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!
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But nothing beats being in the room
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Q R Hand and Arisa White

 Monday, March 19, 7 pm Poets! Arisa White & QR Hand Open Mic Follows Youth and experience go hand in hand… Arisa White’s debut poetry collection is Hurrah’s Nest.  QR’s life in poetry is sketched out in the book Whose Really Blues. Hurrah’s Nest:  A vivid and varied collection that addresses family loyalties, dysfunction, violence, and differences, Hurrah’s Nest is White’s imaginative and emotionally honest exploration of growing up the second oldest, first daughter of seven siblings. Childhood experiences are looked at with rawness, sensitivity, and crafted with precision: be it the cutting of her dreadlocks, mother’s abortion, drug trafficking, or her sister’s developmental disability, the language is tender and startling. Hurrah’s Nest—from the confusion of our lives—asks us to make meaning and good from what we’ve bargained and haven’t bargained for. Arisa is a Cave Canem fellow, an MFA graduate from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and author of…

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Indian Cinema Beyond Bollywood – Day 3

Bird & Beckett goes to the movies… at the Balboa Theatre in San Francisco’s Richmond District… we’ll see you there! Indian Cinema Beyond Bollywood: Classic & Contemporary Bengali Movies from Tollywood! Friday, March 16th to Tuesday, March 20th Before there was Bollywood, there was Tollywood–  Tollywood,  home of Bengali-language filmmaking, has long been the proving ground of many talents later usurped, exploited and made rich & famous by the Mumbai-based, Hindi-language Bollywood machine.  Its nickname came about in 1932, when a writer in American Cinematography magazine named it for the Tollygunge neighborhood of Kolkata (Calcutta) in which most of the Bengali-language movie production offices are based. Day 3!  Sunday Dedicated to Gautam Chattopadhyay 2:00 pm – Moner Manush 5:00 pm – Nobel Chor 7:00 pm – Live Music – “Bengal & Beyond” 8:15 pm – Nagmoti  ♦view the full schedule here ♦view details on the films here 2:00 pm Moner…

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Marijuana Land + Bernal Hills Players

Meanwhile, at the bookshop… Sunday, March 18th 2:30 pm: Writer Jonah Raskin Marijuanaland Jonah Raskinhas written extensively on American cultural history, particularly its more radical and humanist aspects – with books on Abbie Hoffman, Allen Ginsberg and the wine industry in Sonoma, an anthology of Jack London’s political writings, among others.  He’s also written on the novelist B. Traven and much more. With personal roots in his parents’ American communist underground of the 1940s, his own involvement in SDS in the 1960s, his participation in the academic world of Sonoma State University throughout the 1970s until quite recently, and his contemporary assessment of that journey and what makes sense to him today in terms of political and social engagement, Jonah’s insightful take on the marijuana industry, subculture, mythos, economics and politics of Northern California, including the war waged on it, will be thought provoking and enlightening. His advice on engagement for social change is this:  “Be visible.…

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Indian Cinema Beyond Bollywood – Day 2

Saturday, March 17th, at the Balboa Theatre… Bird & Beckett presents day 2 of  “Indian Cinema Beyond Bollywood: Contemporary and Classic Bengali Films from Tollywood” A Five-Days Festival of Films at the Balboa Theatre March 16-20  ♦view the full schedule at this link  Saturday, March 17th: 3:30 pm – Antaheen directed by Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury 6:00 pm – Ami Aadu directed by Somnath Gupta 8:30 pm – Iti Mrinalini directed by Aparna Sen   Each of the films screening today excels in its cinematography, editing and sound work, as well as the directorial excellence and ambition that brings out fine performances in Bengali cinema’s best actors– seasoned professionals and newcomers alike.  Bengali cinema is surging forward on several fronts– with new and newly revived production companies backing filmmakers and technical talent bristling to launch projects that will engage international audiences and hold their own domestically against the Bollywood machine.  We’re…

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Indian Cinema Beyond Bollywood

