Trombonist Grachan Moncur III emerged from the Benny Golson-Art Farmer Jazztet, steeped in hardbop, to become one of the more original improvising composers of the mid-’60s New York jazz scene. With evocative titles like Gnostic, Esoteric, Love and Hate, Frankenstein, Air Raid and Ghost Town, his pen and his bone discovered new solutions to jazz problems of the era. New forms, old forms, no form. Bay Area stalwarts Mezzacappa, Ewing and Glenn are joined by Rova’s Bruce Ackley, and led through Moncur’s wonderland by East Bay treasure, vibraphonist Dave Casini. The music is swinging, compelling and drenched in fresh shades of blue. The casual fan of early to mid-1960s jazz knows well the names and the work of Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and Tony Williams. Most have a pretty good handle on Cecil McBee as well, or should… We dare say many likely don’t fully register the name of the…

On December 4, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Roots, Jazz & American Music B.Mus. degree program fields the B105 Seminar Jazz Ensemble coached by drummer Akira Tana. Remarkable talent on display! Come down to the shop, or tune in to the live stream on our YouTube channel or Facebook page. Your donations support the musicians and the stream. Thanks for that! The first Sunday of each month, Bird & Beckett proudly presents a jazz combo comprising students from a local college or high school opening the program, followed by a student jam session led by a professional trio. Co-produced and underwritten by Jazz in the Neighborhood and Bird & Beckett, the students in the combos receive a small stipend and the professional musicians receive a guaranteed fair wage. Your contributions are much appreciated. Your ears as well! All young and youngish students aspiring to a career in jazz —…

Oakland-based ensemble The TOaG Quartet brings a dazzling breadth of improvisational music, all composed in response to and reflecting on the tumultuous last several years – which hit professional creatives especially hard. Described as “Swinging and Funky,” “Beautiful and Groovin,” “Dark and Spacey,” and “Raw but Refined,” The TOaG Quartet, under the direction of bassist Benjamin Lee, is fronted by saxophone phenom Eli Maliwan, whose technical and creative prowess is unmatched. Powerhouse drummer Ricky Carter commands the rhythm section with a seamless blend of fury and subtlety, alongside veteran guitarist DV Wright – whose soundscapes are as stunning as his screaming solos. $20 cover charge; BYOB. Call the store at 415-586-3733 for a reservation. Doors open at 7:20 for the 7:30pm show. Our events are live streamed on our YouTube channel and Facebook page. Your kind donations while watching online help us pay the musicians and support the stream. $10…

Ed Cherry is one of the greats of jazz. He’s been on that course since the late 1970s, and is solidly in his prime. Tonight, he leads a trio in the intimate space that is Bird & Beckett. $20 cash cover charge. BYOB. Doors open at 7:20pm for the 7:30pm show. Call for reservations – 415-586-3733 Nothing beats being in the room, but the date will also be live streamed on the Bird & Beckett YouTube channel and Facebook page; and if you partake substantially of it, we hope you’ll support the stream by donating per the information on the screen. $10 is nice. Ed Cherry moved to New York from New Haven, Connecticut in 1978 to play guitar with Dizzy Gillespie for the better part of a decade and a half, from 1978 to 1992, performing in Gillespie’s quartet and big band, and with Diz’s United Nation Orchestra, which…

Regarding Daniel Wolff”s new book from Four Way Books, More Poems About Money: Poet Rosanna Warren calls it “an angry and ingenious collection… [that] indicts global capitalism in a fury of word-play, rhymes, squint-eyed sonnets, and puns.” Author Jonathan Galassi describes the work as “razor-sharp, deeply witty, sardonic meditations.” This Wolff’s fourth collection; his poetry has appeared in many literary magazines including The Paris Review, the American Poetry Review, The Three Penny Review, and Raritan. From prologue: “What do global combat and property ownership have to do with sex and sea turtles? According to Daniel Wolff—as it turns out, everything. More Poems about Money looks at the economic times we live in, from boom to bust, from the suburbs to the warzone, in a voice that ranges from humorous to desperate. Grappling with monetary value and how it infringes on self worth, Wolff asks simultaneously timeless and timely questions—Who has…

The Potrero Hillbillies — Joshua Raoul Brody, Joe Cunningham and Christopher Gray — dig into the songbook of one of the key bands of old, weird America. $20 cash cover charge, byob Reservations, call 415-586-3733. Live streamed on the Bird & Beckett YouTube channel and Facebook page.$10 suggested donation per the directions on the screen (paypal, venmo, cash app) if you tuned in for a full set.

Jump rhythm & blues! Karina Denike, vocal Tom Griesser, sax Michael McIntosh, piano Joe Kyle, Jr., bass Randy Lee Odell, drums $25 cash cover charge ($20-25 sliding scale) BYOB Reservations, call 415-586-3733. Live streamed on the Bird & Beckett YouTube channel and Facebook page. $10 suggested donation per the directions on the screen (paypal, venmo, cash app) if you tuned in for a full set.

The New Squatoolas take you on a joyous romp in a New Orleans mode, playing the music of NOLA jazz, funk and soul pioneers – The Meters, Smokey Johnson, Fats Domino, The Nevilles, The Wild Tchoupitoulas, ‘Fess – as well as original compositions invoking the style and vibe of those and other greats of that bayou metropolis.     $20 cover charge; BYOB. Call the shop at 415-586-3733 for a reservation. Doors open at 7:20 for the 7:30pm show. Our events are live in the shop and also live streamed on our YouTube channel and Facebook page. Your kind donations while watching online help us pay the musicians and support the stream. $10 is nice if you’re online for a set or two. Every donation helps.

