Call us if you want to be notified when a new date is set. Poet, educator, humanitarian Jorge Argueta, a proud son of El Salvador and San Francisco, has dozens of books to his credit — books of his poems, books of poetry, culture and life philosophy for children… He also operates Luna Books in the Excelsior. And he maintains a safe space, a library for children, in San Salvador, traveling incessantly in all directions, delivering messages of love and hope to children and their families. He is one of the greatest treasures of our time.     His new book, a book for children — Caravan to the North: Misael’s Long Walk, with art by Manuel Monroy — is a beautiful book, full of humanity and hope. Yuyi Morales, acclaimed author and illustrator of Dreamers, has said, “I was sitting next to Jorge as he was finishing Caravan to…

“The only war is the war on the imagination” – Diane di Prima Tehmina Khan, Priscilla Wathington, Farzaneh Safavi, Beau Beausoleil, Walker Brents III and Jerry Ferraz read poems in commemoration of the March 5, 2007 destruction by car bomb of Al-Mutanabbi Street, Baghdad’s bookseller’s street, named for the 10th century Iraqi poet. This tragedy, in which 26 died and a great many bookshops and stalls were decimated, marked a sad and vivid turn in the second Iraq war, which began with the American invasion in 2003. Ever since that event, with the motto “Al-Mutanabbi Street starts here,” poets, writers and artists across the world have sought to show solidarity with the Iraqi people by endeavoring to keep the memory of that terrible event alive through their words and art. Readings are being staged far and wide on March 5th and the days immediately around it, in which many of…

$20 suggested donation; any amount appreciated Matt Renzi – saxophone, clarinet, English horn Jessica Ivry – cello John Wiitala – bass Tim Bulkley – drums Arm-Sized Legging is a project consisting of woodwinds (saxophone, clarinet, english horn), cello, bass, and drums, playing a repertoire of all original compositions. The music explores textures and colors, as well as various sonorities of the distinct instrumentation. Although many parts are written out, there is also plenty of room for improvisation; the group utilizes both free-form and traditional song forms as the basis of collective soloing. “In 48 minutes of music, Matt Renzi says more than most sax players will say in a lifetime.” –Blaine Fallis, All About Jazz “Renzi is an adept and lyrical player, possessed of a fertile melodic imagination and an intense musicality.” — Chris Kelsey, Jazz Times “Whatever instrument he plays, tenor, clarinet, oboe, flute, or english horn, Matt is…

On Leap Day 2020, celebrate jazz in San Francisco at Bird & Beckett! Support the organizations that support the musicians! 2020 is a leap year, and leap day, February 29, 2020, is a Saturday. What better day to set aside for a celebration of your local bookshop cum jazz club… and its ally Jazz in the Neighborhood. We’ll up the ante and also celebrate the formation of a new organization cooked up by Mario at Jazz in the Neighborhood and Eric at Bird & Beckett, the Independent Musicians Alliance! Three shows in a row, starting at 2pm with the Tammy Lynne Hall Trio, followed at 4:30 by Mario Guarneri’s own band, called “tbd_a quartet” and concluding at 7:30pm with the Mads Tolling Trio All the advanced sale tickets are sold out, but we’ll squeeze quite a few more folks in at the show. Click on the links below for the…

Community Music Center instructors and students present a wide-ranging program to celebrate Chinese New Year and the Year of the Rat. The opening set will include a gamut of music from Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. The second set will feature a jazz ensemble led by pianist Randy Craig, featuring, among others, reed player Ken Rosen and bassist Richard Saunders. One of San Francisco’s most crucial cultural institutions, CMC has been providing low and no-cost lessons to San Francisco residents for 100 years.

$20 suggested/sliding scale available. Talk about your San Francisco jazz… On the fourth Friday of each month, our weekly jazz in the bookshop series features The 230 Jones Street, Local 6 Literary Jazz Band — in direct line of descent from the Chuck Peterson Trio, which started the whole “jazz in the bookshop” thing 17 years ago. These five musicians  — Ray Loeckle, tenor sax; Jerry Logas, bari sax, clarinet, flute, vocals; Glen Deardorff, guitar; Dean Reilly, bass; Tony Johnson, drums — have all put in decades of work on the local jazz scene, dating back to the early 1950s. The band was originally formed by multi-instrumentalist Chuck Peterson (tenor sax, baritone sax, flute), who was a union activist particularly in his prime years (the 1950s and 1960s) and throughout his career, hence his nod to the address of Local 6 of the American Federation of Musicians, where he and…