Friday through Tuesday March 16th -20th! Bird & Beckett goes to the movies… at the Balboa Theatre in San Francisco’s Richmond District… we’ll see you there! Opening Night Friday!  7pm – The Japanese Wife 9:15 pm – Aparajita Tumi Indian Cinema Beyond Bollywood:  Classic & Contemporary Bengali Movies from Tollywood!  ♦view the complete schedule at this link ♦view details on the films here Before there was Bollywood, there was Tollywood–  Tollywood,  home of Bengali-language filmmaking, has long been the proving ground of many talents later usurped, exploited and made rich & famous by the Mumbai-based, Hindi-language Bollywood machine.  Its nickname came about in 1932, when a writer in American Cinematography magazine named it for the Tollygunge neighborhood of Kolkata (Calcutta) in which most of the Bengali-language movie production offices are based.   But why is Bird & Beckett throwing a Tollywood film festival? It’s no small thing that we get…

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Indian Cinema Beyond Bollywood

Mark your calendar! Bird & Beckett goes to the movies… at the Balboa Theatre in San Francisco’s Richmond District… March 16-20. Indian Cinema Beyond Bollywood:  Classic & Contemporary Bengali Movies from Tollywood! ♦view the schedule at this link Before there was Bollywood, there was Tollywood–  so dubbed in 1932 for the Tollygunge neighborhood of Kolkata (Calcutta) in which most of the Bengali-language movie production offices are based.  Tollywood has long been the proving ground of many talents later usurped, exploited and made rich & famous by the Mumbai-based Bollywood machine. Why is Bird & Beckett throwing a Tollywood festival?  It’s no small thing that we get to give Bay Area moviegoers a peek at Aparjita Tumi, the brand new feature film by award-winning director Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury (Antaheen won Best Film at India’s National Film Awards in2009).    Aparajita Tumi was shot last summer entirely on location in the Bay Area,…

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Holderlin & WordWind

Sunday, February 25 2:30 pm – Walker Talks! on the German poet Holderlin Once a month, Walker mesmerizes us with his fascinating meanderings amidst the meanings of writers, philosophers, mythologies and mysteries… how he does it, we don’t know, but he’s gained a following that hangs on the gossamer threads of thought that he spins.  Holderlin?  Come and find out… 4:30 pm – WordWind Chorus Brian Auerbach, Q R Hand Jr. and Lewis Jordan (shown left to right here) are joined by Julian Carroll in an acapella jazz poets aggregation that will set you on your ear.  Four voices augmented by Lewis’s saxophone weave an intricate web of word strands to create heady music indeed. Founding WordWind member Reginald Lockett, who left us a few years ago, had this to say about Q R: “Q R Hand’s poetry traverses the terrain of form, music and language. This is an inspired,…

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Upcoming events

girlchild Join debut novelist Tupelo Hassman for a book launch party, with live music Saturday Feb. 18th 7 pm to 9 pm   Read the New York Times review here! The author: Tupelo Hassman The book: Girlchild (Farrar Strauss Giroux, 2012) The band: Buckeye Knoll “Life is a crazy risk, a foolish venture, a journey hardly worth attempting by poor daughters raised by poor daughters who have no maps or guidebooks (and no teeth, either), who receive no justice that doesn’t hurt about the same as the injustice it means to remedy.  This story is your worst white nightmare. Tupelo Hassman’s GIRLCHILD is a triumph and a philosophical treatise on survival.” –Bonnie Jo Campbell, author of National Book Critics Circle and National Book Award Finalist American Salvage     Author Alan Kaufman in conversation with publisher & writer Brenda Knight on his new memoir, Drunken Angel — Sunday, February 19th…

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Judy & Ramon Sender

Sunday, February 12, 2:00 pm Judith Sender & Ramon Sender Ramon and Judy Sender will be reading from their books. Judy — a writer and artist, or a wrartist, as she terms it — will read some excerpts from her new book, “Transitions Visible and Invisible.”  Her earlier book, “Lines: Whimsical and Other Wise,” has long been available through Bird & Beckett.  Both books feature her drawings and poems, and express her multifariously whimsical take on things.  She is a retired SFUSD teacher and since, 2001, she has co-curated with her husband, Ramon, the “Odd Monday Series”, first at Noe Valley Ministry and now at the venerable Phoenix Books. Ramon Sender has a long-standing reputation as an important west coast musician, writer and artist.  In 1961, with Morton Subotnick and Pauline Oliveros, he co-founded the groundbreaking San Francisco Tape Music Center, home to the late artist Bruce Conner and musician Bill…

