Coming up… Friday through the end of the month, Scott Foster to Rojai…then, June 1 through June 14, ten events, from a “Flip the Vote” organizing gathering on the 3rd, to a show with Beth Custer & Will Bernard joined by Hawaiian slack key guitarist Ken Emerson on the 16th…

5/15/26, Friday, 7:30pm: The Scott Foster Combo – old friends in a new time – Scott Foster, guitar; Jim Peterson, reeds; Dan Seamans, bass; Tom Hassett, drums. Scott’s monthly residency at Bird & Beckett has shifted to a 7:30-9:30pm time slot, though it remains on the third Friday of each month. ($20 cover charge; students $10).___

 

 

 

5/16/26, Saturday, 7:30pm: Saxophonist Patrick Wolff returns to the stacks with one of the best bebop rhythm sections around…classic tunes with swinging cats. Who could ask for anything more? Keith Saunders, piano; Erik Markowitz, bass; Smith Dobson, drums. ($20 cover charge; students $10)___

 

 

 

 

5/17/26, Sunday, 5pm: The Vince Lateano Trio with guest vocalist Ernest East.
($20 suggested donation, students $10 suggested; pay what you can).
Singer Ernest East has been on the scene off and on for five decades and never fails to charm; we’re always glad to invite him back. Come discover a hidden treasure! As for Vince Lateano, he’s been a genial force here in San Francisco since he rousted out of the army in 1965 and moved into town in 1966; he’s been featured at Bird & Beckett since we got rolling in 1999. Nowadays, he has a 6X per year residency with his trio (Ben Stolorow, piano; Peter Barshay, bass) on the 3rd Sunday of each month in the odd numbered months (May, July, September, November, January, March). The trio returns to conduct a jam session on the last Sunday of each month, in the same also 5-7pm time slot.

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We need sponsors and underwriters for our weekly Sunday programming, so that we can pay the musicians a fair guaranteed wage for their work while keeping the admission bar low for those with limited means. Might you offer your support? Whether you’re an individual or the representative of a corporation or family foundation, call Eric, the bookshop proprietor, at the shop — 415-586-3733, or email [email protected].

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5/21/26, Thursday – 7:30pm: Walker Talks: On Bob Dylan. (Free, but your donations help us pay Walker for his work).
An almost-monthly series of talks by Walker Brents III (9 or 10 talks a year for more than two decades) on various topics in poetry, mythology, folklore, philosophy, etc. Although primarily a live stream viewable on our YouTube channel and Facebook page, it’s also fine for you to slip into the darkened shop to listen in person.

5/22/26, Friday – 7:30pm: Tony Johnson’s 230 Jones Street Band. Smith Dobson, saxophone; Sam Cady, piano; Chuck Bennett, bass; Tony Johnson, drums. ($20 cover charge / students $10). The 230 Jones Street Band is Bird & Beckett’s legacy combo, with its roots in the Chuck Peterson Trio’s weekly Friday happy hour that kicked off jazz in the bookshop as a regular feature starting 24 years ago. Tony’s one of the mainstays of a generation of players that came up when bebop was America’s hottest commodity! The players that remain never cease to swing, and love navigating the changes that Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, Charlie Christian and confreres innovated in mid-20th century America. Bebop Lives at Bird & Beckett!
After this Friday evening booking, Tony’s ongoing residency at Bird & Beckett is moving to a new schedule starting in June as a recurring 6X per year element in our weekly Sunday 5pm happy hour series. Going forward, you’ll catch Tony’s combos every other month (in the “even numbered” months…June, August, October, December, February, April) on the third Sunday of the month from 5pm to 7pm.

5/23/26, Saturday – 7:30pm: Kata-Vento Reunion Concert: Music of Carlos Oliveira.  Original tunes inspired by northeastern Brazil, featuring three flutes, guitar, and percussion. Carlos Oliveira, guitar and compositions; Chloe Scott, Rebecca Kleinmann, and Sonia Caltvedt, flutes; Brian Rice, percussion. ($25-30 sliding scale cover charge / students $10).

5/24/26, Sunday – 5pm: Innuendo. French popular tunes from many decades. Big Lou, accordion; Kit Robberson, viola da gamba; David Golia, guitar; Bing Nathan, bass. ($20 cover charge / students $10).

 

5/24/26, Sunday – 8pm: Grammy Winner Jose Andres, changüí master singer and musician from Guantanamo Cuba, in duo performance with Kai Lyons on tres cubano, exploring the funky, folkloric, 19th-century proto-son music of Eastern Cuba. ($20 cover charge / students $10).

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5/28/26, Thursday – 7pm: Sixteen Rivers Press poets.

5/29/26, Friday – 7:30pm: The David Parker Sextet plays Mingus and more.

5/30/26, Saturday – 7:30pm: Klaxon Mutant All-Stars.

5/31/26, Sunday – 5pm: Jam Session hosted by the Vince Lateano Trio.

5/31/26, Sunday – 7:30pm: Jairo Vargas, aka Rojai, brings his band Rojai in the Pocket to celebrate the end of the school year!

When Rojai isn’t carrying on the work of rocking the hip hop foundations of San Francisco’s soul — along the path tred by Bayonics, Hot Pocket and other outfits through the last two or three decades, Jairo is reliably found in the schoolyard of Glen Park Elementary, where our kids learn early what it is to be happy, hip, happenin’ and engaged in forging the future, with a good education at the core of that little enterprise!

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6/3/26, Wednesday, 7pm: Flip the Vote – an organizing meeting!

6/4/26, Thursday, 7pm: Poets! Featured readers + an open mic, on the first Thursday of each month. This month, a celebration of the late poet and artist Ronald Sauer, featuring readings from his posthumous collection, The Ascent of Mt. Obvious.

6/5/26, Friday, 7:30pm: Brian Andres Trio. Erick Peralta, piano; Aaron Germain, bass; Brian Andres, drums.

6/6/26, Saturday, 7:30pm: Percussionist Ian Dogole & Music Beyond Borders, with Richard Howell & Sheldon Brown, saxophones; and Fred Randolph, bass.

 

6/7/26, Sunday, 8pm: Tate Swindell presents Allen Ginsberg’s “America, Give a Shit!” — a recorded 1980 Graz, Austria performance by Ginsberg with Peter Orlofsky and Steven Taylor.

 

 

 

 

6/12/26, Friday, 7:30pm: Joshi Marshall Project.

 

6/13/26, Saturday, 7:30pm: ROVA.

 

6/14/26, Sunday, 5pm: The Nick Otis Orchestra.

 

 

 

 

6/14/26, Sunday, 8pm: Beth Custer / Will Bernard / Ken Emerson.

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That’s enough for this update…
but the music and poetry will continue
as long as Bird & Beckett lives and breathes!