Julie Rogers is the author of three Omerta Publications chapbooks published pre-Covid that will be released on this occasion: Trading Fours and Sharing Breath, both written with her late husband, poet David Meltzer; and her own volume, Life on Earth. Her other books include House of the Unexpected, and “Instructions for the Transitional State.”  Two Tone Poetry & Jazz, a cd recorded with David Meltzer and saxophonist Zan Stewart, will also be available. Julie teaches creative writing and is the Director of TLC Transitional Life Care. Find her at www.julrogers.com. Peter Marti graduated from SF State University, studied at the Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics. was a member of the San Francisco-based poetry collective Birthstone in the ’70s, was a rock n roll singer in ’80s, and was part of the Wordland performance poetry group in the ’90s. He was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2002 and has been…

Ray Skjelbred, piano Marc Caparone, trumpet Clint Baker, bass Jeff Hamilton, drums $20 cash cover charge at the door Doors open at 7:20pm for the 7:30pm show BYOB and a mask Can’t make it to the shop? Nothing’s like the real thing live! But if you want to catch it in the stream, look for it on our YouTube channel or our Facebook page. Donate to support the musicians! Chicago-born, Seattle-based pianist Ray Skjelbred returns to Bird & Beckett in the company of like-minded friends — three of the very best players the California trad scene has to offer. You’re in for an evening steeped in early Chicago style jazz on a rich program of originals and classic material. Wherever he’s been heard, Ray has been held in very high regard for the past five decades. His facility and imagination are unmatched, and his influences run deep — artists including…

Catch some jazz on the eve of the 4th! San Francisco’s august Mission District institution, the Community Music Center, is sending a group coached by reed player Charlie Gurke for a 5pm set on Sunday July 3rd, to be followed at 6pm with a jam session open to students and budding professionals led by famed drummer Akira Tana, with Keith Saunders on piano and Eric Markowitz on bass. The Community Music Center has been a font of great local jazz musicians for generations–and has been teaching San Franciscans of all ages from all walks of life for one hundred years. The CMC ensemble, coached by reed player Charlie Gurke, on July 3rd will include: Brian Wood – alto sax Justin Willow – trombone  Patrick Gallagher – piano Paul Yago – bass Wen-Hao Lue – drums Next month, on August 7th, another CMC ensemble will take the stage. That one is…

New York comes to Bird & Beckett tonight! Richie Vitale, trumpet star, plays with local heroes Keith Saunders, piano; Eric Markowitz, bass; and Ron Marabuto, drums. Trust Keith and Ron…you want to hear this jazzman. Doors open at 7:20 for the 7:3-9:30 show. $20 cash cover charge at the door. Call to reserve a seat – 415-586-3733. BYOB and a mask! Can’t make it down to the shop for the show. You can find it streamed live on our youtube channel and facebook page. Born in Rochester, New York, on September 23 (also John Coltrane’s birthday), Richard Vitale played with drummer Philly Joe Jones at the early age of sixteen. After moving to New York City, Richie performed with jazz luminaries Joe Williams, Barry Harris, Joe Morello and Sal Nistico, with Johnny Mathis and Tony Bennett, and with Sting and James Taylor. His experience with big bands has been no…

Dan Neville, vibes Brian Andres, drums Erick Peralta, piano Aaron Germain, bass Javier Cabanillas, congas $25 cash cover charge byob and a mask doors open at 7:20 for the 7:30 show Live streamed on our facebook page and youtube channel. Dan Neville fields an all-star Latin combo this time out at Bird &  Beckett. Over the past several years, he’s brought many diverse projects to Bird & Beckett and has made several extended trips to Colombia and Cuba, studying music and connecting with musicians worldwide. Highlights include studying with the Colombian legend Diego Obregón in 2018 and 2020; in 2020, he spent an entire year helping build a recording studio, recording various ensembles, writing music and collaborating. Dan was featured on the radio in Guantanamo, Cuba in January of 2019 with his album Tenerife. Dan has spearheaded two successful crowdfunding campaigns: One for the release of his debut album Tenerife…

Drummer Vince Lateano leads the session with Peter Barshay on bass and Ben Stolorow on piano. A lot of great players have come out of San Francisco. Get in their number. Before the saints coming marching in! No fee to play. Audience, bring a $20 to help us pay the rhythm section. BYOB    

Evidence Trio is an improvisational group whose points of reference are free jazz, dark ambient, and radio emissions from the early universe. Andrew Joron, theremin Kersti Abrams, sax and flute Thomas Harrison. electric bass Joining the bill is Ava Koohbor, Iranian-American electronic musician, visual artist and poet. Visit her website at avakoohborarts.com for samples of her audio and other work. Ava’s poetry publications include the chapbook, Triangle Squared  (Bootstrap Press, Letterpress Editions #1, 2014) and the book Death Under Construction (Ugly Duckling Presse / Bird & Beckett Ensemble Edition, 2019). Andrew Joron will also be introducing his novel O0 (Black Square Editions, 2022), a work of speculation, probing the unknowable. “In Andrew Joron’s O0, two novellas brilliantly intersect. Through a unique reworking of various New Wave sci-fi tropes, space-time is transmuted into ‘reshuffled narrative pathways, a collage of illogical facades and stairways that end in mid-air,’ leaving readers in the…