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upcoming events

Coming up now at Bird & Beckett!  Jazz in the bookshop on Friday… and every Friday always 5:30 to 8:00 pm never a cover charge, but we always implore you to contribute what you can to help us pay the musicians, who deserve far more than they ever receive.  They give us so much; this is our chance to give them a little something back! The Third Quintet! Friday, Feb. 17, series founders Chuck Peterson (sax), Scott Foster (guitar) and Don Prell (bass) are joined by drummer Omar Aran for two sets of bebop with a west coast lineage… Chuck and Don both got their start in the music in the early 1950s and have been playing jazz at a high level ever since.  Scott and Omar have been top players for only a couple decades each…  You’ll dig it. Sundays before and after, The San Francisco Bluegrass and Old-Time Festival…

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jazz in the bookshop- fourth fridays

Jazz in the bookshop a tradition in the neighborhood every Friday evening since 2002 Kids always welcome & always free! $10 suggested donation per adult This Friday, February 3rd, it’s Don Prell’s Seabop Ensemble, featuring series stalwart Don Prell, a Los Angeles native who started his jazz career in the 1950s and was soon a core member of Bud Shank’s renowned quartet — traveling internationally and recording albums on Pacific Jazz, Contemporary and other key record labels associated with the “West Coast Jazz” of the late 50s and early 60s.  On the first Friday of each month at Bird & Beckett, Don shanghais a seasoned crew of jazz pros, drawing from a pool of talent unmatched by any city in the country outside of New York… Tonight, you’ll hear the powerful & lyrical tenor player Jerry Logas, young bop titan Michael Parsons on piano, and Ulf Bjorkbom, Swedish wonder of the…

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Chelm Feelharmonic

December 18th – Sunday, 4:30 to 6:30 pm Kids welcome & free! $10 suggested donation per adult Chelm Feelharmonic Klezmer Band which way west? sunday concert series           Providing just a bit of a counter to all that Xmas mania, trombonist Rick Elmore, a musicological genius if we’ve ever known one, has collared some top local players with decades of musical collaboration under their collective belt for a klezmer & yiddish music extravaganza at Bird & Beckett! Mandolinist Gerry Tenny has been a cornerstone of the Yiddish music scene here for decades, and he joins Rick and Mike Perlmutter on clarinet, plus accordionist Ilya Cremer, fiddler Mike Hayes and cellist Leo for a roaring celebration of Jewish music and culture, two days in advance of Hanukkah (which begins this year on December 20 and runs to the 27th). Rick started at age 10 in 1964, and…

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Woolgathering

Fresh Print Some new books to please the avid reader: Patti Smith is an icon and a touchstone for hundreds of thousands of us… from the arrival of “Horses” in 1975 to the 2010 release of her memoir, Just Kids, and her HSBG appearance that same year, and the many stops along the way… In 1992, a talismanic little book bearing her name and called Woolgathering appeared on the counter at places like City Lights & Moe’s, on cafe tables at the Trieste, in squalid rooms at the Chelsea Hotel… places where the tribe tended to gather to muse, to share a meal, to conceive of new modes of expression… Woolgathering was one in a series of small (3″x4″) handmade books put out by Raymond Foye & Francesco Clemente’s Hanuman Books, printed at Kalakshetra, near Madras (now Chennai), India, under the supervision of George Scrivani.  Like Patti herself, the gem-like…

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Support the BBCLP

Your support is what makes it work! The community that’s grown up around Bird & Beckett has been a delight to be part of.  Glen Park has been hugely supportive of the bookshop and our programs.  As individuals, you’ve helped by buying books, of course– and also by coming to the shows and underwriting the cost of putting them on. For many years now, this community has been providing a sweet venue, a welcoming and appreciative environment and generous monetary support to writers, musicians and other performing artists by way of Bird & Beckett.  We can all be very proud of that fact! Friends of the bookshop helped us establish a 501(c)3 nonprofit several years ago — the “Bird & Beckett Cultural Legacy Project” — which is charged with accomplishing the cultural programming that we do.  And individuals can take a full tax deduction for any direct contributions they make…

