whole lot else (zen detachment,  you know) to cohabitate with their son Robin and infuse that troubled but city not without charms with his bohemian poet’s sensibilities. Lord knows, they need him! Born and raised in Eureka Valley, that is to say the watershed off Twin Peaks…

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Sunday, October 29th – 5-7pm
Vince Lateano’s Doggone Jam Session

Pay what you can, and enjoy the process whereby musicians find their way among their peers, without specific preparation and  preconceptions, just years of learning their craft and learning to listen and learning to respond to the moment, to the tradition and to the next musical idea. It’s fascinating and vastly entertaining, and Bird & Beckett’s just the place to hang and take it all in. BYOB and help us pay the trio that hosts the session! Musicians, come out and enjoy the moment! Here’s an amusing article on the jam session tradition… https://nypost.com/2015/05/29/the-hot-harlem-club-making-1920s-jazz-cool-again/

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Friday, October 27th – 6-8pm
Tony Johnson’s 230 Jones Street
Local 6 Literary Jazz Band

Max Perkoff, trombone and piano Charlie McCarthy, tenor sax and flute Chuck Metcalf, bass Tony Johnson, drums $20 suggested donation; byob In the late 1950s and 1960s, 230 Jones Street in San Francisco was the headquarters of the San Francisco Musicians Union, Local 6 of the American Federation of Musicians, covering the counties of San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Monterey, Napa, San Benito, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano and Sonoma, and parts of Trinity County. Local 6’s headquarters are now at 116 9th Street, and the struggle continues there to advocate for the interests of freelance, gigging musicians as well as those in the orchestras, theaters and recording studios who have more consistently enjoyed the benefits accruing to organized labor. At this juncture, it’s still more an aspiration than a reality, but the AFM is paying attention on the national level and…

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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.

TAKE OUR SURVEY

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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

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