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!
The Pepe Jacobo Latin Jazz Quartet Marco Diaz, piano Jason Muscat, bass Mike Ramirez, congas Pepe Jacobo, drums
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Jairo Vargas, aka Rojai, aka Mr. Jairo, is one kool customer for sure. New album — “At Your Service” — on the way! Always a surprise in store! Skool’s out and summer’s coming on fast, so get a jump on it! Kids welcome and free. Teens pay ten bucks. Adults pay twenty and are responsible for their own libations! When Mr. Kool and his gang leave the stage at 8, the taqueria & the pizza joint & win garden will still be serving up good grub and there’ll still be light in the kanyun, so make tracks to chenery street at six! Summer’s upon us now!
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Sunday at 5, catch four goils from the Northern California watershed, poets & buddies from a ways back… Lisbet Bailey, Cathleen Williams, Sarah Menefee and Julie Rogers. A quick blow out! deep, profound, sassy and unfiltered, and then it’s on to the jazz at 7pm–this time, of the Filipino kulintang persuasion… Autonomous Region, a quintet led by Caroline Cabading–house band of the Club Mandalay at the I-Hotel Manilatown Heritage Center. Grab a quesabirria taco or some chow fun twixt the poetry and the jazz, and reclaim your seat in the bookshop for a wondrous good time! Marian Dalere will tell you, this is joyous & righteous. Happy Birthday, Marian! Here’s some music while you mark your calendar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQ_NyEVHms8&list=RDAtu2_x_KW80&index=8, unrelated, except insofar as it’s great jazz music! Thanks to Black America for bequeathing this music to the world! To hear Autonomous Region, come to the show!
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Have you heard the one about the ghostwriter who walks into the afterlife? Samantha Rose’s book, Giving up the Ghost: A Daughter’s Memoir (Sybelline Digital First, 2025) is the highly personal work of a professional ghostwriter, stepping forward with her own story to unravel the mystery of her mother’s suicide, wrestling and jousting with the complexities of the mother-daughter relationship. “Raw, resilient, and with surprising humor, Giving Up the Ghost explores the layered complexity of mental health, the love between mothers and daughters and how, in the aftermath of inconceivable loss, we can release our inner ghosts and write a new story for ourselves.” May 29th at Bird & Beckett, Samantha will engage in conversation on our stage with her colleague, the writer Susannah Kennedy (Reading Jane: A Daughter’s Memoir. Sybelline Press, 2023) to map the path she’s taken in telling her own, and her mother’s, tale. Call the shop…
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Isaiah Javier came out of Heritage High School in Brentwood, burning to play jazz at a high level–which he’s been doing handily. At 17, he spent a week at the Brubeck Institute Summer Jazz Colony and two weeks at Lincoln Center’s Summer Jazz Academy. Now, he’s been studying at Berklee School of Music back east and has brought top-flight combos into Bird & Beckett twice in the past year and a half. On his summer break, he’s returning for a third booking, this time with Daveed Behroozi, piano; Giulio Xavier Cetto, bass; Louis Sweatt, drums. Modern jazz and originals. $20 cover charge; byob. Below is video of Isaiah’s last Bird & Beckett show.
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Jam session at Bird & Beckett Sunday, May 25th from 5-7pm. Come to play, then stick around to hear the Isaiah Javier Quartet from 8-10pm. $10 cover for students, $20 for general audience. Don’t forget our First-Sundays Student-Centric Jam Sessions– On Sunday June 6th, 5-7pm, a combo from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s RJAM program led by Kira Agrell plays a set and hosts the jam open to all comers from jazz programs throughout the Bay Area! Stick around for the Danny Brown & Michael Parsons duo from 7:30-9:30pm.
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A fresh voice on the San Francisco jazz scene, pianist Rumi Abe arrived from Nagoya, Japan in the fall of 2024 and is already woven into the fabric of Bay Area jazz culture. Come hear her at Bird & Beckett with a few of our great friends in jazz, saxophonist Steven Lugerner, bassist Isaac Coyle and drummer Miles Turk. Jazz is constantly renewing itself, drawing on history to forge a future we can embrace. Rumi began playing Electone at age 4. She studied music theory and composition at Yamaha Music School, and refined her jazz skills under the mentorship of legends Fumio Karashima and Josh Nelson to the point where she was performing over 200 shows annually across Tokyo. In 2022, she released her debut album with her trio. Now based in San Francisco, Rumi has been performing and sharing her music at the main jazz clubs of the Bay…
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Annette A Aguilar, daughter of Nicaraguan parents, San Francisco native, La Reina de Baterista of Upper Manhattan and the Bronx with her String Beans ensemble and her Women in Latin Jazz festivals, returns home for another Carnaval season. To Bird & Beckett, she’ll bring a vibrant Beans on the Left quartet–the West Coast version of String Beans–for a descarga anchored by Carolina Calvache on piano, Mike Arnold on bass and Annett’s brother Ricky Aguilar on congas, with special guest Chloe Scott Jones, flute. $20 admission; byob. San Francisco’s Mission District hosts the grand celebration that is Carnaval SF every year in May, and this year the streets there will burst with life the weekend of May 24-25, with preparations and rehearsals underway now! Come to our Friday night descarga and prime yourself!
