Wendy brings her trio back to Bird & Beckett for a fresh take on the boogie woogie. Guaranteed pleasure & good times! With Takezo Takeda on guitar and Kirk Harwood on drums. Come down to Bird & Beckett for a grand time. Doors open at 7:20 for the 7:30 show; be sure to byob (and glass) and take your empty with you when you go, if you please. Masks optional if you’re vaccinated. $20 cash cover charge requested View our live streams on our YouTube channel and our Facebook page. $10 to view the show online (or pay what your economics allow) at this link We pay a “guaranteed fair wage” of $150 to each musician performing in our Friday and Saturday evening live streams and you are the first ones we look to in order to get that money together, so please do what you can! We are extremely grateful as well…

Poet/Educator/Activist Tongo Eisen-Martin, San Francisco Poet Laureate, hosts six individuals who we’re proud to present in the shop tonight. Audience welcome. A live stream will carry the event for those not comfortable venturing out, whether due to dark of night, lack of transit or any other reason. But rest assured, the in-person experience will be rewarding indeed, for you and for the artists. View the live stream here! ——————————- $10-20 sliding scale cover charge cash at the door byob&glass: please pack it in/pack it out. please wear a mask if you’re unvaccinated, otherwise, relax and know you’re welcome here! $5-10 donation requested to view the livestream: youtube / fb no one turned away for lack of funds, but please do what you can to help us compensate the artists and sound engineer! donate here ——————————- jxtheo (j-thee-o), also known as Jean (JT) Teodoro, is an environmentalist, proletarian internationalist, poet and…

Pepe Jacobo Quartet Bob Crawford, piano Jason Muscat, bass Carlos Caro, congas Pepe Jacobo, drum set and percussion Doors open at 7:20 for the 7:30 shows. $20 cover, cash, payable at the door. BYOB and BYOglass, and please pack out what you bring in! No masks required if fully vaccinated. Pepe Jacobo is an ebullient master of many musical genres, as reflected by the diversity of the groups he plays with including the Jorge Santana Band, the Latin Funk band Mas Cabeza, the Latin jazz group Caliente 2000 and the world music group Volcan. He holds a Diploma in Music from the University of Costa Rica, has studied with Stewart Mars, and has taken private classes with Antoni Saroni, Pete Magadini and many others. Pepe creates and performs original music on guitar and percussion; his teaching emphasizes the mathematics of time signatures, music therapy, scales, chords, open tones and fun.…

Avotcja’s Almost 80 Birthday Concert 2 sets of poetry and music Set 1: Avotcja with Carlos Reyes on Paraguayan Harp & Flute Set 2: Acotcja with the Genius Wesley Trio LIVE STREAMED FROM THE SHOP — NO AUDIENCE TONIGHT A major poet and writer in many genres. A devotee of beautiful music, particularly from the afro-caribbean traditions. A long-time dj on KPFA & KPOO. A champion of culture and 2015 Jazz Hero.   12th ANNUAL BERKELEY POETRY FESTIVAL LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 2014 S.F. FILIPINO AMERICAN JAZZ FESTIVAL LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 2014 JAZZ JOURNALISTS ASSOCIATION “JAZZ HERO” AWARD 2015 PEN OAKLAND LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 2015 BLACK MEDIA APPRECIATION NIGHT LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 2015 “THE JaZzLine INSTITUTE” BAJABA (Bay Area Blues & Jazz Artists) AWARD 2015 BAY BLUES SOCIETY HALL OF FAME JAZZ GROUP OF THE YEAR for her group, Modupue, twice: in 2005 and 2010 PEN OAKLAND “ADELLE FOLEY AWARD” for…

Larry De La Cruz, saxophone Jim Peterson, saxophone Scott Foster, guitar Decades of shared history on the San Francisco jazz scene Good times, great music Doors open 7:20pm Music at 7:30pm $20 cash at the door BYOB / BYOGlass Pack it in / Pack it out No food in the shop just yet, thanks! Also live on Facebook   and   YouTube $10 donation for the live stream

Walker Brents III delves into diverse subjects in a monthly sequence of talks. Tonight, he holds the 16th century adventurer Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca to the light. Ultimately, Núñez Cabeza de Vaca was one of just four survivors of the Narváez expedition, which set out from Spain in 1527 with five ships and 600 soldiers, sailors and colonists. That number was diminished by a third in the Caribbean before reaching the Florida Gulf Coast, and was halved again by the time Núñez, commanding one of two improvised boats each with 40 men, came ashore on the coast at what is now Galveston, Texas and set off into the dessicated expanses that some think of as the American Southwest, others as Northern Mexico and others as unceded indigenous land. Soon, only 15 men remained, and then four, and for four years they lived out the destiny of Narváez’s commission.  Núñez…

$20 cover charge, cash at the door; byob.     $10 online donation requested for the live stream – youtube / fb

Mike Olmos, trumpet Javier Santiago, piano Giulio Xavier Cetto, bass Ben Esposito, drums Mike Olmos is one of the towering legends of San Francisco jazz! Javier Santiago and Giulio Xavier Cetto are two of its top players! And young Ben Esposito is coming on strong. Drummer Ben Esposito is a Bay Area native, born and raised in Alameda. He was a college freshman studying music education and performance at Chicago’s DePaul University when the pandemic hit, and had been playing weekly at a Baptist Church on Chicago’s South side as well as working with the great guitarist Bobby Broom and bassist Dennis Carroll. He came back home to the Bay Area and soon got busy playing outdoors at Lake Merritt in Oakland working with great players, both budding talents and seasoned pros (like the three with him on this gig), to raise money for social justice causes. Read more about…

