Going forward, there’s a new, 6pm start time for the Friday Happy Hour Jazz in the Bookshop show! A 21-year tradition, started October 2002! Eric & the In Crowd entertain the neighborhood every second Sunday, and this time out, October 13th, bassist Simon Planting and drummer Mark Rosengarden join pianist/band leader Eric Shifrin to regale you with tunes from Jelly Roll Morton to Fats Waller to Cole Porter to Art Tatum, and a few novelty numbers thrown in for good measure. For these 6pm Friday shows, we’ll be leaving the lights up for browsing and the kids’ section accessible to make for comfortable browsing and much needed socializing (do hush on those sensitive ballads, though!). You’ll still find cushioned chairs down front for those who want to train their eyes on the musicians and their ears on the music! Bring something to sip if you care to. And though we…

Starting with this Friday’s “jazz in the bookshop” happy hour show…a 21-year “end of the work week” tradition at Bird & Beckett…we’ll start the jazz at 6pm instead of 5:30, and will keep the lights up ’til the last couple of tunes, so the kids can read and the adults can see each other to socialize and blow off some steam! The “work week”  isn’t such a clear cut thing as it once was, so we’ll just make it a little more comfortable in the little ways we can! Same great jazz from great Bay Area jazz musicians playing for your pleasure (and to pay their rent). If you can afford it, bring a twenty for the band and a little something to sip if you like. Something to nibble is fine, too; just respect the books, the carpet and your new friends in the seats around you! First Fridays,…

James Mahone, saxophone David Udolf, piano Curtis Aikens, bass Akira Tana, drums $20 cover charge (cash, please), byob. To reserve a seat, call 415-586-3733 Charlie McCarthy had to bow out of tonight’s show, but his superb rhythm section has all the star power needed to carry the torch, especially with James Mahone and his tenor saxophone subbing in for Charlie. You’re in for a great jazz experience, when lights are low… James studied the sax at Cal State Northridge, forming Black Note in 1991 alongside bassist Marcus Shelby and pianist Eric Reed. They won the John Coltrane Young Artist Competition in that year, and his power as a saxophonist has only grown through the three-plus decades that have followed. As for Akira, leading the combo tonight, he made a huge mark with TanaReid, the combo he co-led from the same year, 1991, for the better part of a decade, releasing…

Erik Jekabson – trumpet, flugelhorn, compositions. Matt Clark – piano. Dan Feiszli – bass. Brian Fishler – drums. A program of originals by one of the great talents of Bay Area jazz, played by a top-flight quartet.

What a weekend! Thursday at 7pm – Poets Gail Mitchell and Bill Vartnaw, with an open mic to follow. Friday at 5:30pm – The Erik Jekabson Quartet. Trumpet & flugelhorn player / composer Jekabson provides originals for a crack combo, with Matt Clark, piano; Dan Feiszli, bass and Brian Fischler, drums. Friday at 8:30pm (not 9, as stated here and there) – CD Release: “House of Welcome” – Free Press Music is a project of singer Christie Aida in close association with drummer Dave Mihaly. Billy White, piano, and Annelies Zamula, saxophone. Saturday at 7:30pm – The Charlie McCarthy Quartet. NOTE: Charlie has fallen ill and can’t make the date. James Mahone, a terrific tenor player, will sub for him, under drummer Akira Tana’s leadership, with the great David Udolf, piano, and the young and talented Curtis Aikens, bass. Sunday at 2pm – Poet Jorge Argueta with Jose Cuellar (Dr.…

Seven spirited and talented student jazz musicians from Lick-Wilmerding High School, put the music through its paces for a 45-minute set beginning at 5pm. After a short break, a jam session follows, expressly offered to student musicians from all directions, hosted by the Akira Tana Trio, with Keith Saunders on piano and Eric Markowitz on drums. Whether you can make it to the show or not, please donate to help us pay the professional trio a guaranteed wage for their labors, and to gather an additional $175 as a donation to the Homeless Prenatal Program on behalf of the students in the combo. They’re participants in Lick-Wilmerding’s Public Purpose Program, which is partnering with the Homeless Prenatal Program this year, and have asked that their honorarium go to that important organization. All told, we’re looking for $625 this afternoon. Help us meet that hurdle!

