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!

Saturday, March 23rd – 7:30-9:30pm
B3B4
Soulful funky organ jazz!

Tom Griesser, saxophone Kevin Gerzevitz, organ Scott Foster, guitar Dan Foltz, drums $20 cover, byob Reservations, call 415-586-3733 Reservations are honored ’til showtime. “For the sound of today’s organ combo, look no further than B3B4.” -Pete Fallico, KCSM Radio Host and CEO of Jazz Organ Fellowship Four of our favorite players on the local scene have been thrilling audiences for years with their funky little combo called B3B4, offering a rich dive into the diverse and divine jazz organ repertoire built up in the 1950s & 1960s by the greats of the instrument, including Jimmy Smith, Lonnie Liston Smith, Jack McDuff and countless others, and mixing in tunes that seem tailor-made for the purpose — including some of their own. Nothing but fun tonight!

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Thursday, March 21st – 7:30pm
Walker Talks
The Grail

Walker Talks! A monthly exploration on a diversity of topics by Walker Brents III. Tonight, The Grail. (Basically a live stream — at show time, the talk will be live on Bird & Beckett’s Youtube channel and Facebook page, but you can also come in person if you like – call 415-586-3733.) Expressed in material analogy, the Grail is a sword or stone or spear or cup.  Each of these has its own poetic history arising differently in culture after culture, in age after age.  The unity shared by these analogical forms is one seen not with but through the eye, and has given rise to many forms of poetic speech, residing in one source—the faculty of human poetic vision.  This is the vision which has from ancient times transformed the subject matter of the literary epic from heroic exploit to sublime character formation.  This is not so remote as…

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Friday, March 22nd – 6-8pm
Tony Johnson Quartet

Veteran drummer Tony Johnson, a master of swing, bebop and straight ahead jazz with 65 years on the San Francisco scene, has a monthly residency at Bird & Beckett. In the odd-numbered months (January, March, May, July, September, November, he brings his quartet with saxophonist Bob Kenmotsu, pianist Keith Saunders and bassist Eric Markowitz — first call, top flight jazz players all. Even-numbered months, he leads the 230 Jones Street band. Tony Johnson, a native Australian, slipped down from Canada and hit North Beach in 1959 while still in his early twenties, and immediately found work in the clubs there, recording in 1960 with vocalist Bev Kelly live at the Coffee Gallery in a band that included the legendary sax player Pony Poindexter on a date produced by Orrin Keepnews for Riverside Records. He toured with Earl Hines, played with Peggy Lee at the Venetian Room, and worked and recorded…

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Friday, March 22nd – 8:30-10pm
Dmitri Matheny Quartet
Matheny plays Mancini!

Dmitri returns! This time slinking & soaring through the Mancini catalogue! Reserve your seat now! (415) 586-3733 $20 cover charge; byob Matt Clark piano Ruth Davies bass Deszon X. Claiborne drums Dmitri Matheny, flugelhorn You know him, and you love him, but read up and drive deeper into the charm, beauty and talent that is Dmitri Matheny!  Click here! https://www.jazzmusicarchives.com/artist/dmitri-matheny Haven’t heard Dimitri Matheny live yet, but love jazz in all its beauty? You’re in for a wonderful show!

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O Pioneers of the Cosmostream! We’ve been vaccinating you against the plague of boredom and the scourge of demagoguery with live streamed events twice a week and more since March 2020, when it all came down!

Hungry to hear some of Bird & Beckett’s past live streams? On the home page you can scroll down to read the individual posts for the shows we’ve mounted in the past several months, a hint of what’s gone down since the pandemic lock-down began. In more amazing times, it would take you right back to the very first show of the current period, back on March 12, 2020, but that beautiful skein is no longer quite so easily accessed. Still, the evidence is there for those who dig. The March 12, 2020 show that signaled the shift was a Thursday evening performance by New York saxophonists Jessica and Tony Jones, both alumni of the Berkeley High jazz program, with NYC bassist Stomu Takeishi and local hero Deszon X. Claiborne on drums. The quartet’s booking for the night before at the Backroom over in Berkeley had been cancelled. A few…

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Yes! Believe your five senses–
shows for in-store audiences
resumed in mid-June 2021,
and continue apace

