653 Chenery Street
in San Francisco's Glen Park neighborhood
1-415-586-3733
[email protected]
Open to walk-in trade and browsing
Tuesday to Sunday
noon to six
Live Streams every weekend!
Refresh your browser to catch a show in progress!
Visit our Facebook page or YouTube channel!
But nothing beats being in the room with the music & the musicians!
$20 cover charge; $10 for students/musicians/low income Kwela-kwela is the lively music of Cape Town, South Africa that originated in the 1950s, centering on the pennywhistle and fusing South African tribal/folk music of the 40s and 50s and the original music of Malawi, with plenty of reference to American jazz and the British skiffle music that itself was a revival of an American street jazz style of the 1920s. The word kwela is usually translated from the Zulu as “get up,” and kwela-kwela was also common street slang for the police vans that descended regularly on the residents of the townships. The young men who played the pennywhistle on street corners often served as lookouts to warn those enjoying themselves in the shebeens of the arrival of the police. Inside, the pennywhistle, augmented by horns, guitars, bass and drums, energized the dance music. Jim Peterson, saxophone Rolf Johnson, trumpet Scott Foster, guitar Dennis Criteser, guitar…
Read More$10-20 suggested donation;Â $5 for students, musicians, low income. . Two of San Francisco’s top saxophone players go head to head, backed by an all-star rhythm section . . Smith Dobson and Andrew Speight, saxophones Keith Saunders, piano Eric Markowitz, bass Tony Johnson, drums
Read More2nd year! Students in the SF Conservatory of Music’s “Roots, Jazz & American Music” BMUS degree program host their peers from Bay Area colleges and high schools. No cover charge. Donations to support the bookshop that supports the students are very much appreciated.
Read MoreJoe Goldmark, pedal steel guitar Mitch Polzak, lead guitar and vocals Hank Maninger, bass guitar and vocals Kenny Owen, drums The Seducers are well into their third year of monthly (2nd Sunday) shows at Bird & Beckett, delivering country classics and originals, honky tonk laments and outlaw anthems.
Read MoreA holiday season tradition at Bird & Beckett, we welcome the return of this eight-strong all-star trad jazz outfit featuring Andrew Storar – trumpet, John Hunt – trombone, Don Neely – clarinet, Si Perkoff – piano, Duncan James – guitar, Al Obidinski – bass, Greg Gotelli – drums and the fabulous vocalist Darlene Langston!
Read MoreTraveling scholar, philosopher, sociologist and humanist Ananta Kumar Giri, born and raised in the Indian state of Odisha, and based in Chennai in the state of Tamil Nadu at the Madras Institute of Development Studies, a true son of Erasmus, will read recent poems and share some of his insights and writings, touching on thoughts expressed in recent addresses, given in November 4th in London and December 5th in Raymondville, Texas, entitled “Social Theory and Asian Dialogues: Cultivating New Pathways of Global Social Thought and Planetary Conversations” and “The Aesthetics of Development: Art, Culture and Social Transformation,” respectively. According to the Indic tradition of Lokasamagraha (people’s collective thought/work), the world is cosmopolitan and we are like a family in that world. Ananta’s collection of poems, Weaving New Hats, is an enterprise in that tradition. He writes: “Poetry weaves new words and worlds in the midst of threats and destructions of…
Read MoreThe Jazz Philanthropists Union presents… Jayden Clark (tenor sax) Brett Karner (trumpet) Spencer Hoefert (guitar) Julian Esparza (bass) Julian Archer (drums) Jazz standards plus original work by each of the members, all students in the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s “Roots, Jazz & American Music” (“RJAM”) degree program
Read More$10-20 suggested donation; $5 for students/musicians/low income. .. Some of the brightest talents on the San Francisco jazz scene visit Bird & Beckett’s long-running jazz party .. Lyle Link, saxophone Dahveed Behroozi, piano Jeff Denson, bass Dillon Vado, drums
Read MoreCity Jazz is made up of musicians who’ve played for decades as well as musicians who are new to jazz. The group has 3 vocalists, 2 pianists, 5 horns, a small string section, and a rhythm section that includes fretless electric bass. They’ll be playing a collection of their favorite tunes including several original arrangements and some beloved standards.