Eric Shifrin brings a Latin touch to the bandstand tonight, in a long-standing trio with bassist Paul Smith and drummer Raul Ramirez. $20 cover (cash, please!); doors open at 7:20 for the 7:30 show.  Bring a mask and something to drink, if you like. You’re in for a delightful evening of music. Catch it in our live stream if you can’t make it into the shop, but you really don’t want to miss the real thing, in real time, in person. Eric Shifrin learned piano as a child on his mother’s lap and turned professional right out of high school, gigging on both alto sax and piano to earn his bread and butter. He was composing and recording from the start, put in time on cruise ships, spent crucial years in Japan and by the 1990s was rooted in the Bay Area, where his movable feast of music embodied in…

Drummer Tony Johnson brings in a quartet on the fourth Friday of each month. Tonight it’s the 230 Jones Street Band, with Charlie McCarthy, saxophone & flute; Glen Deardorff, guitar and Al Obidinski, bass. Four veteran jazz players, and long-time friends, swingin’. $20 cash cover charge; byob & a mask. Find the live stream on Bird & Beckett’s YouTube channel or Facebook page, and donate if you possibly can to support the musicians, the music and the venue! Tony hit San Francisco in 1959, fresh off the boat from his native Australia, ready and raring to go. He got busy in the North Beach clubs right away, recorded in 1960 with vocalist Bev Kelly in a combo with legendary saxophonist Pony Poindexter, pianist Flip Nunez and bassist Johnny Allen at the Coffee Gallery on Grant Street, played behind Bobby Short at the Hungry I. Tony played on the Ed Sullivan…

Guitarist Ed Cherry is in town briefly and brings a trio into Bird & Beckett with Adam Shulman on piano and Owen Clapp on bass. Call for reservations – 415-586-3733; limited seating. $20 cash cover charge. BYOB and a mask. Doors open at 7:20pm for the 7:30pm show. Ed Cherry moved to New York from New Haven, Connecticut in 1978 to play guitar with Dizzy Gillespie from 1978 to 1992 performing in Gillespie’s quartet and big band, and with Diz’s United Nation Orchestra, which recorded the 1989 Grammy Award-winning lp, “Live at Royal Festival Hall,” for Enja Records. Ed was with Gillespie’s group in San Francisco for an SFJAZZ date in 1991 on a bill opened by saxophonist Mel Martin’s Big Band — here’s a clip from Gillespie joining the Martin band for a take on Manteca that night, with Vince Lateano and John Santos in the band. Diz died…

None will dispute the notion that Dr. Legato, the multi-instrumentalist Noel Jewkes, has been in the top echelon of jazz players in the region for five decades. Noel is known for his swing and the cool elegance of his work on all manner of reeds, as well as piano and a few more instruments besides. He draws the best from any rhythm section and draws the best rhythm section players around to share the stage and make some beautiful music. Tonight’s quartet, with Grant Levin on piano, Chris Amberger on bass and David Rokeach on drums, will offer up a generous scattering of gems from the jazz canon and some beautifully polished Jewkes originals. With Kay Kostopolous contributing her sultry vocal talents, this will be a lovely evening for all. $20-30 sliding scale cash cover charge, please! B&B is a “Guaranteed Fair Wage” establishment. Coming to the show? BYOB and…

Paul Combs, saxophone Ken Cook, piano Doug Miller, bass Alex Aspinall, drums A night of obscure Dameronia presented and performed by the Paul Combs Quartet. Tadd Dameron was a cornerstone of late 1940s jazz, contributing key compositions to the jazz canon including “Good Bait,” “Our Delight,” “Hot House,” “Lady Bird,” and “If You Could See Me Now.” Here’s a link to a good biographical sketch: http://www.bluenote.com/artist/tadd-dameron/ Saxophonist, educator and jazz historian Paul Combs has done prodigious work — a true labor of love — bringing a huge number of little known Tadd Dameron compositions to light in recent years, evidenced by Paul’s recent cd, “Unknown Dameron: Rare and Never Recorded Works of Tadd Dameron” and his book Dameronia: The Life and Music of Tadd Dameron. Visit Paul’s site for much additional information: paulcombs.com If you can’t make it in person, you’ll find a live stream on Bird & Beckett Facebook…

Guitarist Scott Foster always cooks up a good show on the third Friday of each month. This month, he’s invited multi-instrumentalist Danny Bittker to help assemble a quintet and to call the tunes. Danny plays saxophones, clarinet and steel pan on this date, joined by Zach Pitt-Smith on sax and flute, Greg Nottage acoustic and electric bass, and Dan Foltz on drums, with Lee Heuermann on vocals! $20 cash cover charge at the door. Doors open at 7:20 for the 7:30 show. Reservations: 415-586-3733 BYOB and a mask. If you can’t make it in person, you’ll find a live stream on Bird & Beckett Facebook page and YouTube channel. Donate per the instructions on the screen if you can afford to support live music and the great local musicians who play it for you!

The Glen Park merchants celebrate the neighborhood with a FREE BEER! party on the third Thursday of every third month, and this month, the guest of honor & delight is Tony from Critter Fritters. No live stream, no cover charge! Just come down to the shop & party with your neighbors! Tony is a neighborhood icon of the first water, one of the jewels in the Glen Park tiara! And what would your darling pets do without him, we ask! And the trio tonight is a great one! Groove merchant Larry Vann is a Bird & Beckett favorite, whether it’s with his own long-standing trio with Tim Landis on guitar and Michael Warren on bass, or in his frequent dates with the New Squatoolas and other great bands. He’s a Bay Area legend with a storied history in the biz. And he is, in fact, the Groove Merchant! Tonight, Adam…