 Bird & Beckett’s events open to the public have been back since mid-June 2021. Mask up if you’re inclined, and do come in! (Not vaxxed? Please get vaxxed and be safer!) Jazz, poetry & more live in the shop and live streamed Come to 653 Chenery if you’re in town! Doors open at 7:20 for our 7:30 shows. $20 cover for trios and quartets $25 for quintets, $30 for sextets, etc. Cash at the door please! BYOB and BYOglass, and pack out what you pack in! Please feel free to wear a mask in the shop. We trust the science and its processes, and we trust SF’s DPH to keep us up to date on best practices! Advised best practices as of early September 2021 was to wear a mask indoors around people. If that makes you a little more comfortable being inside this winter, then do feel free. Sure…

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Water under the bridge…

The posts that follow show you what’s come and gone. Search the videos on our youtube channel or facebook page to find evidence of what you remember, or what you missed! Then, make sure you catch the next thing that catches your fancy. The live streams are great, but live music in a room with folks you know or ought to get to know, that’s irreplaceable…

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Sunday, March 17th – 5-7pm
The Vince Lateano Trio
featuring vocalist Ernest East

Ben Stolorow, piano Peter Barshay, bass Vince Lateano, drums with guest vocalist Ernest East $20 suggested donation per adult, byob Kids free Teens & students $5-$10 Vince Lateano has been an integral part of the San Francisco jazz community since he arrived in 1965, fresh out of the Vietnam-era military, born and raised in Sacramento. He leads this trio every 3rd Sunday, and the trio hosts a jam session on the last Sunday of each month. Bassist Peter Barshay has worked with Milt Jackson, Freddie Hubbard, Woody Shaw, Joe Henderson and Joe Lovano, and has played everything from salsa and straight ahead to funk-fusion, avant garde and music derived from the Afro-Cuban and Brazilian traditions — he brings a wealth of experiences to every date. Pianist Ben Stolorow, since moving to the Bay Area from Los Angeles to attend UC Berkeley in 1994, has become one of the most in-demand…

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Saturday, March 16th – 7:30-9:30pm
Charlie McCarthy Quartet

Charlie McCarthy, reeds David Udolf, piano Curtis Aikens, bass Akira Tana, drums $20 cover charge / byob Reservations: 415-586-3733 Charlie McCarthy is in a class by himself. The quartet will play several old standards and several originals, many of them quite new; and most of the old standards have been dressed up a bit for the occasion. Charlie, among the very greatest voices on reeds on the coast and renowned for decades, will front a terrific rhythm section — David Udolf on piano, Curtis Aikens on bass and Akira Tana on drums.   “You won’t be disappointed,” says Charlie, signing off, “Keep swingin’, CMcC”.    Jazz thrives at Bird & Beckett, a quarter century into 21st!  

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Friday, March 15th – 8:30-10pm
Amos Hoffman & Noam Lemish Quartet

Amos Hoffman, guitar & oud Noam Lemish, piano Miles Wick, bass Alex Aspinall drums $20 cover charge at the door (cash or venmo) byob reservations – 415-586-3733 The Amos Hoffman & Noam Lemish Quartet offers an inspired blend of jazz and Jewish folk melodies. Amos Hoffman is an internationally renowned oud virtuoso and innovator; Noam Lemish is a multi-faceted, world-class pianist-composer and professor at York University’s Department of Music in Toronto, Canada. For years, Amos and Noam have been collecting Jewish melodies from different parts of the world including Kurdish, Yemenite, Moroccan, Ladino, Russian and Israeli songs. The quartet’s lyrical and vibrant reimaginings of beloved Jewish melodies have been captivating audiences all across North America. In their work together, Hoffman and Lemish create a refreshing and compelling sound, filled with vibrant sonorities, unique instrument combinations and compelling arrangements. The renditions are simultaneously faithful to the songs’ origins and rooted in…

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Friday, March 15th – 6-8pm
The Jazz Happy Hour presents
the Scott Foster Ensemble, featuring
The Saxophone Congress!

