2011 August

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  • The Cuban Drumbeat, by Piero Gleijesis - $15.00
    In waging a long war against oppression and misery in the third world, Castro's Cuba sent more troops into battle on foreign soil in defense of besieged populations than all but the U.S., Russia and a few Western European countries. Gleijeses wonders what's next for a post-Castro Cuba. […]
  • Two Underdogs and a Cat, by Slavenka Drakulic - $17.00
    Drakulic, well known to readers of The Nation, the New York Times and the New York Review of Books, ponders the fate of the communist idea through three stories: "An Interview with The Oldest Dog in Bucharest," "A Guided Tour of the Museum of Communism" and "A Cat Keeper in Warsaw" […]
  • The Idea of Communism, by Tariq Ali - $15.00
    "What Was Communism" series editor Ali ponders the over-arching question, and argues for a new form of socialism and global planning. […]

  1. Seabop

    August 31, 2011 by Eric

    Friday, September 2nd, 5:30 to 8:00 pm

    jazz in the bookshop
    Every Friday Evening

    It’s the first Friday of the month, and that means it’s time for Don Prell’s SeaBop Ensemble!  Next Friday (the second Friday of the month) we host The Jimmy Ryan Quintet. Bird & Beckett’s Friday jazz sessions have been going on since 2002 and show no signs of slowing down…

    For each SeaBop date, Don Prell assembles the band from a retinue of top-knotch musicians steeped in the bebop and west coast jazz that we love so well…  For Sept. 2nd, Don has concocted a SeaBop trio configuration of guitar, piano and bass — no drums or horns — with Scott Foster, guitar; Michael Parsons, piano; and Don himself on bass.

    Don always puts a lot of effort into conceiving and rehearsing the particular configuration of musicians/instrumentation and the set list itself.  We’ll be excited to hear the unique weave of these three musicians and instruments, and the compositions they’ll explore.

    Don took up the bass as a teen in Los Angeles in the ’50s and has been dedicated to jazz ever since.  His early career included a stint as bassist with the Bud Shank Quintet, which traveled internationally– including concerts in Europe and South Africa with vocalist Peggy Lee.  He also put in 30 years with the San Francisco Symphony.  These days, it’s all about jazz…

    On September 9th, come early for The Jimmy Ryan Quintet– music starts at 5:30 pm and you don’t want to miss a note of it! Jimmy’s band includes Henry Hung, trumpet; Danny Grewen, trombone; Scott Foster, guitar; Bishu Chatterjee, bass and Jimmy on drums. 

    It’s a great scene right up to the 8:00 pm quittin’ time.  Then head over to the taqueria and finish things off right! 

    Treat yourself to a terrific evening of live music in a very, very convivial atmosphere.  Why, it might even move you to buy a book!  (Don’t resist that urge! It keeps the bookshop in business so that we can continue to propagate the culture that feeds your soul.)

    Category: B&B Events, jazz in the bookshop, Music eventsTags: , , , | Comments (0)

  2. Poets Berkson/McNaughton

    August 29, 2011 by Eric

    Monday, August 29th, 7:00 pm

    Bill Berkson
    and Duncan McNaughton

    POETS!

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Bill Berkson and Duncan McNaughton are contemporaries, friends and widely respected literary figures.  In addition to their writings (more than a dozen books of poetry by Duncan since 1961, and a like number of volumes of art writing, poetry and other material by Bill beginning in about the same year), both have been long engaged through critical work and correspondence in furthering the understanding of artistic endeavor.  Both have been important teachers in the Bay Area as well–  Duncan founded the innovative and highly influential Poetics Program at New College in 1965 and directed it until 1990; and Bill was a key faculty member at the renowned San Francisco Art Institute from 1984 to 2008. Both have roots on the east coast — Bill was born in New York in 1939; Duncan in Boston in 1942 — and came of age intellectually there, though they now firmly identify with both coasts.  They have both contributed significantly to American letters throughout their careers, for fifty years and more.

    Category: B&B Events, POETS!Tags: , | Comments (0)

  3. Anthony Brown & Friends

    by Eric

    Sunday, September 4th, 5:30 & 6:30 pm – two sets

    Anthony Brown & Friends

    which way west?
    Sunday concert series

    Percussionist Anthony Brown, born of an African-American/Native American father and a Japanese mother, is a mainstay in a hugely influential movement that started locally three decades ago, as a handful of talented Asian-American musicians began to develop innovative approaches to jazz composition, instrumentation and performance.  After playing as a youth in pop and R&B bands and working in military choruses and jazz settings, Anthony co-founded with bassist Mark Izu and trumpeter George Sams the San Francisco-based ensemble known as United Front– which proceeded to blaze the way along a path that has led to the Asian-American Jazz Orchestra and related projects by colleagues Jon Jang, Francis Wong, Melecio Magdaluyo and many others.

    Today at Bird & Beckett, Anthony, on drumset and percussion, is joined in a trio by Mark Izu on bass and Sheng (Chinese mouth organ) and Masaru Koga on saxophones, flute, Shakuhachi and Brazilian percussion.

    Mark was a co-founder of United Front with Anthony and trumpeter George Sams and remains a leading participant in the Asian American jazz movement; and has composed for symphony, film, theater, dance and jazz; he was principal curator of the SF Asian Art Museum’s Asian American Jazz Festival for two decades; and he has won an Emmy Award for composition.

    Brown and Izu have collaborated productively along the way with the likes of Steve Lacy, James Newton, John Carter, David Murray, Zakir Hussain, Cecil Taylor and countless other giants of modern jazz, as well as with world music figures from numerous geographic corners.

    Mas Koga is a young player who grew up in Japan steeped in American jazz and came to world music influences during his undergraduate days at San Jose State University. He has performed with influential cross-cultural musicians and educators including Hafez Modirzadeh, Francis Wong, John Carlos Perea, Wayne Wallace and Fred Ho.

    This promises to be a brilliant afternoon of progressive music in the intimate setting that is Bird & Beckett.

    Category: B&B Events, Music events, which way west? Sunday concertsTags: , | Comments (0)