Gigging jazz musicians convened in a “town hall” discussion at the bookshop on February 25th to discuss the prospects for an “Independent Musicians Alliance” – a solidarity organization without dues or meetings – to encourage a free flow of information among musicians that might facilitate collective action seeking overall improvement in wages, benefits and working conditions for working artists across a range of workplaces. The IMA idea is the brainchild of Mario Guarneri, founder and artistic director of Jazz in the Neighborhood, with the input and cooperation of Eric Whittington from Bird & Beckett, and the two seek to push it into being with this February 25th brainstorming session and a benefit at the bookshop on February 29th. (A town hall meeting at the Flight Deck in Oakland earlier this month on February 5th brought musicians, promoters and experts in law and arts advocacy together for an initial consideration of…

$20 suggested donation; pay what you can. Grant Levin, piano Giulio Xavier Cetto, bass Genius Wesley, drums Pianist Grant Levin has gained great acclaim on the San Francisco jazz scene since his move here in 2001; since that time, Bird & Beckett has been pleased and honored to present him hundreds of times — and we look forward with great anticipation to his last-Sunday-of-the-month bookings through June. He will field a variety of ensembles, drawing on the wealth of fantastic jazz talent the City proudly boasts, exploring a wide range of material. We’ll accept a limited number of reservations for each date by phone beginning the Monday before the engagement. Should you make a reservation, you’ll need to claim your seat 15 minutes before the show and, please, bring cash! Thanks for your kind understanding and cooperation!

$20 cover charge; sliding scale available On paper, the Pedro Pastrana Ensemble might seem like your traditional jazz quartet, composed of a horn, bass, drums and a chordal instrument, in this case, the cuatro. However, it’s the integration of the cuatro that defines the Ensemble’s unique style, connecting the earthy quality of a folk sound with the sophisticated harmony of modern jazz and the syncopated rhythms of the Caribbean. The Ensemble’s sound is not dominated by either of these genres but is defined by their intersection. Simply put: Tower of Power meets Pat Metheny meets Familia Cepeda meets “Mapeyé” meets Evel Knievel. In order to create this sound, Pedro found the right players in: David Pinto on bass. Known by his work with Susana Baca as musical director and bassist, David brings a sense of stability and center to the band noticeable from the first note he plays. But at…

$20 suggested donation; any amount appreciated For black history month, David Boyce leads the band and audience through a discussion and performance of the history of Black Music in America, and specifically, Jazz. The stories behind the music as it evolved from its New Orleans roots, through the swing era, be bop, hard bop, the sixties revolution and fusion. An evening of discussion and performance touching on these distinct eras and evolutions in the music and, as well, the environment in which the art was growing. David Boyce sax and discussion leader Scott Foster, guitar Charles Thomas, bass Cairo McCockran, drums and percussion        

Triple Book Release Reading for Gossamer Nevele Grimoire, by Derek Fenner (Bird & Beckett); Death Under Construction, by Ava Koohbor (Ugly Ducking Presse/Bird & Beckett); and Resolution of the West, by Nicholas James Whittington (Bootstrap Press) Derek Fenner is an artist, educator, poet, and researcher. He earned his MFA in writing and poetics from the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University. In 2000, with Ryan Gallagher, he co-founded Bootstrap Press, which has published over 40 books by poets across the country. Ava Koohbor is a native Farsi speaker poet and visual artist. Her poems have appeared in various publications. Her chapbooks Triangle Squared (Bootstrap Press) and Sinusoidal Forms (Lew Gallery). Death Under Construction is her first full collection of poetry in English. She believes that each artist is a medium to transfer the world of possibilities to what is. Nicholas James Whittington is a poet, scholar, educator, editor, printer, and publisher born and raised in San Francisco. Recent chapbooks include Provisions (PUSH Press, 2017) and Indefinite Sessions (Gas Meter Books, 2016). Resolution of the West (Bootstrap Press,…

Kimi Sugioka’s brand new Manic D Press poetry book is Wile & Wing. Anne Waldman said, “Kimi Sugioka is a poet with a lot of guises: maternal, witchy, passionate, detached observer…She moves through the female cycle confidently, poised, strong in her observance and power.” Born in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and raised in Berkeley, California, Kimi Sugioka is a poet, songwriter, and educator. She performs her work frequently throughout the Bay Area. She has worked in public education for decades, and earned her BA from San Francisco State University and MFA from the Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado. Born and raised in San Francisco, CA, Thea Matthews earned her BA in Sociology from UC Berkeley, where she studied and taught June Jordan’s Poetry for the People. She is a published poet / scholar / activist who writes on the complexities of humanity, grief, and resiliency.