The Saxophone Congress — three baritone sax players — Danny Bittker, Larry De La Cruz and Jim Peterson — with guitarist Scott Foster and drummer Dan Foltz perform music by Charles Mingus, Ornette Coleman and Carla Bley! Jazz in the bookshop every Friday, 6-8pm. A weekly tradition since 2002. Scott Foster Ensemble residency every third Friday! $25 suggested donation for quintets, but pay what you can and byob. Kids under 12, free; teens and music students, $5-$10 sliding scale. Your cover charge at the show helps us guarantee a fair wage to the musicians that work here. Individual donations from a great many generous members of the Bird & Beckett community are also required to meet that commitment, and for those we are very grateful. If you can and haven’t, please join our supporters. Bird & Beckett will always be a work in progress… Thanks for being part of the…

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Thursday, March 14th – 7-9pm
Mallar Bhattacharya & Ferhan Qureshi
sarod and tabla duo

Hindustani Classical Music Mallar Bhattacharya, sarod Ferhan Najeeb Qureshi, tabla $20/byob Reservations: 415-586-3733 Live stream found on our YouTube channel and Facebook page / donations appreciated Mallar Bhattacharya is a sarodist of the Acharya Baba Allauddin Seni Gharana of Maihar, India. Mallar began his musical training at the age of three, learning both Western and Hindustani violin from his father Dr. Jahar Bhattacharya, a student of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. Mallar became  a disciple of Ustad Aashish Khan at age 15 and has also studied the music of the Ali Akbar College of Music in San Rafael, California for over 35 years, having learned directly from Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and his archival material over that time. Mallar recently released a single of the raga Bhimpalasi, which is available on most streaming platforms: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM-ybSLfMPs&list=OLAK5uy_mRKN1uCZmznjvmUZ0wCIpIf7mS3eMCo9o. Ferhan Najeeb Qureshi is a senior disciple of the legendary tabla master Ustad Tari Khan. Prior to…

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Tuesday, March 12th – 7-9pm
Tim Berne Trio

Tim Berne, saxophone Tom Rainey, drums Gregg Belisle-Chi, guitar $20 cover charge (cash or venmo) at the door, byob Tonight, the seats have all been spoken for, but some limited standing room audience will be accommodated. (NB: Reservations for our shows are taken by phone starting three weeks before the performance date, and are cut off once 30 seats have been reserved.) For four and a half decades,  Tim Berne has recorded prolifically under his own name and alongside creative innovators of the jazz avant garde including his idol and mentor Julius Hemphill as well as Nels Cline, Vinny Golia, Paul Motian, Bill Frisell, Olu Dara, Herb Robertson, Hank Roberts, Mark Dresser, Ray Anderson, Michael Formanek, John Zorn and dozens more. He operates the Empire and Screwgun record labels and has recorded for Soul Note, Black Saint, JMT, ECM, Enja, Intakt and many others. His first recording on lp with…

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Sunday, March 10th – 5-7pm
The Seducers!
America’s Favorite Honky Tonk Band

  Raving it up on numbers by the masters of outlaw and classic country music, the Seducers entertain the regulars with tales of heartache, loneliness and wry self-aggrandizement, with the occasional trucking song thrown in for good measure. Joe Goldmark, pedal steel guitar Mitch Polzak, lead guitar and vocals Hank Maninger, bass guitar and vocals Kenny Owen, the Zen Cowboy Poet, drums BYOB and a twenty for the band.  

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POETS!ZOOM
twice monthly online poetry series
hosted by Kim Shuck
second and fourth Mondays
Monday, 3/11/24 – 7pm

Tonight, Kim Shuck (San Francisco Poet Laureate, 2017-2020) presents featured poets Garrett Caples and Julian Blackmon and conducts the open mic that follows. The Poets!Zoom series 2nd Mondays sessions always features two poets reading at length followed by an open mic. The 4th Mondays are all open mic. This evening at 7pm, join by Google Meet at this link: meet.google.com/njx-navd-vmp Or join by Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84350265713?pwd=eE84V3BYdWxiSFBHNHhmdUt1WTUzdz09 Meeting ID: 843 5026 5713 Passcode: 244211 Featured Poets Tonight: Garrett Caples is a poet living in San Francisco. He’s an editor at City Lights Books. His latest book Proses: Incomparable Parables! Fabulous Fables! Cruel Tales! will appear in May from Wave Books. Julian Blackmon, also known as Protected Poet, was born in Marion, Indiana, but found his poetic voice amidst the bustling streets of San Francisco. With his forthcoming poetry book, “PEACE OF ME,” set to release in May, he continues to captivate audiences across California…

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Saturday, March 9th – 7:30-9:30pm
The Ray Skjelbred Trio

