Monday, April 6th – 7 pmPoets Mike Tuggle & Bill Vartnaw

Two Laureates on one stage… and you in the open mic…

Mike Tuggle, Sonoma County Poet Laureate Emeritus (2008-9), is celebrating the upcoming publication of The Motioning In, New & Selected Poems by Petaluma River Press due this spring. He is also the author of Absolute Elsewhere (2004, Philos Press) & The Singing Itself (2009, Running Wolf Press) & two chapbooks, Cazadero Poems (1994, Floating Island Press), and What Lures The Foxes (2011, Kelly’s Cove Press). He was the recipient of a Sonoma Community Foundation Award in poetry, a Dickens Award in fiction, and the Oberon Poetry Prize.

Bill Vartnaw, Sonoma County Poet Laureate Emeritus (2012-3), is a veteran of the San Francisco poetry open mic scene; he established Taurean Horn Press in 1974, which has published the works of several SF poets. He is the author of two poetry books, In Concern: for Angels (1984, Taurean Horn Press) & Suburbs of my Childhood (2009, Beatitude Press). His latest chapbook, an anthology, Finnish-American Poetry by Rauhala, Vartnaw & Hagelberg, came out in 2010 by United Finnish Kaleva Brothers and Sisters.

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Tonight! Friday, June 2nd – 9pm - Luis Peralta QuartetLuis Peralta, pianoBrian Juarez, bassBen Esposito, drumsSpencer Hoeffert, guitarPianist Luis Peralta, a young lion on the local jazz scene, is joined by three players who have all been making their mark in a big way in this post-pandemic era of live music. Bassist Brian Juarez is making his first Bird & Beckett appearance. Luis, Ben and Spencer have each crossed our stage on multiple occasions, making memorable music.Luis is a 20-year-old native of Oakland who began playing piano at seven, embarking quickly on a serious study of European Classical and American Classical Music (Jazz). In 2017 he performed Alex Conde’s Concierto Para Piano Flamenco y Orquesta as a soloist with the Oakland Youth Orchestra. In 2019, Luis was awarded a full scholarship to study piano at the New School in New York City. He has studied with and performed with Bay Area figures such as Howard Wiley and Marcus Shelby. Currently, he studies with NYC pianist Sullivan Fortner and SF Conservatory of Music piano professor John McCarthy.A recent video may be found at: youtu.be/FZh_biGAt40$20 cover (cash, please); byob.For a reservation, call the bookshop at 415-586-3733.Luis and his colleagues tonight are superb representatives of the wealth of young talent coming up in the Bay Area, and keeping them working and resident in the Bay Area relies on having a healthy venue landscape in San Francisco, the region’s cultural nexus. Thank you for supporting the venues throughout the region that present the musicians! Bird & Beckett presents its music and poetry events under the umbrella of the Bird & Beckett Cultural Legacy Project, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, which counts on the donations of individuals like you to augment audience revenues in order to pay the musicians fairly and cover operating costs. Please consider making a donation today. Only with a healthy donor base can we do what we do. ... See MoreSee Less

Monday, April 6th – 7 pm
Poets Mike Tuggle & Bill Vartnaw

The Bird & Beckett Cultural Legacy Project

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