Before Kim Shuck was the 7th Poet Laureate of San Francisco, she was an open mic host and she just can’t shake the habit. On the 2nd Monday of every month Shuck invites two poets to feature longer readings of their work before a no-intros/one-poem-per-reader open mic. On the 4th Monday the rules are the same but it’s all open mic. Find the zoom link below and join us with your favorite poem. This month, the featured poets are Heather Bourbeau and Vince Montague. Heather Bourbeau’s poetry and fiction have appeared in 100 Word Story, Alaska Quarterly Review, The Kenyon Review, Meridian, The Stockholm Review of Literature, and SWWIM. She has written in Madagascar, read in Tunisia, and worked in Liberia. While drinking strong tea, she wonders where she will explore next. Her collection Some Days The Bird is a poetry conversation with the Irish-Australian poet Anne Casey (Beltway Editions,…

Wednesday, April 19th at 7:30pm, tune in to our live stream to catch Walker Brents III’s monthy talk., this time out on the American Magus Otherwise Known As Harry Smith. The historian of unspeakableness. The cartographer of the ungraspable. The anthologist of the collection of songs that inspired the 20th century left wing poetic archetype. The scribe of our mysterious comprehension of the unknowable momentary perception. The one we know ourselves to be, uniquely particular, observent and elegant. The one upon whom nothing is lost. The one whose work we are, always. Whoever that is, consider this as that… Walker Brents III has been elucidating topics of a diverse nature on a near-monthly basis at Bird & Beckett for two decades. There are good, though in a sense unfathomable reasons that you should tune in! Find out for yourself by doing so, and consider also becoming a donor to Bird…

Remembering Marty Williams, and exploring the future. With Ruth Davies on bass and Jack Dorsey on drums, and the great Kristen Strom playing saxophones, guitarist Eric Swinderman leads a brilliant quartet through two sets of originals and standards. byob and a twenty to help us pay the quartet! These musicians appear regularly in the Friday night jazz series at Cafe Society in Half Moon Bay, where the quartet was led for years by Marty Williams, a veteran, much loved jazz pianist who recently passed away. Here’s a little video. Drive down to HMB some Friday to get a taste of that, and come to Bird & Beckett this Saturday to hear them in exquisite detail without the hiss of the espresso machine! Byob and a twenty for the band. For reservations, call 415-586-3733.

Come out for the late set at Bird & Beckett, Fridays from 9-10:30pm! Bassist Dewayne Oakley and guitarist Ralph Nelson return for a gorgeous romp through their rich repertoire of blues, soul, calypso and jazz. BYOB and a twenty for the band! Reservations, call 415-586-3733 The blues speak to all of us, and we’ll let the Dewayne Oakley Blues Ensemble speak for itself. Enjoy the video below, and come to the show! There’s nothing like being in the room with the musicians and their music!     Here’s video from their March 27 late show at Bird & Beckett (the show starts at the 7:55 mark in this video):

This evening, saxophonist Sebastian Pinillos brings The Odiaga Project, a quartet performing Afro-Peruvian folk music arranged in a jazz setting, incorporating native Peruvian instruments. Sebastian Pinillos – Saxophone, composer Junhong Jung – Guitar Pedro Rosales – Cajón Kevin Silveida – Bass Born in Lima, Peru but raised in the northern city of Trujillo, Sebastian Pinillos took up the tenor sax at age 12, the flute at 18 and the clarinet at 21, and has been performing professionally since 2012. From the Bahamas to Peru to New York, he has had the opportunity to play with world class artists in genres from reggae to jazz to Afro-Peruvian music. Between 2018 and 2021, Sebastian lived in South Florida and spent time fostering his community by working with nonprofits focused on providing music education to low-income schools. In 2021, he moved to the Bay Area to spend a year at the San Francisco…

Bill Ortiz, trumpet & flugelhorn Howard Wiley, saxes Matt Clark, piano Marcus Shelby, bass Sylvia Cuenca, drums Major league trumpet player Bill Ortiz brings an all-star quintet to Bird & Beckett tonight! A San Francisco native, Bill took up the trumpet at age 10. Before long, he held the first trumpet chair in the San Francisco All-City Band, and by his mid-teens he was playing at local dances and clubs with a number of R&B and jazz groups, making for an early and varied start to his professional career. His horizons were broadened further during his college years with his study and participation in electronic and Latin music. After high school, he joined the highly acclaimed Orchestra Batachanga, a young Afro Cuban group under the direction of percussionist/musicologist John Santos, leading to important tenures with Pete Escovedo, John Santos’ Machete Ensemble, and other leading latin bands in the Bay Area…

Been dwelling on North Beach and all it means to San Francisco culcha? Been thinking Phyllis Diller & Lenny Bruce, the Purple Onion, the Hungry i, Mort Sahl, the Jazz Workshop, Enrico Balducci, the Cellar & the Co-Existence Bagel Shop, Mabuhay Gardens, Dirk Dirksen, dozens of punk bands you never heard of? Phyllis Diller? Lenny Bruce? Did we say Claire Hawkins? Alan Harris? Get to Bird & Beckett for the poets Thursday 4/6 at 7! Blabbermouth open mic at 8! You’re in for a wild ride.  

