Raquel Baena – trombone and vocals Justin Flynn – saxophones Dan Neville – marimba and vibraphone Andres Fonseca – drums and percussion Juan Sebastian Monsalve – bass and musical director $20-$30 sliding scale cover charge; byob. Balsa de Fuego gathers Panhispanic rhythms and music such as Cumbia, Joropo & Currulao and bends them and blends them using lots of resources and sounds from jazz and the community vibe of Terraza 7 in Queens, resulting in a truly New York flavored collage. This new project lead by Colombian composer Juan Sebastian Monsalve (known as one of the precursors of the New Colombian Music with his band Curupira) assembles a diverse range of musicians from the New York music scene, achieving a powerful contemporary sound with strong roots in tradition.  

Noel Jewkes, reeds and flute Grant Levin, piano Chris Amberger, bass Josh Setala, drums $20 cash cover charge, byob For reservations, call 415-586-3733 Noel Jewkes is a legend among Bay Area jazz fans for his six-plus decades on the scene as a master of the tenor saxophone and any number of allied instruments, a disciple of the great Lester Young, an expert in swing. Come hear him with a rhythm section comprising long-time associates Grant Levin on piano and Chris Amberger on bass together with the young drummer Josh Setala. Jazz the way we like it!     In Noel’s five decades here on the coast, he’s been called on to work with singers from Rosemary Clooney to Billy Eckstein to Jon Hendricks, in blues-rock bands with Mike Bloomfield and Nick Gravenitis, in the all-female rock band Ace of Cups, in the jump blues outfit led by Lavay Smith and…

Lew Tabackin, flute & tenor saxophone Essiet Okon Essiet, bass Sylvia Cuenca, drums $20 cash cover charge; byob Reservations, call 415-586-3733 In transit between an 8-date/12-day tour in Japan and a booking at the Monterey Jazz Festival, master musician Lew Tabackin stops off at Bird & Beckett in San Francisco for a trio date. From the MJF notes: Lew Tabackin, flutist and tenor saxophonist, is an artist of astonishing vision. His electrifying flute playing is at once virtuosic, primordial, cross-cultural, and passionate. His distinctive tenor sax style includes the use of wide intervals, abrupt changes of mood and tempo, and purposeful fervor, all in the service of showing the full range of possibilities of his instrument — melodically, rhythmically, and dynamically. Without copying or emulating jazz greats of the past, Mr. Tabackin has absorbed elements into his style, ultimately creating his own sound and aura. His interest in music began…

Bob Kenmotsu, tenor saxophone Keith Saunders, piano Eric Markowitz, bass Tony Johnson, drums $20 suggested donation; byob for reservations, call 415-586-3733 Drummer Tony Johnson’s monthly 4th Fridays residency continues! His quartet features musicians with long experience in San Francisco, New York, St. Louis and internationally. Tony arrived in San Francisco from Australia in 1959 and hit the ground swingin’, recording in 1960 with vocalist Bev Kelly, live at the Coffee Gallery on Grant Street in North Beach, engineered by Willy Heider, produced by Orrin Keepnews and released by Riverside Records. He’s never stopped since.  

Walker Brents III presents a talk once a month at Bird & Beckett on a variety of subjects, from poets to philosophers to mystics, folktales to tall tales…   With regard to today’s talk on Friedrich Schiller, he says, “Schiller’s thoughts bring us through a cosmos of art-wisdom that encompasses Kant, the French Revolution, Rousseau and many other places, times, and place-names. Sometimes placeless places of no-name as well. Liquifying our aesthetic inklings and energizing our aesthetic intuitions. This is much more simple and profound than it may seem like at first. Schiller’s concepts are mythical, sublime and humble, all at one moment of whole perception. I offer it to you.” Walker’s talk can be found on our Facebook page or YouTube channel, as well as live in the shop.

  The Tony Johnson Quartet Friday 9/22 at 5:30pm Drummer Tony Johnson swam ashore from Australia in 1959 and hit North Beach swingin’. The singer Bev Kelly led a date at the Coffee Gallery in October 1960 with Pony Poindexter on saxophone, Flip Nunez on piano, Johnny Allen on bass and Tony, himself, on drums, recorded by Wally Heider, produced by Orrin Keepnews and released by Riverside Records as “Bev Kelly, Live at the Coffee Gallery.” Here’s a taste. Tony leads a date at Bird & Beckett on the third Friday of each month, this time out with his quartet featuring Bob Kenmotsu on saxophone, Keith Saunders on piano and Eric Markowitz on bass.           Lew Tabackin Trio Friday 9/22 at 9pmLew Tabackin, the famed NY-based veteran saxophonist/flutist, will be flying in from Tokyo and tuning up here before heading down to play the Monterey Jazz…

Ron Jackson, guitar Essiet Okon Essiet, bass Sylvia Cuenca, drums $20 cover charge at the door; byob reservations: 415-586-3733 New York-based jazz master of the seven-string guitar Ron Jackson returns to Bird & Beckett with Essiet Okon Essiet on bass and Sylvia Cuenca on drums — one stop on a tour that’s taking him from the Rocky Mountain Archtop Festival in Arvada, Colorado to several stops in the Bay Area including Bird & Beckett and up to the Pacific Northwest for shows in Ashland, Salem and Portland. We’re happy to have him back! View this video of his 1/17/23 Bird & Beckett performance with Essiet & Sylvia to remind you how great it was or to clue you in to what he’ll bring this time around! Ron has performed, recorded and taught in over 30 countries, working with such artists as Taj Mahal, Jimmy McGriff, Larry Coryell, Benny Golson, Oliver…