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which way west-plus 11/27/11

wondering what you’ve missed?  here’s a sample… also hit the “older posts” button below to stroll back through the weeks… a few sundays ago… Sunday, November 27 – three events At 1 pm:  I’m Not a Tourist!  I Live Here! Ex-Glen Parker & committed activist Elizabeth Boardman sold her house here and moved to Davis a couple of years ago, but not before compiling the stories of quotidian San Francisco in her book I’m Not a Tourist, I Live Here!  Elizabeth will be joined by one of the locals she’s observed and gotten to know over her long tenure here — Doc — a gracious and good humored man who’s lived by his wits in this town for a good long time, using his dulcimer to break the ice with folks scurrying through the BART stations on their way hither & yon. As for Elizabeth, herself, she’s stood in front…

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Books for Xmas

Fresh Print Some new books to please the avid reader: The Swerve: How the World Became Modern by Stephen Goldblatt. In this gloriously learned page-turner, both biography and intellectual history, Harvard Shakespearean scholar Greenblatt (Will in the World) turns his attention to the beginning of the Renaissance as the origin of Western culture’s foundation: the free questioning of truth. It hinges on the recovery of an ancient philosophical Latin text that had been neglected for a thousand years. In the winter of 1417 Italian oddball humanist, smutty humorist, and apostolic secretary Poggio Bracciolini stumbled on Lucretius’ De rerum natura. In an obscure monastery in southern Germany lay the recovery of a philosophy free of superstition and dogma. Lucretius’ On the Nature of Things harkened back to the mostly lost works of Greek philosophers known as atomists. Lucretius himself was essentially an Epicurean who saw the restrained seeking of pleasure as…

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POETS! Yaryan & Olmsted

Monday, November 21, 7 pm Poets! Daniel Yaryan & Marc Olmsted open mic follows As a teenager in Santa Cruz, Daniel Yaryan fell under the thrall of poetry, particularly the poetry of the beats,  in a big way.  With his work, as a writer and as a impresario of poetry readings celebrating and extending the beat ethos, he has become, while still a young man, a major figure in the west coast poetry scene. We’ve lost track of how many readings Daniel has staged in venues all over the state in the series he calls “Sparring With Beatnik Ghosts” — each boasting a deep roster of energized and engaged voices revealing the breadth and depth of the poetry impulse that persists today. Daniel’s own voice will be on display at our reading tonight. He has invited Marc Olmsted to join him on this reading, indicating his respect for a poet…

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jazz in the bookshop – PPFM

Friday, November 25th, 5:30-8:00 pm The Chuck Peterson Quintet jazz in the bookshop a neighborhood tradition since 2002 Also known as the 230 Jones Street, Local 6 Literary Jazz Band, this group comprises jazz in the bookshop founder Chuck Peterson (tenor sax) and four of his long-time associates:  Howard Dudune (reeds), Glen Deardorff (guitar), Dean Reilly (bass) and Tony Johnson (drums). A quintet date that showcases the music we love best– straight ahead, bebop-based, west coast fashioned jazz. It’s a lively time in the neighborhood every Friday evening — in the venue that many a jazz player has declared the best place to play in town.  That tribute is in no small way due to the audience that comes to enjoy the music and the convivial vibe.  Come enjoy the music and the company. All ages are welcome, and there’s no cover charge — but if you can spare the…

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The Homespun Trio

Sunday, November 20, 4:30 & 5:30 pm (two sets) The Homespun Trio which way west? Sunday concert series Well, this isn’t a picture of the trio we’re presenting this week, but we went looking for photos and couldn’t resist this one.  Martinique, circa 1944… Ernest Hemingway wrote the book, and Howard Hawks made the movie…  the laconic pianist and songwriter Hoagy Carmichael made the music… Bogart and Bacall made the romance… “To Have and Have Not”… A title as enigmatic and evocative as any in modern literature… Oh yes, about this week’s “which way west?” concert!  Bassist Fred Randolph, a much sought after musician about town in the clubs and concert halls, proposed this trio to us– featuring himself, the exquisite pianist Grant Levin, and the sweetly nuanced drummer Bryan Bowman. This may well be Grant’s first appearance at the shop. If so, it’s long overdue. You’re guaranteed to be…

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Ambush Review reading

Monday, November 14th, 7 pm Ambush! A reading to celebrate issue #2 of a great new San Francisco literary magazine Co-Editors and Co-Publishers Bob Booker and Patrick Cahill host a raft of contributors at Bird & Beckett to present the beautifully done second issue of Ambush Review — a terrific addition to the long tradition of literary magazines emanating from this most literary city!  Join us for a toast to the creators, writers and artists involved. Watch this YouTube video of Bob Booker introducing the first issue at Live Worms Gallery in North Beach in December 2010.

