Layers of mythic history teased out by Walker Brents III in his monthly talk on topics mythological, poetical, philosophical and otherwise. A recording of Walker’s 11/24/21 talk on Taoist tales can be found at this link. Bird & Beckett’s livestreams can be heard on our YouTube channel or Facebook page.

Bring a poem to the zoom! Kim Shuck, San Francisco’s 7th Poet Laureate, 2019-2021, MCs and keeps it real! The New Jersey poet William Carlos Williams wrote, It is difficult to get the news from poems yet men die miserably every day for lack of what is found there. San Francisco’s first poet laureate, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, noted, “Poetry is news from the frontiers of consciousness. Poetry is what we would cry out upon awakening in a dark wood in the middle of the journey of our life. Poetry is white knights and mouths of desire. Poetry is the street talk of angels and devils.” Bird and Beckett Online Open Mic Mon Nov 22, 2021 7pm – 9pm Pacific Time Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84350265713?pwd=eE84V3BYdWxiSFBHNHhmdUt1WTUzdz09 (Passcode 244211) Thanks for your poetry!

An evening of songs from and about movies, sampling silent films, cult classics, Japanese anime, and flicks that don’t yet exist (but should). Oakland-based contralto Amy Kessler has performed in opera, jazz, experimental theater, radio, symphonies, churches, and many backyards. Her love of film music and her hatred of standard recital repertoire have combined to produce REELING, in collaboration with the legendary J. Raoul Brody. The legendary Joshua Raoul Brody is probably best known these days for sitting at home and watching the leaves change. Prior to that, he was best known for his work accompanying improvisational theater (BATS Improv, Robin Williams), non-improvisational theater (literally several “one-man shows so big they take two guys, a gal, and a six-pack of beer to do them” with Merle “Ian Shoales” Kessler, and some of The Residents’ projects), non-theater (Orchestra Nostalgico, Amy Kessler, Tom Waits), and community service (Beatles Thingy). His band, the…

Larry Ochs returns to the Bird & Beckett stage, where he’s been heard with Rova and in his duo with drummer Don Robinson. Tonight, he’s invited Gerald Cleaver, drums; and Tim Perkis, electronics. Close your eyes and open your ears. You’re in for a fine ride. “Ochs’ full-bodied tenor is out of the John Coltrane/Albert Ayler ‘free’ tradition: forceful, passionate… talking-in-tongues.” –East Bay Express Call to reserve seats: (415) 586-3733. $20 cash cover charge; proof of vaccination, masks, please. BYOB. Doors open at 7:20pm; show at 7:30pm. Live streamed on our YouTube channel and Facebook page. If you watch it there, you’re still patronizing the artists & the venue. Donate! Culture ain’t free. Should it be? Search your soul, then look for your debit card. You’ll be better for it. And the artists will eat a bit better.

Bob Kenmotsu subbed for Charlie McCarthy this time out, joining Tony, Al and Glen on the bandstand. Both Bob and Charlie are stellar tenor players, so no net loss there! Click here to find a recording of the show on our YouTube channel. You’ll can also find past shows on our Facebook page under the “video” or “live” tabs. Plenty to sample! Tony Johnson’s monthly booking at Bird & Beckett is a week early in November, for mildly complicated calendar reasons… So amend your appointment book this month, and whatever you do don’t miss Tony in November — His December booking is bumped to January by Christmas… Ho Ho Humph! Anyway, we’re giving thanks to Tony on the 21st for his music and this fine band. Call for reservations! ~~415.586.3733~~ The place has been filling up a lot lately! Used to finding Scott Foster fielding a band on the third…

Don’t miss this one — the only San Francisco date for this quartet and the final date in a regional tour in support of their brand new album, The Silver Fox. The Arterik Quartet Erik Jekabson, trumpet Art Lande, piano Peter Barshay,  bass Alan Hall, drums Call the bookshop to reserve a seat! 415-586-3733 Doors open ten minutes before showtime. Reservations are highly recommended. Please bring proof of vaccination and a mask, plus $20 cash for the cover charge. BYOB No room in the room, or can’t make it to the show? View the concert in the real time on the bookshop’s youtube channel or facebook page Click here to donate to support the musicians and the live stream Erik Jekabson, Peter Barshay and Alan Hall have all been major figures on the contemporary San Francisco jazz scene for decades; and Art Lande, a Grammy nominee and one of the…