Milestones! Bird & Beckett: 21 years in business The Proprietor: 65 years on the planet The Concert! (catch it in our live stream) THE SCOTT FOSTER QUINTET Scott Foster, guitar Mike Olmos, trumpet Joe Cohen, tenor saxophone Charles Thomas, bass Jeff Marrs, drums View our live streams on our YouTube channel and our Facebook page. No audiences in the shop just yet. $20 suggested donation or pay what your economics allow at this link We pay a “guaranteed fair wage” of $150 to each musician performing in our Friday and Saturday evening live streams and you are the first ones we look to in order to get that money together, so please do what you can! We are extremely grateful as well to the many individuals in the community who donate to our nonprofit Bird & Beckett Cultural Legacy Project (the “BBCLP”) to help us build up the general fund from which we…

Join San Francisco columnist Denise Sullivan for a series of morning discussions with The City’s arts and cultural leaders and 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. This morning, Denise will engage artist and arts & community networker Anna Lisa Escobedo in a conversation on arts and accessibility in a post-pandemic environment. As a muralist, Anna Lisa Escobedo tells the stories of her communities. And from Calle 24 to the California Historical Society and Yerba Buena Center For The Arts, by connecting visual artists, poets and musicians to resources, Escobedo contributes to a more inclusive model for museums and cultural institutions. Working through the pandemic to create safe, outdoor access to the arts for participants and observers, Escobedo will address how we’re doing and where we’re going with…

Click here to view & hear the Grant Levin Quartet at Bird & Beckett, June 12, 2021 Grant’s back! Grant Levin, a uniquely talented jazz pianist, has  been in as a sideman a couple of times in the past few months, but those have been rare opportunities to catch him here since the pandemic kicked in. Tonight marks his return to Bird & Beckett as the leader of a jazz combo, and what a combo it is! Dawan Muhammad, saxophone Grant Levin, piano Giulio Xavier Cetto, bass Jaz Sawyer, drums View our live streams on our YouTube channel and our Facebook page. No audiences in the shop just yet. Grand experiment tonight: Buy a $15 ticket to the Facebook Live event or watch it on YouTube by donation and pay what your economics allow $5 to $25 suggested donation! We pay a “guaranteed fair wage” of $150 to each musician performing in…

As we begin to emerge from the pandemic, we once again are pleased to present the Michael Zilber Quartet! Four major talents on one bookshop stage. Michael Zilber, saxophone Matt Clark, piano Peter Barshay, bass Jeff Marrs, drums ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ It was Michael’s appearance on our stage for an audience of several on March 13, 2020 that launched our first tentative steps toward the Bird & Beckett live stream. Check this little facebook live test, shot by our own Angie Bennett on a borrowed iPhone. We made do with that approach until Nico Mesa came along and set us up with our current gear and Angie moved over to become a remarkably talented sound engineer. The live streams are much more beautiful to view and listen to now, though the musicianship, spirit and soul have always been there. All along, we’ve kept it going, week…

Join us in funky soulville this Saturday night! Todd Swenson, guitar Derek Evans, vocals Ian Ratzer, piano Paul Olguin, bass Larry Vann, drums Here’s a little something that Derek & Todd were just cooking up for Saturday. Click here for This Side Up at Club Deluxe in June 2019, with Ken Owen on drums. And here’s a taste of a stripped down trio version of This Side Up in our live stream last September, with Larry Vann on drums and Angie Bennett on the board:   View our live streams on our YouTube channel and our Facebook page. No audiences in the shop just yet. $20 suggested donation or pay what your economics allow at this link We pay a “guaranteed fair wage” of $150 to each musician performing in our Friday and Saturday evening live streams and you are the first one we look to in order to get that money together,…

San Francisco Poet Laureate Tongo Eisen-Martin plus percussionist Ahkeel Mestayer ~~Two sets of poetry & percussion~~ Crucial words and beats for our times ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ We encourage you to read more about our poet laureate at this link and to seek out his works, his readings and his books https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/tongo-eisen-martin ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ View our live streams on our YouTube channel and our Facebook page. No audiences in the shop just yet. $10-20 suggested donation Pay what your economics allow at this link We pay a “guaranteed fair wage” of $150 to each of the artists performing in our live streams and you are the first one we look to in order to get that money together, so please do what you can! We are extremely grateful as well to the many individuals in the community who donate to our nonprofit Bird & Beckett…

    San Francisco native daughter Annette A Aguilar is flying home from NYC for a family visit, and brings together a passel of great musicians from around the Bay including her brother Ricky Aguilar plus Anthony Blea, Murray Low, Gary Brown and a couple special guests for two special sets of music streamed live and direct to your living room! So ice your favorite libation, push the furniture back for dancing & make sure you have your streaming device hooked up to a pair of nice speakers to do justice to the music & musicianship  we’re offering you on this Memorial Day weekend out of Glen Park, San Francisco, California — the jazz center of the universe! You just might want to invite the neighbors! But if you do make the live stream your party music, make sure you take up a collection to push through the interwires via…