Harvey Wainapel, saxes Adam Shulman, piano Doug Miller, bass Bryan Bowman, drums The last time Harvey Wainapel played Bird & Beckett, it was mid-summer 2019. A lot of water under the bridge since then–a lot of loss and tears, and lately much falling from that river in the sky. Now’s the time for Harvey’s joyful reemergence before live audiences. Tonight, Harvey returns to Bird & Beckett with a terrific quartet. A great master of the reeds with a special place in the Bay Area pantheon of jazz musicians, Harvey promises his trademark mix of originals, fresh arrangements of standards and songs that ought to be standards, plus some Brazilian spice. Welcome back, Harvey! ~~~ BYOB and a twenty for the quartet, and enjoy live music at Bird & Beckett! ~~~ Harvey has toured internationally with Ray Charles, Joe Lovano, and Airto Moreira/Flora Purim. Japan’s JazzLife calls him “a musician with…

You are cordially invited to  enjoy a generous sampling from the Matthew Perifano songbook this San Francisco early spring late Sunday afternoon, as Matthew delves into new material and old, with Amyellen Kessler and Joshua Raoul Brody providing sweet harmonies and, from JRB, nimble keyboard support. You’ll hear quirky undergrad college songs to collaborations with Shakespeare to a camp song that possibly saved the lives of dozens upon dozens of banana slugs to subsequent compositions that attempt to come up with an answer to what’s it all about?!! Yes! it’s all here in sixty (or so) tuneful minutes for your listening pleasure. Do please byob and a twenty to help us pay the musicians!

Are you experienced? Charles Unger represents a half century of jazz in San Francisco, and has been our ambassador to the world for decades. E “Doc” Smith, writing in 2014, noted that in just the three prior years, “Charles Unger Experience has performed in Sweden at the Gothenburg Cultural Festival, in BÃ¥stad and at the Kristianstad/Ã…hus Jazz Festival. He has also performed with the Swedish group Wavemakers in the musical ‘A Dream of a Better Life’ at multiple locations. During the summer of 2011, Unger toured Europe for the first time since 2005, and performed in Sweden, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Paris and in the South of France.” Local audiences and visitors to our city from the world over know him well from 2-1/2 decades of weekly and twice-weekly bookings at the only recently defunct Les Joulins Bistro across from the iconic John’s Grill on Ellis. Sam Spade territory…  Unlike the Maltese…

Catch the Jinx Jones Jazz Trio at the Friday Happy Hour show, 5:30 to 8pm on Friday the 31st — and pick up a copy of his first jazz trio cd, magnificently recorded live at Bird & Beckett back when the thing was abornin’! Then scoot over to La Corneta to grab a taco and get back to the shop by 9pm for the Charles Unger Experience! ~~~ BYOB and a twenty for the band, and enjoy live music at Bird & Beckett! ~~~ On Saturday, April Fool’s Day, at 7:30pm, you’ll hear the reed player & puppet master Harvey Wainapel’s quartet with Adam Shulman on piano, Doug Miller on bass and Bryan Bowman on drums playing Harvey’s originals and fresh arrangements of standards and songs that ought to be standards, plus some Brazilian spice! And Sunday, April 2nd at 5pm, stop foolin’ around and close out your weekend with…

Vince Lateano, drums Peter Barshay, bass Ben Stolorow, piano All jazz players welcome to take the stage. Or just come to listen. No cover charge. If you can’t make it into the shop, you might be able to catch the live stream on our Facebook page or YouTube channel. If you do, your donations to help pay the trio and support the stream are much appreciated! But keep in mind the live jazz experience is always more exciting when you’re in the room with the musicians when they’re playing their music! Bird & Beckett adheres to the guaranteed fair wage standard promoted by the Independent Musicians Alliance.

Phillip Greenlief, saxophone; Dan Seamans, bass; Tom Hassett, drums with special guest Ian Carey, trumpet. Originals and the likes of Bird, Monk, Ornette, Wayne Shorter… The Lost Trio, now celebrating 28 years of wandering through the landscapes of jazz, is excited to announce the latest chapter in their collaborations – this time with trumpeter/composer Ian Carey. These long-standing Bay Area wizards will perform compositions by Carey, along with their tradition of surprising their audiences with unexpected song selections, including a few tunes by the saxophone giant and recently-departed Wayne Shorter. The Lost Trio has been at it as a unit of deep and adventurous improvisors for more than a couple of decades. Top flight players all. And Ian? Having studied in New York with jazz legends including Reggie Workman, Billy Harper and Andrew Cyrille, he’s lived and worked in the Bay Area since 2001, performing with local bandleaders including Bryan…

Come out for the late set at Bird & Beckett, Fridays from 9-10:30pm! Kicking off nine consecutive Fridays of late shows after their fabulous Bird & Beckett debut in early March, bassist Dewayne Oakley and guitarist Ralph Nelson offer a gorgeous romp through a rich repertoire of blues, soul and jazz on March 24th. March 31st, it’s the Charles Unger Experience… BYOB and a twenty for the band! Reservations, call 415-586-3733 The blues speak to all of us, and we’ll let the Dewayne Oakley Blues Ensemble speak for itself. Enjoy the videos below, and come to the show! There’s nothing like being in the room with the musicians and their music. Video

Shake off the workweek with a happy hour or two in the company of veteran drummer Tony Johnson and his merry crew — Bob Kenmotsu on tenor saxophone, Keith Saunders on piano and Matt Montgomery on upright bass. Two solid sets of straight ahead jazz & bebop, swing & bossa nova. Tony has been plying his trade in San Francisco since he immigrated from Australia in 1959. Straight off, he was busy in the clubs and on the road — and recorded a memorable album live at The Cellar on Grant Avenue in North Beach in 1960 with vocalist Bev Kelly, in the company of saxophonist Pony Poindexter. He’s never stopped since. BYOB and a twenty for the band! Can’t make it to the show? On Fridays, we’ll be streaming just the second set, starting at about 7pm. To hear the first set, you’ll need to brave the elements and…