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!

Saturday, August 19th – 7:30-9:30pm
Capping Bird & Beckett’s Benefit Season:
The road-tested genius of Peter Case!

And yes, it’s a benefit for your beleaguered tho’ resurgent ‘n re-emergent jazz ‘n literary lounge, so bring yr checkbook! Whether it’s $10 you can contribute or $100, be the icing on this particular little birthday cake… Bird & Beckett’s music programming is 21 years old this year! Peter Case lit out from Buffalo, New York in 1973, age 18, in a blizzard, on a midnight bus headed west. That spring in San Francisco, you’d find him among the brilliant street musicians of the city, day and night, wailing on his guitar, singing with a voice that ricocheted off the storefronts and across the traffic lanes. You’d see him and hear him all over town, in the Mission, in the Tenderloin, and for a good, long stretch on the southeast corner opposite the Condor and City Lights every night of the week, busking alongside scuffling players and sterling veterans like…

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Saturday, August 19th – 5pm
duo B. vs. SPELUNKER
Experimental musicians go toe to toe!

duo B. vs. SPELUNKER enter the Bird & Beckett arena Saturday, August 19th at 5pm! $20 cover charge, byob. Reservations – 415-586-3733. New original trio music and covers by creative music heroes Threadgill, Braxton and more! The Bay Area improvising drums and bass duo of Jason Levis and Lisa Mezzacappa, as duo B., joins forces with Italian saxophonist Piero Bon Bittolo, aka SPELUNKER (boasting a new album by that name). Together, they’ll whip up a program of new compositions composed by members of the trio, plus new arrangements of music by creative jazz luminaries. As duo B., Mezzacappa and Levis have explored the farthest reaches of wide-open improvisation and gnarly composition for more than 15 years, immersing themselves in the music of Anthony Braxton, Henry Threadgill, Cecil Taylor, Wadada Leo Smith, and others, and releasing three records. They are a first-call rhythm section backing up local jazz heroes such as…

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Friday, August 18th – two shows with Scott Foster! At 5:30, an End of Summer Two-Set Jazz Party with the Scott Foster Quartet and at 8:30, Mean to Me!

Saxophonist Marcus Stephens is picking the tunes for your happy hour jazz pleasure, fronting the combo Scott Foster has assembled especially for the occasion, with Matt Montgomery on bass and Michael Mitchell on drums. You’re in for two generous sets of music for a mid-August minute before school’s back in session. BYOB and a twenty for the band! Whatever your wallet will allow! Take a quick break when they finish at 8, and then hurry back at 8:30 for Mean to Me, a Bird & Beckett favorite, with Scott joining vocalist Judy Butterfield, pianist/saxophonist Ben Slater, bassist Tom Edler and drummer Cairo McCockran performing tunes from the ’20s to the ’40s mixed with bop, soul & latin jazz. Bring a twenty for each of these fine bands, and something to sip, and kick back for a Glen Park pause before the world starts down that road back to the salt…

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This Friday to Sunday:
6 shows to choose from!

Friday, 8/11 from 5:30-8:00pm
~~Eric & the In Crowd~~
and from 9:00-10:30pm
~~The Brian Melvin Quartet~~

Saturday, 8/12 from 3-4:30pm
~~Avotcja + Carlos Reyes~~
and from 7:30-9:30pm
~~The Tim Lin Quartet~~

Sunday 8/13 from 5-7pm
~~Laura Benitez
& the Heartache~~
and from 8-10pm
~~The Sam Bevin Quintet~~

A fantastic variety of music to choose from. You’ll most always be on the mark if you byob and a twenty for the band. And you can call to reserve a seat for any of these shows – 415-586-3733. Coming off our Thursday benefit thrown by nine stellar classical musicians (if you count Yuzoh the singing dog who, truth be told, sings along only to bluegrass), we have a cavalcade of six dates over the next three days! Our Friday happy hour show this week (5:30-8pm) is Eric Shifrin’s second Fridays residency, with the In Crowd comprising a trio this time out, and what a fun & fantastic little trio it is — Eric on piano, Ari Munkres on bass and Mark Lee on drums. Guaranteed pleasure! Bring a twenty for the band and something to sip! If you’re squeezing every dollar ’til the eagle grins, then just bring what…

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Musicians of the San Francisco
Opera & Ballet Orchestras
and Friends play
to benefit
Bird & Beckett
August 10th, 7:30pm!