America’s favorite country band, or a hybrid thereof, in America’s favorite bookshop & honky tonk, every second Sunday from now through 2022! Tonight the Seducers and Nashville Honeymoon merge in the moonlight. It’s a Seducers Honeymoon show! Lynne Maes and Hank Maninger bring a satchel of songs & a cauldron of chemistry to the show, while pedal steel guitar master Joe Goldmark, bassist Paul Olguin and the haiku cowboy Ken Owen on drums make it all seem second nature. Tunes from the Nashville Honeymoon songbook and more. From Hank & Lynne’s songs to Joe’s instrumental gems to classics by the Merles Haggard & Travis, Tammy Wynette, Dolly Parton, Waylon Jennings, Hank Williams, George Jones and more, this show is sure to please. If you glimpsed something about a different start time this out, ignore it. We’re solid for a 5pm start tonight. BYOB, and bring a twenty for the band…

Focus on Abortion: Americans Share Their Stories introduces the often-missing and most important voices in the abortion conversation: the voices of those who have experienced abortion, and shows us the faces of the individuals whose stories we hear. “Some doctors who didn’t even know me, didn’t speak to me, didn’t know what I looked like, got to choose my fate.” Roslyn Banish will discuss her book with an in-store audience on Sunday afternoon, November 14, beginning at 3pm sharp. Please call the store at (415) 586-3733 to reserve a seat, as audience size is limited. Proof of vaccination and masks will be required of all in attendance. The event will also be streamed live on Bird & Beckett’s YouTube channel and Facebook page, and archived for later viewing. In Roslyn’s book, sixty-two individuals, each of whom has had an abortion or is close to the abortion experience — including partners,…

Join San Francisco columnist Denise Sullivan for a series of morning discussions with The City’s activists, educators, arts and cultural leaders, as well as lesser-known workers, the everyday people who help make this place we call home, every second Sunday at 10 am, live streamed from Bird & Beckett Books in Glen Park. Find the stream on Bird & Beckett’s YouTube channel or Facebook page. This morning, Denise’s guest is Gail Meadows, co-founder and principal of Meadows-Livingstone School. Meadows-Livingstone School was founded in San Francisco in 1979. In addition to science and math, reading and writing, the curriculum includes African civilization, percussion, dance and singing, genealogy and politics. For over 40 years, over 90 percent of her K-6 students go on to attend and graduate from universities. Read more on the Meadows-Livingstone story in SFLives https://www.sfexaminer.com/news-columnists/a-san-francisco-school-where-black-studies-start-young/ Catch Denise’s conversation with Gail in our live stream at 10am this Sunday on Bird & Beckett’s YouTube channel or Facebook page.

Karl Evangelista – guitar Rei Scampavia – keys Robert Lopez – drums Guitarist Karl Evangelista and experimental trio Grex perform “For Milford Graves,” an original composition commemorating legendary percussionist, educator and multidisciplinary researcher Milford Graves. The program will also feature pieces from Alice Coltrane, Don Cherry and Evangelista’s repertoire of Filipino American music. Evangelista ranks among a new wave of musicians pushing the traditions of jazz and experimental music. Synthesizing the heavy legacy of contemporary improvised music with popular song and 20th century composition, he explores multicultural concepts with sonic intensity and political fervor. To reserve a seat, call the bookshop at 415-586-3733 during store hours, noon to 6pm, Tuesday to Sunday. Doors open ten minutes before showtime. If you have a reservation, you must claim it by 7:30. Once the shows start, we allow anyone waiting for a seat to pay the cover and take what’s available. Please bring proof of…

