Turtle Point Press, an independent publisher that has wedded literary excellence to superior design for thirty years, is very excited to bring out a new work of fiction by (former) San Francisco author Jonathan Tel, Scratching the Head of Chairman Mao. Join us for this pre-publication reading and celebration! Read a quick rumination by the author on his book here. Jonathan lived in San Francisco for many years, attended Stanford and now teaches at Stanford Berlin.

Come out and have some fun with us and a mighty little trio! Locomotive Sunflower Darren Johnston, trumpet Wil Blades, organ Jon Arkin, drums 7:30-10pm $30 cover charge

Seven events in the six consecutive days leading into 2020… Thursday, the 26th, saxophonist Dan Blake from Brooklyn with his East Coast collaborators Jarrett Cherner on piano (a transplanted San Franciscan) and the Israeli bassist Haggai Cohen-Milo, plus local hero Hamir Atwal on drums.  Esperanza Spalding has praised Blake for “un-packaging the avant-garde gracefully and soulfully.” Visit his website at http://danielblake.net/. 7:30-9:30pm, $20 cover, BYOB. Next, the 230 Jones Street Band closes out the year’s Friday-after-work “jazz in the bookshop” parties. They’re our sweet and swingin’ legacy band with roots in the Chuck Peterson Trio, which got the ball rolling 17 years ago, in the fall of 2002! We’ve never missed a Friday in all those years, and don’t intend to miss any going forward. Come hear what it’s all about. By donation, contribute what you can! 5:30-8pm. Then, Saturday night, when lights are low, we proudly present pianist Grant…

$20 cover charge; sliding scale available. jazz, as it’s played in San Francisco at the end of the decade! Grant Levin, piano; Danny Brown, tenor sax; Aaron Cohn, bass; Pepe Jacobo, percussion; Mark Lee, drums. Five players among the very best in the business.

Ghost Tour: San Francisco memorializes collective memories of the City’s neighborhoods as an antidote to its rapid gentrification. It aims to rally a community around remembrance and in this way keep “the old San Francisco” alive. Elina Ansary has created two sections so far: one for Dolores Park and one for Bernal Hill. Each section consists of a small sculpture and an accompanying zine, an illustrated anthology of memories about the place on which it centers. Elina was born and raised in Bernal Heights. She now lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. Learn more here.

  $20 suggested donation; contribute what you can. 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 — comprising five consummate jazz musicians whose individual histories on the local jazz scene date back to the 1950s & ’60s. Ray Loeckle, tenor sax Jerry Logas, baritone sax, clarinet, flute and vocals Duncan James, guitar (subbing this evening for Glen Deardorff) Dean Reilly, bass Tony Johnson, drums 230 Jones Street carries on a jazz tradition at Bird & Beckett that began in 2002 when these players’ long-time friend and bandstand colleague, Chuck Peterson, inaugurated our weekly Friday-after-work jazz party. 17 years now, with never a missed Friday! Chuck’s in retirement now up in Santa Rosa, but this is his legacy band, and it swings on mightily every fourth Friday at Bird…

$20 cover charge; sliding scale available ($10 suggested for musicians, students, limited income) From New York, Daniel Blake, saxophone, leads a quartet in an NYC-SF Jazz Summit, with Jarrett Cherner, piano & Haggai Cohen Milo, bass also traveling in from the east, joined by our own Hamir Atwal, drums. Read Dan’s bio and hear samples of his music on his website. Esperanza Spalding has praised Dan for “un-packaging the avant-garde gracefully and soulfully.” A much admired composer as well as bandleader, collaborator and soloist, he has played internationally with Spalding, Julian Lage, Anthony Braxton, Kenny Werner, and many others, and has released several albums, starting with “The Party Suite” in 2006 and including acclaimed “The Aquarian Suite” (2012) and “The Digging” (2016). Here’s an August 2018 performance in Mt. Kisco, NY, an hour north of Manhattan, by Dan with The Digging, his working trio with bassist Dmitry Ishenko and drummer…

Steve Freund, guitar Joe Kyle, Jr., bass Pete Devine, drums $20 suggested donation Guitarist, producer and bandleader Steve Freund, praised by Rolling Stone for his “masterful, no-nonsense guitar work,” continues to share his feeling for the blues wherever he can. Developing his love for American roots music, including blues and jazz, in Brooklyn during the 1960’s, Steve moved to Chicago after meeting the legendary pianist and singer Sunnyland Slim, in 1969 at a show in Greenwich Village. Slim told Steve to “look me up when you come to Chicago.” That is exactly what the young guitarist did, arriving in 1976 and staying until 1994. During that period Freund played an average of 200 shows per year, with many being two or even three gigs a day. The list of blues masters he has worked with includes Sunnyland Slim, James Cotton, Big Walter Horton, Koko Taylor, Floyd Jones, Luther Allison, and…

Bastet:  Justin Rock – Guitar, Giulio Xavier Cetto – Bass, Mike Quigg – Drums CHIVES:  Steven Lugerner – Woodwinds, Matthew Wohl – Bass, Max Jaffe – Drums Find Bastet’s brand spanking new “At the Age of Zero” at Slow & Steady Records and CHIVES’ three albums to date here Read about them in the press Hear them at Bird & Beckett 12/21! Two bands, $20 cover _______________________ Led by guitarist Justin Rock, Bastet takes the art of improvisation and the art of the trio into edgy, unfiltered territory. The “grunge-jazz” or “grazz” trio brings Rock’s distinct compositional voice to life, featuring Bay Area stalwarts Giulio Xavier Cetto on bass and Mike Quigg on drums. The trio’s contagious onstage chemistry comes from years playing and touring together, as well as its welcoming spirits, bringing listeners into its exploratory, at times time-bending ambiance. With four albums to date, and on the verge of…

Jack Tone Riordan, guitar Grant Levin, piano Matt Montgomery, bass James Gallagher, drums Jazz as it’s played in San Francisco in 2019! $20 cover charge; sliding scale available

Scroll down the home page for a blow by blow… then blow in here & hear ’em blow! We are so very lucky to be living in America at the end of 2019! Really! Despite its obvious shortcomings… Happy holidays!

$20 suggested donation; any amount appreciated Eric Shifrin, piano and vocals, leads this incarnation of the In Crowd featuring Rick Elmore on trombone, Bing Nathan on bass, Randy Lee Odell on drums and special guest vocalist Emily Hayes! The In Crowd’s upbeat kit bag of semi-obscure and totally precious swing, latin and blues tunes will be augmented for this holiday concert to include selections which honor the memory of the irreplaceable Ralph Carney. Eric and Ralph formed a band called EaR Candy which performed several times at Bird and Beckett before Ralph’s untimely death two years ago. Ralph’s unique voice has been sorely missed in the Bay Area. All of the musicians in this evening’s ensemble enjoyed much collaboration with him over the years. The Guaranteed Fair Wage Fund’s subsidy of this date allows us to pay a “fair wage” of $150 per musician today, double our regular guarantee on…

You figure him out! Here are some hints: http://www.jimbotrout.com/ $20 suggested donation; any amount appreciated