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This Friday at 6pm, drummer Tony Johnson corrals the usual suspects — Charlie McCarthy, saxophone; Sam Cady, piano; Chuck Bennett, bass — for another earth invasion by Bird & Beckett’s legacy jazz band, with its roots in the 2002 trio that Chuck Peterson used to establish a weekly Friday happy hour jazz tradition in Glen Park. Make Tony’s dates a habit: fourth Sunday of every month. The 230 Jones Street band plays two months in a row, then switches out for a two-set engagement with the Tony Johnson Quartet (Bob Kenmotsu, tenor sax; Keith Saunders, piano; Eric Markowitz, bass, Tony on drums). Then, it’s back to the 230 Jones band for two months, the Tony Johnson Quartet for a month, two months of 230 Jones, a month of Tony’s quartet, et seq. You’ll get (the) rhythm, both. In June, it will be the quartet, In July and August, 230 Jones…
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A reunion poetry reading for Five On the Western Edge, the Momo’s Press 1976 volume of five poets responding to radical politics, including the rise of the women’s movement challenging gender roles. Reading from the original book and new work. Free. Donations welcome. Byob. To reserve a seat, call the shop at 415-586-3733. Live streamed on Bird & Beckett’s YouTube channel and Facebook page. You can get there by visting the homepage of the bookshop’s website at https://www.birdbeckett.com. Click on the videoscreen there, but if the reading hasn’t started yet, you’ll need to refresh your browser until it does start.
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Join us for a powerful evening of live readings, memory, and meaning to celebrate the launch of The Art of Remembering: Volume III, the latest edition of the literary journal produced by the Community Living Campaign Writing Groups, exploring the many ways we hold on, let go, and make sense of what’s come before. This in-person gathering brings together the vibrant voices behind this newest volume—writers who dig deep, tell the truth, and shape remembrance into art. Whether you’re a longtime reader or new to the journal, this is your chance to experience the stories and reflections in real time, straight from the hearts of those who wrote them. Come for the words, stay for the connection. Free and open to all. Bring a friend and grab a chair!
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Thu Ho pays tribute to the great Helen Merrill, a fabulous singer in the golden era of Jazz, who is high on the list of Thu’s greatest influences. Thu will be interpreting tunes from Helen’s greatest albums, including “Dream Of You,” “Helen Merrill,” “You’ve Got A Date With the Blues,” “The Nearness Of You,” and “Helen Merrill With Strings,” with many of these arrangements written by the late great Quincy Jones and Gil Evans. Thu’s ensemble for this date includes remarkable musicians from the Bay Area, including Anne Sajdera on piano, Aaron Germain on upright bass, Joe Kelner on drums, and special guest, master horn player Noel Keith Jewkes! $25 cover charge (cash or venmo at the door, please). Call the bookshop at (415) 586-3733 to reserve seats. Having trained in Jazz, Broadway, Classical, and R&B music, Thu’s voice is imbued with a unique blend of…
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Tony Peebles, saxophone. Erick Peralta, piano. Aaron Germain, bass. Brian Andres, drums. with special guest vocalist, Kenya Moses. $20 cover charge (cash or venmo at the door, please). byob, and make a reservation! Call the shop at 415-586-3733. With saxophonist Tony Peebles, of the Grammy-nominated Pacific Mambo Orchestra, the young and seriously talented pianist Erick Peralta, and the uniquely talented Aaron Germain, drummer Brian Andres’s quartet presents two dynamic jazz sets. In 2007, after spending his career as a sideman, learning and honing his craft, Brian stepped into the role of bandleader and the San Francisco Bay Area was introduced to The Afro-Cuban Jazz Cartel. Featuring Grammy Award winning musicians as well as esteemed music educators, the group continues the rich heritage of San Francisco Bay Area Latin jazz. Incorporating the rich harmonic and improvisational elements of jazz with the irresistible rhythms from the Caribbean to form “the perfect…
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It’s been a year, and what a year it’s been! But science prevails over the darkness, and Tom Hassett never stops probing the secrets of the universe through the vibrations of his drum kit, with his lab assistants Scott Foster, Dan Seamans and Jim Peterson, wielding guitar, bass and saxophone, respectively. Bring a twenty for the band, and your own beverage, and watch them work! If you’re a student, a ten is all it takes, and a child, well, you’re free as a bird.
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We’ll always remember you. You gave us so much, just a fraction of what you gave the world. You live on.
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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," 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.
Click on "donate" in the navigation bar above. Better yet, make a check out to the “Bird & Beckett Cultural Legacy Project” and drop it off or mail it to:
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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We're immensely appreciative of Jazz in the Neighborhood for having stepped in as our temporary fiscal sponsor for a few months, while we straightened out some paperwork to get nonprofit status restored to the BBCLP. We're happy to say that's been done, and all past, present, and future donations made directly to the BBCLP are fully tax-deductible!
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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