Ray Skjelbred is in town for a string of dates on the Peninsula and in San Francisco before heading back up to Seattle, which he calls home these days. Ray is a unique pianist with a great feel for the piano masters of Chicago, the town where he was born and raised before moving with his family to Seattle. Early on he developed a great ear for the individualistic styles of Earl Hines, Jess Stacy, Joe Sullivan, Jimmy Yancey and Art Hodes as well as Mary Lou Williams, Thelonious Monk and Bill Evans and dozens of others. In the late ’50s, he gravitated to the Bay Area, where Burt Bales had set a standard beginning in the 1940s, when a trad jazz revival got underway with Lu Watters, Bob Scobey and Turk Murphy dominating the public perception. Ray wrote, “I was 18 the first time I saw Burt Bales playing…

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Friday, March 8th – 8:30-10pm
The Luke Schwartz Quartet

Tony Peebles – sax Luke Schwartz – guitar Andrew Higgins – bass Evan Williams – drums $20 / byob Influenced by contemporary and old-school players such as Jim Hall, Joe Pass, Jesse Van Ruller & Peter Bernstein, Luke Schwartz’s compositional style is inspired by that of post-bop icon Steve Swallow.  ​Luke returned to the Bay Area to make his mark on the local scene after stints in New Orleans and New York.  ​He can be found performing regularly at cafes, clubs, bars & restaurants throughout the Bay Area under his own name, The Luke Schwartz Trio & Quartet, as well as with a variety of other jazz, rock & eclectic musicians.

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Friday, March 8th – 6-8pm
Eric & the In Crowd
play tunes from the pens of
Mal Waldron & Jimmy Van Heusen

  Join us at our weekly Friday evening Jazz Happy Hour, 6-8pm! BYOB and a twenty for the trio. Kids are free. Students & teens, how about $10? The second Friday of each month in 2024, you’ll be regaled by Eric & the In Crowd, celebrating the tunesmiths who wrote the standards that jazz musicians have taught us to know and love. Pianist Eric Shifrin, bassist Ari Munkres and drummer Mark Lee will regale you this time around with compositions from the pens of Mal Waldron and Jimmy Van Heusen. Mal Waldron, born in 1925, spent the 1950s leading his own small combos while playing in the bands of Charles Mingus, Jackie McLean, John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy and composing for all of them, most famously the tune “Soul Eyes” that Coltrane played so memorably. Waldron was Billie Holiday’s accompanist from the spring of 1957 until her death in 1959,…

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POETS! read in the shop on the
first Thursday of each month.
March 7th, 7-9pm
Poets Judith Ayn Bernhard & Byron Spooner
open mic follows

Two veterans of the San Francisco poetry scene open the reading, and an open mic closes it out. Come to Bird & Beckett on the first Thursday of each month to take it in and lend your voice. Judith Ayn Bernhard is a founding member and past chair of Marin Poetry Center. She is the author of a book of poems, Prisoners of Culture. Her most recent work is Marriages, a collection of short prose pieces. She lives with her husband, Byron Spooner, in San Francisco. Byron Spooner is the author of Rounding Up a Bison: Stories (Andover Street Archives Press, 2021). He is retired as the Literary Director of the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library after 21 years. His writing has been published widely on a variety of platforms and won Honorable Mention in the 2021 Dillydoun International Fiction Prize competition for his story “The Acrobat Rides…

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Wednesday, March 6th – 7pm
Feminism and Storytelling in the 21st Century
Writers converge to honor
International Women’s Day

An event organized by writer Joan Gelfand. International Women’s Day is celebrated every March 8th around the globe, though its profile in the United States has generally been pretty low through the decades — we’d guess partly because of the patriarchy and partly because of the taint associated with that damned socialist impulse behind its first observance back in the spring of 1909, when the Socialist Party of America organized “Women’s Day” in New York City, that dual bastion of capitalism & revolution! Getting out ahead of the celebration by a couple of days — to get you ready to take to the streets on Friday — we’ll open the doors of Bird & Beckett to four writers and a moderator (herself a novelist, as well) to discuss the state of things for women and feminism in the here and now… discovering new narratives, as it were… Participating in this…

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Sunday, March 3rd – 5-8:30pm
Two CMC Student Jazz Combos
followed by an open mic
hosted by the Akira Tana Trio

Two jazz combos from the Community Music Center — one coached by Scott Foster and one coached by Charlie Gurke — will perform short sets starting at 5pm, with a 2-hour jam session open to all student jazz musicians following at 6:30pm. Celebrate CMC and celebrate jazz and the talented youth drawn to it! Come hear the music and consider the brilliance of these students, and think about what it takes to pursue jazz performance as a career! The Independent Musicians Alliance has ideas and schemes to make that more realistic in the Bay Area. We’ll clue you in if you come. And if you do come, bring a twenty to help us pay the musicians!