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Jimmy Ryan Quintet – jazz in the bookshop

Friday, November 11th, 5:30 to 8:00 pm The Jimmy Ryan Quintet jazz in the bookshop a neighborhood party every Friday evening Drummer Jimmy Ryan has been part of the Friday evening jazz tradition since its beginning in late 2002. Jimmy learned the trade in L.A. in the ’50s as well, and hit the San Francisco scene in 1960 — and never looked back.  Jimmy has played with legendary musicians like Putter Smith, Vince Wallace, Kent Glenn and Bishop Norman Willliams, putting in significant time at legendary San Francisco clubs like Jimbo’s Bop City and the Gathering Cafe. For his monthly Bird & Beckett dates, trumpeter Henry Hung and trombonist Danny Grewen, two active young players on the local scene, give a rich, fiery and romantic tone to the front line, while guitarist Scott Foster, a Bird & Beckett favorite since the beginning, handles the chordal duties and spins out beautiful…

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Georges Lammam Ensemble – which way west?

Sunday, November 13th – 4:30 & 5:30 pm (two sets) Pan-Arabic music concert by The Georges Lammam Ensemble which way west? Sunday concert series all ages welcome Violinist Georges Lammam was born in Beirut, Lebanon into a family of film and music professionals, the child of a Palestinian father and a Palestine-born Greek mother, and grew up in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.  As a youth, Georges played with his brothers Elias on accordion and Antoine (Tony) on doumbeq throughout the Middle East before settling in San Francisco.  Here, for a couple of decades, he has been renowned for transporting a pure expression of Arab culture through his soulful violin. As artistic director of the Georges Lammam Ensemble, noted for its mastery of the panoramic range of the Arab musical repertoire, Georges is devoted to bringing the rich diversity and passions of Arabic music to listeners everywhere.  The music is…

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Jazz in the bookshop / patchen

Friday, November 4 – double date! jazz in the bookshop + the jazz of poetry: a Kenneth Patchen Moment Seabop rides the waves and then, Jonathan Clark reads from the poems of Kenneth Patchen while Don Prell lays down a bass line Every week, the neighborhood gathers for a long running jazz party we’ve hosted since late 2002– now, as we enter our tenth year of Friday jazz sessions, it’s got a life of its own for sure, and at the heart of it all is bassist Don Prell, who assembles a terrific ensemble on the first Friday of each month to play some of that west coast bebop we love so much… he calls his band the Seabop Ensemble, and it’s always a fine thing. If you want to meet the neighbors, there’s no better place to do it than at Bird  & Beckett on a Friday evening… And…

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Bird & Beckett Book Club

Thursday, Nov. 3rd, 7 pm Book Club 1st Thursday of each month all welcome! Falconer, by John Cheever, will be the book discussed this week. Next up:  Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom This group has been meeting monthly since long before there was a Bird & Beckett!  Formed when our predecessor “Glen Park Books” was first established on Diamond Street back in 1995 and continued without missing a beat when Bird & Beckett took up the reins in 1999, this book group is still going strong, with several of the original members and many new recruits picked up along the way. Anyone can come, so if you’re looking for a book group feel free to check this one out.  At the end of the each session, the group usually picks the book for the session two months down the line, so you’ll have ample time to get in the loop… Be sure…

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Tango No. 9

October 30th – Sunday, 4:30 to 6:30 pm All ages welcome – no cover – kids free Suggested donation for adults – $10 Tango No. 9 which way west? Sunday afternoon concert series Tango No. 9 has been making audiences swoon for 13 years with their exquisite sets of classic, nuevo and orginal tangos, and we’re overheated with excitement every time they hit the stage in our cozy little bookshop. Violinist Catharine Clune, pianist Joshua Raoul Brody and trombonist Greg Stephens have been joined in this group by the dashing Zoltan de Bartolo who vocalizes those Argentinian, Spanish and Italian tunes that stir the soul. From Astor Piazzola’s Buenos Aires and Paris to your own fog shrouded city of love, they deliver music that is haunting, inspiring and soulfully satisfying.