Read MoreMia Ayumi Malhotra is the author of ISAKO ISAKO (Alice James Books, 2018), winner of the 2017 Alice James Award. She holds a BA from Stanford University and an MFA from the University of Washington, and her poems have appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies, including Indiana Review, The Greensboro Review, Best New Poets, and DISMANTLE: An Anthology of Writing from the VONA/Voices Writing Workshop. A Pushcart Prize nominee and a founding editor of Lantern Review, she has received fellowships from the VONA/Voices Writing Workshop and Kundiman, an organization dedicated to the cultivation of Asian American writing. Mia lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family. Julia Bouwsma, Poet + Farmer + Librarian + Editor, is the author of Midden (Fordham University Press, 2018) and Work by Bloodlight (Cider Press Review, 2017). She will be traveling to San Francisco for this reading from her home in western…
Read MoreIn a rare joint appearance, Judith Ayn Bernhard and Byron Spooner will read at Bird & Beckett Books, 653 Chenery, on December 3 at 7 PM. Judith will read new work and some old favorites. Byron will read his new Christmas story. Judith Ayn Bernhard is a writer, poet, translator and teacher. She is a founding member and past chair of the Marin Poetry Center and a current member of the Revolutionary Poets Brigade. Her book, Prisoners of Culture (introduction by Jack Hirschman), was published by CC. Marimbo in 2014. She lives in San Francisco with her husband, Byron Spooner, where she teaches writing and occasionally give public readings of her work. “Judy Bernhard is a voice packed with both insight and irony in the face of social and political injustice, and a deeply compassionate sense of humor that belongs with the people of the world suffering under its current…
Read MoreWendy Burch Steel and Redwood play a unique cross-section of genres incorporating all the good and sweet aspects of folk, old-time, country, bluegrass and blues. Bluegrass icon Laurie Lewis produced, played and sang on Wendy’s debut CD, “Open Wings†in 2012, which has received rave reviews nationally and internationally, airplay and interviews on various radio shows and Americana and Bluegrass publications. Wendy is known for her deft angelic voice and spiritually touching original material. She was nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year for the past two years, with the Northern California Bluegrass Society. Her band members include some of the best Bluegrass and Americana players and singers in California and beyond: Butch Waller, mandolin and vocals, is known locally and nationally for his innovative and tradition-based approach to his instrument. Butch was one of the first to play bluegrass music in Northern California, and founded his own band, High…
Read MoreThe Jazz Philanthropists Union presents… Pianist Grant Levin leads a quartet featuring the flutist Lori Bell, up from San Diego for the date! David Ewell on bass; Hamir Atwal on drums. Bell is an award-winning musician “of admirable depth and broad musical sympathies whose recordings and live performances over the years have set new and higher standards in contemporary jazz and classical music.” (note post-performance: all that and more!) Lori taught Grant’s flutist father while Grant was a tot, and in 2006 she recorded an exquisite CD as a featured artist with the Grant Levin Trio comprising Grant on piano with Hans Halt on bass and Rufus Haeriti on drums (Beezwax Records, 2007). She’ll be back with the same trio as worked with her live tonight, Grant, David and Hamir, insha’Allah, on the first Saturday of December in 2019!
Read MoreBrett Karner – trumpet Xander Johns – baritone saxophone Jackson Contugno – tenor saxophone Spencer Hoefert – guitar Cris Carrera – bass Robert Chapa – drums Top talent from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s “Roots, Jazz and American Music” program play Brett’s arrangements of some holiday chestnuts and a few numbers by the Ink Spots & the like! 1-hour program — mark your calendar and don’t miss it!
Read More$20 cover charge; $10 for students/musicians/low income. Trumpeter Geechi Taylor is a cornerstone of the Bay Area jazz scene. He’s bringing a slammin’ quartet into Bird & Beckett tonight for your pleasure Geechi Taylor, Trumpet/Vocal Michael Aaberg, Piano Ollie Dudek, Bass Michael Mitchell, Drums.
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SUPPORT BIRD & BECKETT - DONATE TODAY!
Your donation to the Bird & Beckett Cultural Legacy Project helps us pay for a multitude of operating expenses necessary to present, promote and preserve local music, poetry, and more.
Help us keep the arts alive and thriving!
The Bird & Beckett Cultural Legacy Project was created in 2007 "to present, document and archive the creative work of significant living writers and musicians in the San Francisco Bay Area, for a neighborhood audience and future generations." We've been doing that very thing for more than a decade and a half, continuing the work we began when the store was established in 1999.
Due to lapses in tax filings during and post-pandemic, the BBCLP's status as a registered nonprofit was suspended at the beginning of April 2024 while we reapply, which is expected to take about six months. Donations made after April 1st will not be tax-deductible until nonprofit status is restored.
However, we continue to present a full slate of programming live music and poetry, and producing literary chapbooks, and we seek and welcome your continued financial support in the interim. If a tax-deduction is not a major reason for your support to date, we hope you'll continue to ride with us while we navigate these next several months.
Click on "donate" in the navigation bar above, drop off a check at the bookshop, or drop one in the mail to:
Bird & Beckett Cultural Legacy Project
653 Chenery Street
San Francisco, CA 94131
Call us at (415) 586-3733 to find out how else you might lend your support.
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The Bird & Beckett Cultural Legacy Project
Our events are put on under the umbrella of the Bird & Beckett Cultural Legacy Project (the "BBCLP"). That's how we fund our ambitious schedule of 300 or so concerts and literary events every year.
The BBCLP is a [Read More ]
The Independent Musicians Alliance
Gigging musicians! You have nothing to lose but your lack of a collective voice to achieve fair wages for your work!
The IMA can be a conduit for you, if you join in to make it work.
https://www.independentmusiciansalliance.org/
Read more here - Andy Gilbert's Feb 25 article about the IMA from KQED's site
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