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Sunday, March 3rd – 2pm
Betty Wong’s CMC Year of the Dragon Concert

Each year, Betty Wong calls in the talents from San Francisco’s Community Music Center to celebrate the breadth of music that catches her ear and keeps her creative juices flowing. Marking the Year of the Dragon, she’ll bring a cavalcade of musicians – students, faculty and friends — to play music from a variety of cultures and traditions around the globe, capping the afternoon as always with a trio of jazz players that are long-time colleagues and friends — saxophonist Ken Rosen, pianist Randy Craig and bassist Richard Saunders. Following the trio, pianist/flutist Steve Shapiro, director of the CMC for 30 years until his retirement several years ago, will join his wife, the bassist Ellen Rosenthal, for a short set. Betty Wong is a bona fide treasure. Read this article to get a bit of a sense of what a power she is! And here are the Wikipedia facts. And…

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Saturday, March 2nd – 7:30-9:30pm
Mo’Fone
new album! “3 Skidoo”

Larry De La Cruz, alto saxophone Jim Peterson, baritone saxophone Jeremy Steinkoler, drums $20 cover charge; byob Students 25 and under $10 Kids 12 and under free   With its surprising and highly combustible line-up of two saxmen and one drummer, Mo’Fone has thrilled audiences with some of the funkiest jazz—-and jazziest funk-—being played today. Powering its way through inventive high-energy original compositions, Mo’Fone explores the sonic landscape of its unique instrumentation with a relentless adventurousness, creating a huge sound that belies its compact size.The band is celebrating the release of their 4th album, 3 Skidoo, featuring all original compositions by all 3 members. “If Mo’Fone doesn’t blow your socks off, you’re not paying attention.”  “Snaps and crackles like James Brown’s Famous Flames mixed with a New Orleans second line.” Mo’Fone’s improvisations and concept have twice earned them the award for Best Jazz Group in the East Bay Express Readers’…

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Friday, March 1st – 8:30-10pm
Rob Woodcock Quintet
new album! “GoGo7”

Henry Hung – trumpet Charlie Gurke – bari sax Dave Gibbons – piano Rob Woodcock – bass Evan Williams – drums $20-30 sliding scale cover charge. Help us pay a fair guaranteed wage to these musicians! Students 22 and under, $10 Watching in the live stream? Donate! Come out to the intimate concert space that is Bird & Beckett to hear an exciting combo celebrating the release of their new recording, executing the compositions of bassist and leader Rob Woodcock. http://robwoodcock.com/ Your cover charge at the show helps us guarantee a fair wage to the musicians that work here. Individual donations from a great many generous members of the Bird & Beckett community are also necessary. If you can and haven’t, please join their number. Bird & Beckett will always be a work in progress… Thanks for being part of the solution with your dollars, ears, intellect and loyalty!

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Friday, March 1st – 6-8pm
Klobas/Kesecker Ensemble
new album! “Blues Elixer”

Pat Klobas, bass; Tommy Kesecker, vibes; Terrence Brewer, guitar; David Rokeach, drums. $20 suggested per adult; byob. $10 teens and music students. Kids free. Reservations, call 415-586-3733. The Klobas/Kesecker Ensemble has an exquisite chemistry that makes for a special concert experience, and they arrive at Bird & Beckett with a new cd on the verge of release, their third, called “Blues Elixer.” They promise a delightful mix of original compositions new and old, and a scattering of beautifully conceived arrangements of jazz standards. Regarding their second cd, “Moment’s Notice” it was noted that “the timbre of textures seems unlimited and is applied with artistic savvy. The recording’s title cut, featuring Kesecker on vibes, is done with a new and distinct K/K Ensemble arrangement that cuts across jazz and Brazilian parameters. Kesecker’s vibes, Brewer’s guitar, Klobas’s acoustic bass and Rokeach’s drums are truly an ensemble that stands out as an original…

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Wednesday, February 28th – 7:30-9:30pm
50th Anniversary Tour!
Kahil El’Zabar’s Ethnic Heritage Ensemble
New album releases March 8:
“Open Me: A Higher Consciousness
of Sound & Spirit”

