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!

Friday, August 5 – 7:30pm
Life is a Romance
The Tony Saunders Quartet

Tony Saunders’ smooth
contemporary jazz and R&B
are infused with soul…

doors open at 7:20pm
reservations, call 415-586-3733

$20 cash cover charge
byob

Nothing beats live jazz in the shop, but if you can’t make it…

Find the live stream on our
Facebook page or YouTube channel

Two-time Emmy Award winning bassist, composer, producer, a graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, son of legendary Bay Area keyboardist Merl Saunders– Tony Saunders’ life has been infused with one musical adventure after another. Newly signed to Baja/TSR records, he’s recently released his 5th cd as a leader, “All About Love.”

As an arranger, producer, composer and performer, Saunders has conquered the worlds of jazz, gospel, R&B, pop, rock and world music. He earned the first of his two Emmys at age 14 for collaborating with his dad on the PBS documentary Soul Is and by 17 was playing on Merl Saunders/Jerry Garcia projects over a five-year period. A scan of Tony’s Wikipedia page reveals contributions on bass and production to dozens of records from the mid-1990s by blues, soul and rock artists, including John Lee Hooker, Joe Louis Walker, Lady Bianca, Pat Wilder, Larry Vann, Ron Thompson, Neil Schon and Marty Balin.

Though he took one of his first musical lessons on piano from Herbie Hancock, and graduated from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music as a pianist, it’s the bass that’s defined his mature career in the music.

The bass he received from John Fogerty’s brother Tom – and watching recording sessions with famed bassists Anthony Davis and Lee Miles – sparked a lifelong passion for that instrument that now, 50 years later, has led to his emergence as a major independent force in contemporary jazz.

Returning from an engagement at San Antonio’s Balcones Jazz Festival, Tony is proud to call San Francisco home.

He reminisces…

“I remember going to summer camp just a few blocks from Bird & Beckett…
Silver Tree in the canyon…
Glen Canyon Park… is where I went.

“I grew up in The Haight during the 60’s. Later we moved to 17th and Irving.
I graduated from Washington High.

“I love that I grew up around a strong San Francisco Jazz Scene.
My dad, Merl Saunders made sure I got a great glimpse of all the great music.

“I grew up watching the greats and got to play with Les McCann, Esther Phillips,
Joe Sample and My Dad with Jerry Garcia.”

Smooth jazz is Tony’s musical home,
the bass guitar his beating heart…

“I Romance the Bass as I Romance Life”

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The Bird & Beckett Cultural Legacy Project

Our events are put on under the umbrella of the nonprofit 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 501(c)(3) non-profit...
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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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