Drummer Tony Johnson leads a quartet on the 4th Friday of each month. And here it is the fourth Friday! But he’s out tonight; we’ll see him with the 230 Jones Street band at the end of December. His regular colleagues tenor player Bob Kenmotsu and pianist Keith Saunders have recruited Doug Miller to fill in for Eric Markowitz and Vince Lateano to fill in for Tony. Such is the wealth of talent available in the City of St. Francis in 2022. San Francisco’s a divine jazz town for sure. Tonight: Bob Kenmotsu, tenor sax Keith Saunders, piano Doug Miller, bass Vince Lateano, drums Join us! BYOB and a twenty for the band. Our events are live in the shop and also live streamed on our YouTube channel and Facebook page. Your kind donations while watching online help us pay the musicians and support the stream. $10 is nice if…

Drive down to Bird & Beckett on Friday, with Thanksgiving and all its trimmings in the rear view. San Francisco born & bred Annette A. Aguilar is out west and stops in for some coquito & conga action with family and you, her newfound old time friends. After her teen years all over the latin music scene of the Mission District, she finished her B.Mus. in classical percussion at SFSU in the 1980s and headed for NYC where she’s been a force for decades — with her long-time ensemble Stringbeans, annual productions of Women in Latin Jazz festival concerts, and most recently as a member of Arturo O’Farrill’s BronX BandA unit. In town to be with family and play a few gigs, Annette will roll in to Bird & Beckett the day after Thanksgiving for some happy hour rumba n samba with local hero John Calloway — a Latin Jazz…

Two shows on Friday: a happy hour rumba and an evening of jazz with the Bob Kenmotsu Quartet to follow! Saturday, it’s the New Squatoolas bringing the spirit of New Orleans, and Sunday, jump blues and R&B quintet, the Cottontails followed by the Potrero Hillbillies playing the music of The Band and a few other things. Five shows in three days! Friday 11/25 at 5pm, Annette A. Aguilar’s Beans on the Left offers rumba n samba, featuring John Calloway! Pay what you want for this one, byob, and chillax! San Francisco born & bred Annette A. Aguilar, after her teen years spent all over the latin music scene of the Mission District,  finished her B.Mus. in classical percussion at SFSU in the 1980s and headed for NYC where she’s been a force on the Latin Jazz scene for decades — with her long-time ensemble Stringbeans, annual productions of Women in…

Bassist Peter Barshay and pianist Ben Stolorow join drummer Vince Lateano for two sets of jazz for your pleasure, and ours. BYOB and a twenty for the band! Our events are live streamed on our YouTube channel and Facebook page. Your kind donations while watching online help us pay the musicians and support the stream. $10 is nice if you’re online for a set or two. Every donation helps.

A couple dozen “cranky” and concise essays by our esteemed San Francisco Poet Laureate Emerita Kim Shuck were published just a month or two ago by our good friends at Andover Archives Press, just on the eve of a 9,000 ramble around the country. She’s back now & we’ll celebrate by joining Kim for a reading &  publication party, along with the folks who put out the book — Judy Bernhardt and Byron Spooner, and her driver, photographer, cook and soulmate, Doug Salin. And you. Of that ramble, says Kim, “It would have been bizarre if we’d seen nothing that enchanted us. The truth is that the land is still the place that has inspired writers, visual artists and sages of many generations. Face to face, in the diners and poetry venues, we still have more in common than we might like to believe. From Shreveport clawing together its aspirational…

    Sunday, November 20 – 4 pm – free – byob Kim Shuck hosts a reading to celebrate the new Beat Not Beat anthology Kim writes: Beat Not Beat is a collection of poems from poets Beat, Beat adjacent and parallel styles of writing. Many contemporary California writers benefit from literary stands taken by those writers who were designated Beat. This book features some of these. Kim and Beat Not Beat editor Rich Ferguson, up from L.A., will be joined by contributors Tongo Eisen-Martin, Marc Olmsted, Richard Modiano. V. Vale, Julie Rogers, Jessica Loos, Cassandra Dallett, Paul Corman-Roberts. Richard Loranger, Kitty Costello, Charlie Getter, Kelly Gray. K.R. Morrison. Wow. Sunday, November 20 – 7:30 pm – $20 – BYOB Rob Reich / Beth Goodfellow Trio with Ben Goldberg on clarinet and Dan Fabricant on bass Just days ahead of his appearance with the San Francisco Symphony supplying the accordion…

Daniel Fabricant on bass + Ben Goldberg on clarinet tonight! BYOB and a twenty for the band. Or donate & watch it in the stream on our facebook page or youtube channel! Rob Reich is quintessentially what makes the San Francisco music scene a vibrant and vital mecca for independent music; he’s become one of its stalwart underground artists. His music defies genre, combining strong melodic ideas, rhythmic drive, and a spirit of irreverence and experimentation. He is best known for his work with Tin Hat, Gaucho, and Circus Bella. Elizabeth Goodfellow, now based in Los Angeles, has been a long-time collaborator with Reich.  Beth grew up in Northern California’s San Joaquin Valley and started playing drums at age eleven at local harvest festivals. Her first professional drumming job was playing in the Air Force National Guard Band of the West Coast while studying classical percussion performance at San Jose…