There are plenty of reasons to come down to Bird & Beckett! We sell books and records six days a week, open Tuesday to Sunday from noon to six. And then there are the shows — ten of them in the two weeks between the Joe McKinley Quartet date on the 16th and the weekend of the 22nd to the 24th. You’ll find a double bill of the Tony Johnson Quartet and the Lew Tabackin Trio on Friday (9/22), the Noel Jewkes Quartet Saturday evening (9/23) and a Colombian jazz/folkloric outfit from Queens, Balsa de Fuego, on Sunday (9/24) brought to us by vibes player Dan Neville, and a jam session following… a rich vein of jazz, for sure. A full weekend follows to close out September–peek at our events calendar for a glimpse of those shows! Seating starts about 15 minutes before showtime, and you’ll generally be alright if…

Glen Park writer Beth Winegarner presents her new book on the buried history of San Francisco’s long gone cemeteries… with a little help from “Here Lies a Story”‘s Courtney Minick. San Francisco’s Forgotten Cemeteries: A Buried History, pub date Aug. 28 (call Bird & Beckett to order your copy now!), traces the international city’s settler graveyards — and uncovers how more than 50,000 graves were left behind when the dead moved to Colma.  San Francisco is famous for not having any cemeteries, but the claim isn’t exactly what it seems. In the early 20th Century, the city relocated more than 150,000 graves to the nearby town of Colma to make way for a rapidly growing population. But an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 burials were quietly built over and forgotten, only to resurface every time a new building project began.  The dead still lie beneath some of the city’s most cherished…

Joel Eis at the podium addressing a student protest at CSU Fresno, 1970. Author Joel Eis, hosted and introduced by poet, bandleader, musicologist and KPFA/KPOO dj Avotcja, presents his memoir, Standin’ in a Hard Rain: The Making of a Revolutionary Life. Thursday 9/14 at 7pm Joel Eis has a bookshop with a radical bent in San Rafael called Rebound, writes science fiction, and has had a long career in theater production and education, with an overriding commitment to political theater and activism. His memoir “is a useful and compelling read as the nation once again tries to find its bearings.” –David Harris, journalist and activist. Threeocracy plays the music of the Lucky Thompson / Oscar Pettiford collaborations of 1956. Friday 9/14 at 5:30pm – $20 suggested / byob Bassist Oscar Pettiford’s tune Tricotism is the centerpiece of two 1956 recording dates with saxophonist Lucky Thompson. Pettiford (1922-1960) was a key bassist…

Mario Guarneri is assembling a great jazz band from the membership rolls of the Independent Musicians Alliance to entertain you tonight, with a jam session open to all IMA members to follow. IMA members attend free of charge. The public is welcome–it’s a fundraiser for the IMA, so bring your checkbook or the equivalent! Pay a $20 cover charge to help Bird & Beckett pay a fair guaranteed wage to the band members. And make a donation if you’re able to one or all of the organizations that are working locally to assist the musicians in their struggle — the Bird & Beckett Cultural Legacy Project, the Independent Musicians Alliance and Jazz in the Neighborhood. Together, we can do this. BYOB if it sounds like thirsty work to you! The IMA is a solidarity organization co-founded in 2022 by Mario Guarneri and Eric Whittington — now 180 musicians strong —…

Kim Shuck, San Francisco’s 7th Poet Laureate (2017-2020), hosts two readings on zoom each month, with featured readers and an open mic on the second Monday of each month and an all-open mic format on the fourth Monday of the month. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84350265713?pwd=eE84V3BYdWxiSFBHNHhmdUt1WTUzdz09 Meeting ID: 843 5026 5713 Passcode: 244211 September 11, Kimi Sugioka and Lia Le-Nguyen are featured. Kimi Sugioka is a mother, educator, songwriter and poet. She earned an MFA from Naropa University and has published two books of poetry; the newest of which is Wile & Wing on Manic D Press. She has been published in numerous anthologies and is the poet laureate of Alameda, California. As an active board member for literary arts organizations, she curates and hosts readings in Alameda and San Francisco. She believes that creating community through art is a revolutionary act. Lia Le-Nguyen (she/they) is a writer based in Fremont, California. This year, Lia was…

Join Joe & the boys for a couple of hours reveling in the pain of heartache and demon alcohol, and a tribute or two to the valor of the American trucker! Sure they can close down the honky tonks, but they’ll never close down the bookshop! BYOB and a twenty for the band!  

Jazz and poetic compositions by saxophonist/poet Lewis Jordan, an international touring and recording artist, poet, actor and playwright, whose teachers are the music and poetry of Ayler, Shepp, Coleman, and the Art Ensemble of Chicago; the thoughts and spirit of Krishnamurti and Rumi. Music at Large includes Lewis Jordan’s long-time collaborators Sandi Poindexter, Ollen Erich Hunt and Jimmy Biala, who will appear on tonight’s program, and expands as circumstances allow to include such artists as Bruce Ackley, Pearl Ubungen, Tureeda Mikel, John-Carlos Perea, Karl Evangelista, Genny Lim, David Boyce, Ian Carey, Marshall Trammell, Masaru Koga, India Cook, and many others since its inception. https://www.musicatlarge.org/music-at-large The ensemble’s performance September 27, 2021 at Freight and Salvage in Berkeley can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjMUFMF1Uk0. Lewis should be king! video production by Jeremy Allen | Musiquito Media https://www.musiquito.com/ Recordings by Lewis Jordan and Music at Large include This is Where I Came In (2017),…