UFO Pilots at Bird & Beckett features a new trio of East Bay natives now based in Brooklyn — Vincent Maclauchlan on guitar, Aidan Macarthy on bass, and Nadav Beary on drums — bringing a groove-centered, jam-rooted set back to the Bay Area. The band formed out of informal sessions between three friends living within...
The Jon Frank Trio plays at Bird & Beckett. Drummer Jon Frank has been a fixture of the San Francisco jazz scene since the mid-1970s — and a beloved music educator who taught in the city's public schools for 39 years. His trio with pianist Grant Levin and veteran bassist Chris Amberger swings through standards,...
A Jazz Combo from Community Music Center performs and hosts a Student-Centric Jam Session at Bird and Beckett.
Sylvia Cuenca Quintet at the Bird & Beckett features drummer Sylvia Cuenca leading her quintet on a return to her native Bay Area. Cuenca held the drum chair in Clark Terry's quintet and big band for 17 years and spent four more touring with Joe Henderson; tonight she's joined by rising tenor saxophonist Rico Jones,...
Harold Carr Quintet at Bird & Beckett features bassist, composer, and poet Harold Carr celebrating the release of his new album A Bird Is Whiter Than The Moon, with a free copy for every attendee. Carr has performed and recorded with Bobby McFerrin, Crystal Gayle, and Lightnin' Hopkins, and his lyrical, chamber-tinged originals come to...
The Jazz Therapy Trio brings three seasoned Bay Area musicians to Bird & Beckett for an evening of introspective, lyrical jazz. Pianist Ben Stolorow — praised by the SF Chronicle as "a pianist with a gift for crafting alluring melodies that cry out for lyrics" — leads the ensemble, drawing on studies with Fred Hersch...
Straight from New Orleans, the Silver Lining Serenaders bring the golden age of jazz to Bird & Beckett. Co-led by Ella Thomasine (violin & vocals) and Scott Stobbe (guitar & vocals), the band serves up vintage jazz and western swing from the 1920s–40s, laced with vocal harmonies, dreamy Billie Holiday-inspired ballads, and songs in English,...
Join us in celebrating the 85th birthday of Avotcja — poet, musicologist, DJ, percussionist, and true Bay Area cultural treasure — as she brings her award-winning ensemble Modúpue ("Gratitude") to Bird & Beckett. Named a Jazz Hero by the Jazz Journalists Association in 2015 and honored with lifetime achievement awards from PEN Oakland and BAJABA,...
Kasey Knudsen and Harvey Wainapel Quartet at Bird & Beckett features two highly accomplished saxophonists joining forces across generations in a new chordless quartet with bassist John Wiitala and drummer Jon Arkin, tailored to the bookstore’s intimate Glen Park room. Drawing on a thoughtfully selected repertoire that works without piano or guitar, they perform music...
Eli Yamin — known far and wide as "Dr. E" — comes to Bird & Beckett from New York City with a joyful, deeply bluesy program of blues, bebop, and swing, mixing topical originals with classics by Thelonious Monk, Elizabeth Cotten, and Willie Dixon. A 2026 Jazz Hero honoree who has shared stages with Illinois...
Ben Stolorow, piano; Peter Barshay, bass; Vince Lateano, drums. Part of the Bird & Beckett Jazz in the Bookshop (Sundays 5–7pm). Seating is limited — reservations recommended: 415-586-3733. Suggested contribution: $20–30; students $10–15; younger kids free.
The Scott Foster Quartet is a jazz ensemble led by San Francisco-based guitarist and educator Scott Foster. Jim Peterson, saxophone; Scott Foster, guitar; Dan Seamans, bass; Tom Hasset, drums
Freddie Bryant Trio at Bird & Beckett features acclaimed American jazz guitarist and educator Freddie Bryant leading a highly versatile trio in Glen Park’s intimate bookshop‑venue. With Sylvia Cuenca on drums and Doug Miller on bass, the ensemble showcases Bryant’s deep command of straight‑ahead jazz, global grooves, and lyrical improvisation, offering an evening of sophisticated...
Get ready as Bird & Beckett Books and Records welcomes the "Real Deal" himself, Mitch Polzak. Whether he’s flat-picking a guitar or tearing through a banjo solo, Polzak brings a circus-sized energy (literally—he’s a Ringling Bros. descendant) to the most intimate bookstore stage in San Francisco. The Performance The Music: Mitch Polzak and the Royal...
Takezo & Friends Blues Band is a prominent musical staple of the San Francisco Bay Area blues scene. Fronted by the critically acclaimed Japanese-born blues guitarist and singer Yoshinobu "Takezo" Takeda, the band delivers raw, powerful performances deeply rooted in classic rhythm, blues, and soul
Eric Shifrin, piano/vocal; Heath Proskin, bass; Mark Lee, drums. Part of the Bird & Beckett Jazz in the Bookshop / Happy Hour series (Fridays 6–8pm). Seating is limited — reservations recommended: 415-586-3733. Suggested contribution: $20–30; students $10–15; younger kids free.
A Jazz Combo from Community Music Center performs and hosts a Student-Centric Jam Session at Bird and Beckett.
After the End of the World Coretet brings decades of San Francisco creative music to Bird & Beckett — founded in 1989 by bassist and composer Bill Noertker alongside reedist Annelise Zamula and drummer Dave Mihaly, this experimental jazz ensemble draws on a vast range of influences from Ellington and Mingus to free jazz and...
The Duncan James Quartet with Ned Boynton brings decades of Bay Area jazz mastery to Bird & Beckett — Duncan James has been a fixture on the scene since the 1960s, celebrated for his elegant chord-melody playing and bebop-infused single-note lines, while longtime collaborator Ned Boynton brings a perfectly matched musical sensibility rooted in swing,...
Lewis Jordan & Music at Large bring a rare and powerful voice to Bird & Beckett — born in San Francisco and raised in Chicago with the blues, Jordan co-founded United Front, the seminal Bay Area ensemble celebrated for its originality and cultural synthesis, and has spent decades bridging music and the written word through...
The Scott Amendola Trio brings adventurous, deeply grooving jazz to Bird and Beckett — led by acclaimed Bay Area drummer, composer, and bandleader Scott Amendola, the trio blends bold improvisation with deep pocket rhythms into a sound that grooves, stretches, and stays deeply connected. Joined by Kasey Knudsen on alto saxophone and Mat Muntz on...
B3B4 is a San Francisco organ jazz quartet and a beloved regular at Bird & Beckett Books & Records in Glen Park. The band features Kevin Gerzevitz on Hammond organ, Tom Griesser on saxophone, Scott Foster on guitar, and Dan Foltz on drums. Combining the soulful growl of the Hammond B3 organ, the resonant bite...
Ben Stolorow, piano; Peter Barshay, bass; Vince Lateano, drums. Part of the Bird & Beckett Jazz in the Bookshop (Sundays 5–7pm). Seating is limited — reservations recommended: 415-586-3733. Suggested contribution: $20–30; students $10–15; younger kids free.
Byrds of a Feather bring their one-of-a-kind JazzReggae sound to Bird and Beckett — led by alto saxophonist and vocalist David Byrd, the band fuses jazz, reggae, soul, R&B, and blues into something genuinely hard to find anywhere else on the scene. Byrd's deep roots in both Chicago jazz and the reggae circuit give the...
Formed in 1998 the Bay Area ensemble Tango No. 9 explores tango music in its many manifestations — traditional dance music, vocal ballads, tango nuevo, and more recent compositions — bringing an idiosyncratic twist to each at Bird & Beckett. "The trio of instruments — violin, piano, and trombone — may seem a far cry...