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Walker Brents on Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh

Sunday, October 30 – 2:30 pm Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh Walker Talks! Expository explorations on literary, mythological & historical themes Walker Brents III can always be relied on to entertain and edify as he muses on topics of timeless interest — in this instance, the Shahnameh.  Composed by the 10th century Persian poet Ferdowsi, the Shanameh recounts the history of Iran, beginning with the creation of the world and the introduction of the arts of civilization (fire, cooking, metallurgy, law) to the Aryans and ends with the Arab conquest of Persia. Though not precisely chronological, there is a general movement through time in the poem. Some characters live for hundreds of years, but most have normal life spans. There are many shāhs who come and go, as well as heroes and villains, who also come and go. The only lasting images are that of Greater Iran itself, and a succession of sunrises and…

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Chuck Peterson Quintet – 10/28/11

Friday, October 28, 5:30 to 8:00 pm The 230 Jones Street, Local 6 Literary Jazz Band aka The Chuck Peterson Quintet with vocalist Dorothy Lefkovits jazz in the bookshop every Friday! Tenor sax player Chuck Peterson finishes out the month’s schedule of Friday evening jazz sessions at Bird & Beckett with four long-time associates who have been at the top of the jazz scene locally and nationally for six decades.  Reed player Howard Dudune plays with the easy grace of Lester Young and a swinging humor all his own, while guitarist Glen Deardorff drives the rhythm with a fierce insouciance.  Bassist Dean Reilly, one of the most respected elder statesmen of the local jazz scene and a well traveled pro, looks , acts and plays like a youngster with his first ducktail.  And drummer Tony Johnson, still sporting the Aussie accent of his own youth, swings effortlessly and keeps time…

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Jinx Jones Jazzabilly All-Stars

which way west? Sunday concert series all ages welcome! $10 per adult suggested donation Sunday, October 23rd, 4:30 to 6:30 pm (two sets) Jinx Jones Jazzabilly All Stars Jinx Jones is a guitar star of the first magnitude on the San Francisco scene, effortlessly covering the bases from the Buck Owens sound of Bakersfield to the Dick Dale wave of Santa Cruz to the Wes Montgomery sophistication of Cleveland lounges and New York recording studios… Here at Bird & Beckett, he’ll be showcasing his Jazzabilly All Stars, running down the changes with just a hint of Bakersfield twang, Nashville gloss and Pacific Coast curl.  Jinx plays with “alacritous dexterity and excruciating elegance” says Rockabilly Magazine. He’s a charmer too, but keep that heartbeat in check, ’cause we hear he’s headed for the altar in short order!

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jazz in the bookshop

jazz in the bookshop every Friday since 2002! all ages welcome! $10 per adult suggested donation Friday, October 21st, 5:30 to 8:00 pm Aran-Foster-Peterson-Prell The third Friday of each month, three founders of our nine-year old series of Friday jazz parties join forces with a guest drummer to keep the bebop flame burning bright on Chenery Street. Tenor player Chuck Peterson proposed the series back in the fall of 2002, telling us he’d make sure we had a band every single week if we’d promise to provide the venue — and both sides to that pact have kept their word. Chuck brought bassist Don Prell into the mix, and Don brought in guitarist Scott Foster, and so it’s gone ever since.  In fact, the band grew to eight pieces in the tiny performance space at the “old” location down on Diamond Street before splintering into more manageable units that make…

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Meltzer on Stage

Sunday, October 16 – 2 pm Maestro David Meltzer The Stuntman! Interviewed on  the Bird & Beckett stage by Gerry Fialka David just wowed ’em in the Mission, at our Litquake reading at Kaleidoscope, trading “fours” with his new bride Julie Rogers and then dazzling ’em all with his fleet-footed delivery of the newly penned mini-epic tale of derring do and crashing calamity called “The Stuntman,” a worthy latter-day successor to one of our favorite poems of his, “The Red Shoes.”  From ballet to action flicks, does this man never tire of soaring to new poetic heights of quotidian life?? Son of a cellist and a harpist, Meltzer was born in ’37, grew to the age of 17 in Brooklyn and nearby Rockville Centre, then came west with his pop to Los Angeles.  Roosted there for three years, left high school unfinished, made his way up to San Francisco, fell…

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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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TAKE OUR SURVEY

To take our SURVEY, click here, and help the BBCLP get to know you better! As Duke Ellington always said, we love you madly...

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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