San Francisco Opera & Ballet Orchestra Musicians & Friends Ride to the Rescue! When Bay Area woes reach operatic dimensions of impending tragedy, a batch of hardy musicians who know all about operatic dimensions grab their tools of the trade and come calling! Bird & Beckett is just the latest cause to grab their attention and garner their support. Thursday, August 10th at 7:30pm, come out to Bird & Beckett to enjoy the musicianship of ten stalwart music makers, San Francisco Opera & Ballet musicians, both active and retired, and friends, performing in various aggregations and all together on the Bird & Beckett stage. They’re planning a program of classical pieces and more, celebrating the connections between classical, pop and folk music. Bird & Beckett is honored to be just the latest beneficiaries of the largesse of these musicians and colleagues. The list includes concerts to benefit Ukraine, the Food…

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Saturday, August 5th at 7:30pm
Hafez Modirzadeh Quartet
Sonic Indigeneity on the Bandstand!

Hafez Modirzadeh, saxophone Tim Volpicella, guitar Stan Poplin, bass Keshav Batish, drums $20 cover charge (cash, please) BYOB For a reservation, call the shop at 415-586-3733 This quartet reaches the Bird & Beckett stage just one day after performing at the Hammer Museum at UCLA. From the Hammer Museum’s write up: Commanding saxophonist and expansive musical thinker Hafez Modirzadeh brings a new quartet of Northern California improvisers to explore his latest set of compositions. Modirzadeh has spent decades bridging jazz vocabulary with the sonorities and syntax of non-Western musics. His work is influenced as much by the tuning systems of Persian and Turkish music, Filipino kulintang, and Indonesian gamelan as it is by the harmolodic lyricism of Ornette Coleman and the gritty chromaticism of Thelonious Monk. On a mission to liberate musical expression from the homogenizing influence of equal temperament, Modirzadeh pursues a music of liberation through personal resonance discovered…

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Saturday, August 5th from 3 to 5pm
at Bird & Beckett;
and Sunday, August 6th
from 2 to 7pm
at the Castro Theater!

poets, family & friends
converge on San Francisco
to remember the power
that will ever be
Diane di Prima

Diane di Prima was a towering figure in American poetry, and is sorely missed. Her passing in 2020 at the age of 86 has had to wait ’til now to be fully memorialized. There is no admission charge for our reading on Saturday nor for the grand event at the Castro on Sunday, though donations at both events will help the di Prima family cover the considerable expenses involved. There’s precious little time before the Castro Theater as we know it is reconfigured, and it would be a great mistake to miss this gathering to celebrate an individual whose position in San Francisco’s cultural history is impossible to overstate, and whose work, practice, influence, generosity and friendship have shaped generations the world over. (note that our address is misstated in the flyer reproduced above. That’s the address where Diane first read for us, though, and where she brought her students…

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Friday, August 4th – 9:00-10:30pm
Mr. Lucky & the Intimate Cocktail Party

Mr. Lucky https://vimeo.com/261190051/3340b6b191 “The dean of postmodern lounge jazz swing singers…” & The ‘Intimate’ Cocktail Party! “A veritable super-group!”  20th Century Influenced… 21st Century Influencers… Entertaining Jazz! Ellington, Mancini, Bacharach, Withers…!? The unexpected rules…! In 1998, Mr. Lucky & The Cocktail Party grabbed manic energy and tuned up the Great American Songbook with a big +plus.  J. Raoul Brody and Ralph Carney assembled an amazing set of jazz musicians to create a fresh, exciting, jazzy sound….  Over one hundred performances later the band continues to evolve— every show is guaranteed dynamic and…entertaining!    Featuring these outstanding, top Bay Area musicians… Joshua Raoul Brody: ‘The Maestro’ on piano, Michael Groh: humming on guitar, Joe Quigley:  eclectic bass (Lisa Loeb’s ‘Stay’), Mr. Lucky: vocals, etc. Our extravagant and exceptional genius and friend, Ralph Carney remains on stage with us in spirit.  Mr. Lucky has appeared at an amazing array of venues— from Bimbo’s 365…

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Friday, August 4th – 5:30-8:00pm
The Charles Thomas Quartet

Charles Thomas, bass with Rob Zuckerman, saxophone Sam Cady, piano Michael Spencer, drums $20 suggested donation; pay what you can to support the musicians and the store! There’s no minimum on Friday evenings for these 2-1/2 hour happy hour shows. On the other hand, there’s no maximum either! BYOB Charles has a long history on the Bird & Beckett scene, playing bebop, bossas and standards as well as originals with any number of combos, and often leading his own. His performing career has run the gamut from R&B to funk to hard bop and more.  Tonight, it’s jazz in a straight ahead mode while he contemplates next steps in the music. We suspect there will be hints abounding about the directions he’ll take. His colleagues on the bandstand this evening are wonderful players, all. All are well suited to Charles’ purposes!

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Thursday, August 3rd – 7:00-9:00pm
Jane Rades and Jerry Ferraz
~~featured poets~~
followed by an open mic
Michael Koch, m.c.

