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!

Groove in Glen Park This Weekend!

Friday 5:30pm – Tony Johnson Quartet;  9:00pm – Lew Tabackin Trio. Saturday 7:30pm – Noel Jewkes Quartet. Sunday 3:00pm – Balsa de Fuego; 5:00pm – Jam Session with the Vince Lateano Trio.

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Thursday, September 21st – 7:30pm
Walker Talks!
Walker Brents III on Friedrich Schiller

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.

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Sure you’ll be at Monterey this weekend! Make time for Glen Park. Nothing quite like it!

  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…

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Wednesday, September 20th – 7:30-9:30pm
The Ron Jackson Trio

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…

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A round up of the events through the end of September

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…

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Sunday, September 17th – 3pm
author event with Beth Winegarner
San Francisco’s Forgotten Cemeteries

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…

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Thursday 9/14 to Sunday 9/17: two book events and four concerts!

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…

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Saturday, October 28th – 7:30-9:30pm
Mario Guarneri’s IMA Band & Jam Session!

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 —…

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Monday, September 11th – 7-9pm on ZOOM
Featured poets Kimi Sugioka and Lia Le-Nguyen + open mic

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…

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Sunday, September 10th – 5-7pm
The Seducers!
America’s Favorite Honky Tonk Band!

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!  

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Saturday, September 9th – 7:30-9:30pm
Lewis Jordan & Music at Large

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),…

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Friday, September 8th – 5:30-8:00pm
Get in with the in crowd!
Eric & the In Crowd
invite you to join the party
every second Friday

Always a good time when the In Crowd gathers at Bird & Beckett. Eric Shifrin, piano Paul Smith, bass Raul Ramirez, drums $20 suggested, BYOB Can’t make it to the show? Check it out in the live stream on our YouTube channel or Facebook page. Donate to support the musicians & the stream!

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Thursday, September 7th – 7pm
Jessica Loos & Cara Vida, POETS!
featured poets and an open mic
on the first Thursday of each month
hosted by Jerry Ferraz and Michael Koch

Two scrappy poets with long histories in San Francisco bohemia make their way out to Bird & Beckett to make some noise in sleepy Glen Park! Jessica Loos’s work verges on performance art, channeling a strain of poetic tradition steeped in surrealism, dada and the best of Charles Bukowski. She’s a member of The Living Theatre and a collage artist as well, and organizes the poetry for the North Beach First Friday Artwalk and the North Beach Festival. Never satisfied, she also puts on readings, often with live music, at Specs Bar in Adler Alley opposite City Lights, and in Kerouac Alley between City Lights and Vesuvio opposite Specs–not to mention on Upper Grant Street on the sidewalk in front of Macchiarini Creative Design. Cara Vida left a life among the suits long ago to find a dizzying and earthy reality. With a carney’s purity, she utilizes a collage technique…

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Friday, September 1st – 5:30 to 8:00pm
Liam Furey Quartet

Liam Furey, tenor saxophone Anne Sajdera, piano Aaron Germain, bass Brian Andres, drums $20 suggested / byob reservations: 415-586-3733 Born and raised in Bird and Beckett’s own backyard in Glen Park, Liam Furey leads a top-flight rhythm section through two rewarding sets of reflective originals and unique standards. Liam has been involved in SF’s jazz scene for years, notably composing and recording the soundtrack for “Red Poet”, the documentary centering around the life of the late SF Poet Laureate Jack Hirschman. Visit Liam’s website at liamfurey.com for a taste of his rich tenor tone. His quartet for the date includes Anne Sajdera, a consummate jazz pianist with deep Brazilian and classical roots; bassist Aaron Germain, whose collaborations with musicians from a global range of traditions are widely acclaimed; and drummer Brian Andres, a key player on the Bay Area latin jazz scene.  

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Thursday, August 31st – 7:30pm
Anhad Naad Collective
plays raga-infused jazz and R&B

The Anhad Naad Collective this evening comprises vocalist Divya Vyas, Jun Ishimuro on flute and Charles Thomas on bass, joined by guest singer Madhuranjan Mohaan. $20-25 cover charge, sliding scale Anhad Naad Collective performance at Bird & Beckett can be viewed live and also after the fact on our bookshop’s Facebook page or YouTube channel. Please donate $5 or more using the venmo or paypal information on the screen to help us pay the performers and help with the streaming expense. Anhad Naad derives from the Sanskrit “Anahata Nad,” meaning “sound produced without touching two parts” and meaning at the same time “pure” or “clean, stainless”. The name of this chakra signifies the state of freshness that appears when we are able to become detached and to look at the different and apparently contradictory experiences of life with a state of openness (expansion). Flute player Jun Ishimuro came up with…

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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

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