Kahil El’Zabar percussion, kalimba, voice Corey Wilkes trumpet Alex Harding baritone saxophone THE EHE’S ANNUAL BLACK HISTORY MONTH NATIONAL TOUR WRAPPING UP AT BIRD & BECKETT & CELEBRATING FIFTY YEARS! $30 cover at the door (cash or venmo) byob reservations, call 415-586-3733 As the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble wraps up its annual Black History Month tour, the Ensemble is sporting a new release, out March 8 from Spiritmuse Records, entitled “Open Me: A Higher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit.” Open Me is a joyous honoring of potent new directions of the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble; it’s a visionary journey into deep roots and future routes, channeling traditions old and new. It mixes El’Zabar’s original compositions with timeless classics by Miles Davis, McCoy Tyner, and Eugene McDaniels. Thus, the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble continues affirming their indelible, half-century presence within the continuum of Great Black Music. February 28th marks the EHE’s sixth date at…

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Sunday, February 25th — 5-7pm
Jam Session!

Jam session on the last Sunday of each month from 5 to 7pm! All jazz players welcome. Audience, please donate to help us pay the Vince Lateano Trio to host the jam — Ben Stolorow, piano; Peter Barshay bass, Vince Lateano, drums. Vince Lateano has been an invaluable part of the San Francisco scene since he came to the City in the mid-1960s. He quickly found his place in the local jazz scene, playing, recording and touring with Vince Guaraldi, subbing around town for Johnny Markham when Markham went on the road with Sinatra and other major acts, and working extensively with Cal Tjader, Eddie Duran, Chet Baker, Clare Fisher and a host of others through the years. Later, all through the 1990s ’til it closed as such in 2003, he was the house drummer at Jazz at Pearl’s in North Beach, playing with his own trio several nights a…

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Saturday, February 24th – 7:30-9:30pm
Roy Brown Organ Trio
featuring Bobby Cobb

Roy Brown brings his organ trio back to Bird & Beckett, with Bobby Cobb on guitar and Rusty Aceves on drums. For the last year and a half, Roy has had a weekly solo piano booking at the Adagio Hotel here in San Francisco, and he’s maintained a quartet since 2007 and an organ trio since 2011. Along the way, Roy has worked with singer Frankye Kellye (a three-month engagement in Shanghai in 2006, and festival engagements in Chiapas and Tabasco, Mexico in 2005), vibraphonist Yancy Taylor, saxophonists Jules Broussard and Charles Unger, and a host of other key Bay Area musicians. This year, he’ll be heard on piano on an album being recorded by the Larry Douglas/Jorge Pineda Alltet (Douglas is a long-time member of Roy’s organ trio). BYOB and a twenty to help us pay the band! Reservations, call the shop at 415-586-3733. Your cover charge at the…

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Friday, February 23rd – 8:30-10pm
Jeong Lim Yang + Goldberg/Reich/Glenn

The New York City-based, Korea-born bassist Jeong Lim Yang revisits Bird & Beckett in the company of three of San Francisco’s finest improving musicians — Ben Goldberg on clarinets, Rob Reich on accordion and piano, and Jordan Glenn on drums. $20 cover charge / byob call for reservations: 415-586-3733 Below, you’ll find video from Lim’s recent Bird & Beckett concert, performing music from the pen of Mary Lou Williams! Your cover charge at the show helps us guarantee a fair wage to the musicians that work here. Individual donations from a great many generous members of the Bird & Beckett community are also necessary. If you can and haven’t, please join their number. Bird & Beckett will always be a work in progress… Thanks for being part of the solution with your dollars, ears, intellect and loyalty!

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Friday, February 23rd – 6-8pm
Tony Johnson’s 230 Jones Street Band

Friday, 2/23/24 – 6-8pm: Tony Johnson’s 230 Jones Street Band – The Return of Glen Deardorff! Along with drummer Tony Johnson, guitarist Glen Deardorff has been with the 230 Jones Street Band since before its founder — the late saxophonist/flutist Chuck Peterson — began calling it the 230 Jones Street Band (or, more accurately, the 230 Jones Street, Local 6 Literary Jazz Band). The band was named for the address of the musicians union local where Chuck and his colleagues were active in the 1960s agitating for good contracts and fair wages & working conditions for the region’s professional musicians. Glen has been on hiatus since last February, so we’re more than pleased to have him back! Joining Tony and Glen tonight in the current iteration of the band are Charlie McCarthy on saxophone and flute, Chuck Bennett on bass and Max Perkoff on piano and trombone (sitting in for…

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Help us keep the arts alive and thriving!

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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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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