Mark your calendar for tomorrow’s jazz today at Bird & Beckett on the first Sunday of each month from 5 to 7pm! And consider becoming a sponsor of the next generation of jazz greats! Ask us how!

Each month, on the first Sunday of the month from 5 to 7pm, we present a jam session led by and for aspiring jazz students. Students of jazz from all directions are welcome to join in the jam session following tonight’s opening set by the Yoav Konig Quartet. If you’re a student looking for experience and community, come prepared to call a tune from the jazz canon. Know your key and set the tempo. You’ll be in good and able company!

To open the afternoon’s program, bassist Yoav Konig–a formidable young talent just now completing his secondary education in the San Francisco Unified School District at Ruth Asawa School of the Arts–has assembled a quartet with fantastic young colleagues: Nico Colucci on tenor sax, Michael Potter on piano and Miles Turk on drums. Miles is on the verge of graduation while Michael and Nico are recent graduates of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Roots, Jazz & American Music B.Mus. program, that august institution’s 100-year offspring that was sparked to life, designed and founded by Keys Jazz Bistro’s Simon Rowe in 2017.

Following their set, the quartet will invite to the stage aspiring jazz students of all ages, from all directions, to jam on the standards and classics that continue to inspire.

No charge to play, but donations from the assembled audience are very much appreciated to help us pay a modest honorarium to the musicians comprising the Konig quartet.

Many thanks are due Jazz in the Neighborhood’s Emerging Artists program for their continuing support of our monthly student-oriented jazz jam session, and for their dedication to giving material support and encouragement to gigging musicians, such that they will consider themselves fully deserving of the respect, wages and working conditions that befit their professional credentials. The Independent Musicians Alliance, an ally of both Bird & Beckett and JitN, seeks to strengthen the bonds among gigging musicians so that they may use their collective voice to achieve those goals. Students! Know your allies and form the bonds that are necessary to achieve the economic and spiritual future that you deserve.

The Yoav Konig RASOTA/SFCM-RJAM Quartet comprises:

Yoav Konig (bass), a dynamic young bass player setting new ground on the instrument. Currently a senior at Ruth Asawa School of the Arts, Yoav Konig is a composer and arranger who is a member of the SFJazz High School All-Stars and the San Francisco Youth Symphony Orchestra. He has studied under the greats: Reuben Rogers, Scott Colley, Yasushi Nakamura, Joe Martin, Or Bareket, Marcus Shelby and Jeff Denson. Yoav has been awarded a YoungArts award and multiple Downbeat Student Awards.

Nico Colucci (sax), a dynamic and versatile jazz saxophonist celebrated for his expressive tone, deep stylistic versatility, and electrifying performances. With roots in jazz and influences spanning all genres, Nico’s sound embodies both tradition and innovation. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Roots, Jazz and American Music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, a rigorous program grounded in jazz history, improvisation, composition and performance that has prepared him to excel as both an artist and collaborator.

Michael Potter (piano), a graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and a former student of the acclaimed Edward Simon. Potter’s music blends the lyricism of the jazz tradition with inspiration drawn from nature and meditation. His sound, both grounded and exploratory, creates an atmosphere that invites deep listening and joy in equal measure.

Miles Turk (drums), completing his undergraduate degree in the SFCM RJAM program, who seeks to share the love that Black American music carries. Having grown up with a heavyweight Bay Area musician, John Turk, as his father, he seeks to follow the tradition in appreciating the cultural importance of blues, bebop, jazz, etc., along with shining a light on his own musical influences coming from R&B, Hip-Hop, Funk and many more.