Philosopher, theologian and Islamic scholar Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Professor of Islamic Studies at George Washington University, writes that Hafiz, “(t)his supreme poet, who is called ‘Tongue of the Invisible’ (Lisan al-ghayb), produced poems of magic beauty, poems whose imagery and music transmute the lead of the forgetful soul to the gold of the soul which lives in the longing for its Beloved and in the remembrance of that union which predates man’s terrestrial journey. Hafiz was himself aware that his was not simply a human voice. Rather, his poetry was a celestial song which brought the heavens themselves into a state of ecstasy.” Gary Gach presents poems of Hafiz crafted into English with Iranian short story writer and translator Erfan Mojib, newly published as Hafiz’s Little Book of Life (Hampton Roads, 2023).

Hurry down for an 8:30 start for the late show this Friday, as singer Christie Aida leads Free Press Music in a concert celebrating the band’s new recording, “House of Welcome, Vol.1.”  Check it out here. ——————————————————————– House of Welcome opened as a luxury hotel after the 1906 earthquake and lives on now as the Cadillac Hotel, operated by the nonprofit Reality House West to offer supportive services and housing to residents with few resources. House of Welcome remains the Cadillac’s signature concept in the present day. Many of the songs on Free Press Music’s new EP reflect FPM leader Christie Aida’s immersion as a volunteer for Reality House West, the nonprofit created by the late Leroy Looper and his wife Kathy Looper and other activists to make the Cadillac a refuge and a home for its residents. The stories, struggles and everyday life experiences of Tenderloin and SOMA residents…

Loralee Christensen, vocals Ricc Sandoval, guitar Henry Salvia, piano Paul Olguin, bass John Hanes, drums Byob and a twenty for the band. All ages welcome! Loralee is a soul singer well known and loved on the North Bay music scene for three decades or more. She’s performed with soul legend Bettye Lavette, Clarence Clemons (The E-Street Band), Mickey Thomas (The Starship, Elvin Bishop) and Johnny Colla (Huey Lewis & the News). Ricc Sandoval on guitar has been a mainstay on the Bay Area scene, playing with Katherine Chase, and most recently Shana Morrison. Drummer John Hanes plays a very active role in the local improv music scene, playing with the likes of Pihillip Greenleif, John Schott, Myles Boisen and many others. His work with Pearl Harbor and the Explosions is the stuff of legend. He also plays with Victor Krummenacher of Camper Van Beethoven & Monks of Doom fame. Henry…

Guitarist Brad Buethe leads a quartet with saxophonist Rob Sudduth, bassist Peter Barshay and drummer Jason Lewis, exploring each tune with the musical insight and freedom that comes of decades of experience traveling far beyond the boundaries of San Francisco, and the comfort of calling it home. $20; byob. Reservations, call 415-586-3733.  

Featuring vocalist Sandra Aran, Sondango brings you two generous sets of superbly crafted songs with deep grooves, playing salsa, samba, bolero, cumbia, ska and more. With music director Richard Nelson Hall on piano, Scott Foster on guitar, Dean Muench on bass and Dan Foltz on drums, Sondango will have you dancing in the aisles. Bring a twenty for the cover charge and something to sip. With an eye towards representing the grand diversity that is San Francisco, Richard and Sandra write their original songs in Spanish illustrating such common themes as love, loss, joy and passion. Strongly rooted in their love of jazz and Latin rhythms, Sondango brings together musicians from San Francisco, the East Bay and the Peninsula. Sondango embodies a meeting of cultures, and sensibilities with the here and now. After studying classical piano and composition at the National University of Mexico, Sandra completed her Bachelor of Arts…