Jerry Ferraz has been the cornerstone of Bird & Beckett’s poetry scene since its inception back in 1999. He was on the first bill of poets that we presented shortly after we opened the store. His poems contemplate the eternal mysteries and verities of the human and natural spheres, with a sensibility that’s both ironic and generous. His good friend Jane Rades writes poems of disarming simplicity. She’s the one who taught Jerry how to sing, back when they often crossed paths and sometimes performed together on the 1970s coffee house poetry scene. An open mic follows the featured poets. Michael Koch and Jerry share the honors in booking and conducting our monthly first Thursdays poetry series.

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July Women in Jazz!

Annie Orzen Trio – Thursday, July 13th, 7:30-9:30pm. Gaea Schell CD Release, “In Your Own Sweet Way” – Friday, July 14th, 9:00-10:30pm. Marlina Teich Quartet – Sunday, July 23, 5:30-7:30pm. Vocalist Kenya Moses – Friday, July 28, 9:00-10:30pm.  

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Sunday, July 30th – 5-7pm
Jam Session hosted by
The Vince Lateano Trio

The last Sunday of each month, veteran drummer Vince Lateano is at the center of a dynamic and easy going session at Bird & Beckett that attracts old hands and young pups alike, aided by bassist Peter Barshay and pianist Ben Stolorow. Bird & Beckett’s Doggone Session is just the latest iteration of sessions Vince has been renowned for over the decades at venues including Pier 23, the Dogpatch Saloon, the Seven Mile House (which Vince dubbed the Doghouse Jam) and Sweeties. And while some talents, characters and devotees show up pret’ near every time at these Bird & Beckett sessions, the churn and evolution is constant, and legendary players you’ve never heard of turn up with regularity, drawn by their history and friendship with Vince, a swinging force on the San Francisco jazz scene since he hit North Beach in the mid-1960s.  

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Saturday, July 29th – 7:30-9:30pm
Dewayne Oakley Blues Ensemble

Dewayne Oakley, bass and vocals Ralph Nelson, guitar Anthony Peagram, drums $20 cover charge (cash, please) byob The Dewayne Oakley Blues Ensemble returns to play soul satisfying sets of blues, calypso and jazz. Dewayne has brought the pleasure and joy of the music to audiences all around the bay for five decades or more. For the better part of the 1980s, he was a fixture on the blues and jazz scene in Nagoya, Japan, and returned with his own record label, Naki-Do, and the Blues Ensemble. Dewayne has been a Bird & Beckett favorite and close collaborator since last March, when vocalist Jazzy Raja first brought his Blues Ensemble to our stage. Tonight’s trio date is his fifth Bird & Beckett engagement in as many months. Here’s video from his latest outing on July 8th. Plus a little something extra.

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Friday, July 28th – 9:00-10:30pm
Vocalist Kenya Moses

Prepare to be mesmerized by the captivating musical stylings of Kenya Moses; an extraordinary Afro-Brazilian American vocalist who effortlessly blends cultures, genres, and languages with her enchanting voice. Kenya Moses is a true musical nomad, fearlessly traversing boundaries and embracing the diverse influences that shape her artistic identity. With every note she sings, she seamlessly fuses the rhythmic beauty of Brazilian Bossa Nova with the soulful expressions of American jazz and Classical music, creating a harmonious tapestry that resonates with audiences around the world. As a vocalist, Kenya possesses a remarkable ability to captivate listeners with her storytelling prowess. With each lyric she delivers, she weaves a narrative that touches the depths of emotion and paints vivid pictures in the minds of her audience. Her voice, warm and heartfelt, invites listeners to embark on a journey that transcends time and space. Kenya is joined by an incredible ensemble of musicians…

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Jazz in the bookshop every Friday, 5:30-8:00pm
It’s the happiest 2-1/2 hours of the week!
Friday, July 28th – 5:30-8:00pm
The Tony Johnson Quartet

Bob Kenmotsu, tenor sax Keith Saunders, piano Eric Markowitz, bass Tony Johnson, drums Bebop, hardbop, soul jazz and standards. Always swinging, always impeccably played, always with pleasure BYOB and a twenty for the band, or any amount large or small you can manage! A guaranteed fair wage starts with the revenue that can be gathered from those who enjoy the fruits of the musicians’ labor. That includes those who prefer to stay home to enjoy the live stream, naturally! If you’re in that number, pony up if you possibly can! We can tell you how, if you can’t quite figure it. This quartet represents the long run of jazz that spilled out the Haight Street bar called the Club Deluxe, lovingly run for decades, hands on, by the raconteur and singer Jay Johnson and then continued for another decade much to our delight, filling the night, and sometimes the noonday,…

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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

To take our SURVEY, click here, and help the BBCLP get to know you better! As Duke Ellington always said, we love you madly...

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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