Eric Nakanishi, saxophone Edward Evans, trumpet Cyrus Campbell, bass Isaac Schwartz, drums Doors open ten minutes before showtime. If you have a reservation, you must claim it by 7:30. As with all of our shows, once the music starts, we allow anyone waiting for a seat to take what’s available. Please bring proof of vaccination and a mask, plus $20 cash for the cover charge. BYOB Can’t get to the shop for the show? Or just can’t get in due to the throng? Catch the live stream on Bird & Beckett’s YouTube channel or Facebook page. Eric Nakanishi is an aspiring artist, saxophonist and composer who was raised in Pleasant Hill, California. He began playing saxophone at age 9 in his local elementary school music program and quickly became interested in swing. Soon he began studying swing privately under the instruction of saxophonist and educator Marcus Goodlow, who would become…

Kim Shuck hosts our twice monthly online poetry reading, every 2nd and 4th Monday. Featured readers precede an open mic on the 2nd Monday, while the 4th Monday reading is all open mic. Watch this space for the zoom invitation. Susan Dambroff is a poet, performer and teacher.  She has published three compilations of poetry. “Memory in Bone,” “Conversations with Trees” and her latest chapbook, “A Chair Keeps the Floor Down”(Finishing Line Press), which dives deeply into her long career as a Special Education teacher. She has been published in many literary journals and anthologies, including Civil Liberties United, Ghosts of the Holocaust, Stoneboat and Essential Truths: The Bay Area in Color and Trauma. She performs throughout the Bay Area in Spoken Duets, a poetic collaboration with Chris Kammler. In the spirit of activism they give voice to the massive injustices of the world. Diane Lee Moomey is a painter and…

The San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Roots, Jazz and American Music (RJAM) program sends another stellar ensemble our way this Sunday! This evening’s combo has been growing strong under the tutelage of local jazz tenor sax titan, Patrick Wolff. Prepare to be stunned by their talents! The SFCM combo will perform a set starting at 5pm, then will clear the way for a set by the Keith Saunders Trio and a jam session led by the trio. Keith Saunders, piano Eric Markowitz, bass     Akira Tana, drums All Bay Area students of the music are invited to participate in the jam session. Sign up at 6pm! Want to just come to hear the musicians? Call to reserve a seat!  415-586-3733 Doors open at 4:50pm for the 5pm show Please bring proof of vaccination and a mask. Free to attend   Free to play! Can’t get to the shop for the show? Catch…

Tammy Lynne Hall is among the premier pianists in the Bay Area, with a richly deserved international reputation and audience. Her playing is steeped in jazz, gospel and classical influences. She is one of our most treasured artists in this music! “A musician who has much to offer in the way of originality, fine technique and a rich, emotional quality that is evident on everything she does. Her playing is warm and persuasive and a listener’s delight.” – Marian McPartland, Piano Jazz Call to reserve a seat!  415-586-3733 Doors open ten minutes before showtime. Please bring proof of vaccination and a mask, plus $20 cash for the cover charge. BYOB   Can’t make it into the shop? We’ll miss you. But you can view it in the stream… on Facebook or YouTube.  Donate if you can. But if it’s a strain, enjoy the music and take heart! Remember us when…

Eric Shifrin, piano Ari Munkres, bass Mark Lee, drums Jazz and pop tunes for the swells and the swindlers. Rueful, insouciant, always swingin’… This is what it’s like on a good night in the penthouses and the dives, and in your little neighborhood bookshop. Can’t make it into the shop? We’ll miss you. But you can view it in the stream… on Facebook or YouTube.  Donate unless you’re broke. If that’s the case, enjoy the music and take heart! Remember us when you’re back in the chips. We love the music and can’t present it without having the community behind us. Thanks! Call to reserve a seat!  415-586-3733 Doors open ten minutes before showtime. Please bring proof of vaccination and a mask, plus $20 cash for the cover charge. BYOB We’re grateful the many individuals in the community who donate to our nonprofit Bird & Beckett Cultural Legacy Project (the…