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At Bird & Beckett, we think of Clark as a West Coast poet-- he lives in Petaluma and we came to know him in connection with his tight and long-standing friendship with the late poet David Meltzer-- for one, they co-founded the poets' rock band Serpent Power in San Francisco in 1966 and beginning in the 21st century often descended on us in tandem for readings that exerted an inexplicable and satisfying pull. The world knows him in a larger sense -- born and raised in Providence, Rhode Island, he early on earned respect as an experimental poet associated with the Language movement and the New York School. In a 1968 statement of his poetics he writes, “Words have a universe of qualities other than those of descriptive relation: Hardness, Density, Sound-Shape, Vector-Force, & Degrees of Transparency/Opacity.” As a drummer, music was always an integral part of his practice as well. In the band Ouroboros, Clark, on drums, works with reed player Joseph Noble and theremin player Andrew Joron, themselves both poets as well.
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Afterwards, Sunday at 4:30 pm
let loose with the Chicago blues of
Aki Kumar and Jon Lawton
You can't go wrong!
$10-15 donation requested; students & broke folks pay what you can.
B&B is a BYOB establishment, so take care of your own needs there.
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Looking further out...
Well, the next day, actually, we host poets Beau Beausoleil and Tamsin Smith.
An open mic follows. That's Monday, March 18th at 7pm
Mark your calendar for another poetry reading on Thursday, March 21st at 7pm in the series that organizers Ingrid Keir and Jennifer Barone call "Birds of Paradise" featuring local women poets -- this time out, Thea Mathews, Norma Smith, Lauren Ito, Kimi Sugiyoka, JB herself and Casandra Rockwood-Rice.
Friday, the 22nd, the 230 Jones Street jazz band holds forth as they do on the fourth Friday of every month.
Saturday, the 23rd, saxophonist Michael Zilber leads a quartet featuring Keith Saunders on piano, Peter Barshay on bass and Akira Tana on drums. Come hear what four consummate jazz musicians with decades of experience can cook up on the spur of the moment.
Sunday, the 24th, poets Karen Hildrebrand and Ron Riekki blow through town with new collections to read from.
Sunday, the 24th, after the poets -- at 4:30 -- saxophonist Rob Sudduth leads a trio with pianist Dahveed Behroozi and drummer Jason Lewis. More top drawer jazz by pros you likely haven't yet heard.
Then take a day off and come back Tuesday evening, the 26th, for NY-based, San Jose-born drummer Sylvia Cuenca, who often makes a stop at Bird & Beckett when she's in the Bay Area. She's got New York colleagues Roni Ben-Hur (guitar) and Harvie S. (bass). NY knows. You should, too. Though maybe you do-- the trio played here several months back and liked it well enough to book a return visit. Top drawer. We're lucky that way!
Grant Levin is back with Noel Jewkes, Kash Kiliion and Mark Lee on Friday, March 29th... Wow! Flugelhornist Dmitri Matheny is stopping in for a Burt Bacharach night, with Ken French, Ron Belcher and Greg Wyser-Pratt the next night, Saturday, March 30th... Wow!
And Wendy DeWitt, the Queen of Boogie Woogie is here Sunday afternoon March 31st with drummer Kirk Harwood and guitarist Takezo Takeda. Walker Brents is in early that day with a talk on the tao.
April brings us a reunion of players from drummer Eddie Marshall's band to play his music -- sax player Kenny Brooks, trumpeter Peck Allmond, pianist Glen Pearson, bassist Jeff Chambers... and on Eddie's drum throne, his son Alcide Marshall. That's on April 12th.
May 10th, we've got a double bill, with Tammy Lynne Hall's trio in the 5:30 slot and Sylvia Cuenca's trio with guitarist Paul Bollenbeck at 9pm. Scott Amendola plays in duet with Phillip Greenlief the next day.
In June, look forward to great dates with Patrick Wolff on the 1st, New York's Ken Fowser on the 4th, Darren Johnston on the 7th, Adam Shulman on the 8th, Matt Renzi on the 15th, Frank Tusa on the 22nd... get the idea?
Jazz, poetry and more at Bird & Beckett... week in and week out. Tell a friend, "Meet me at Bird & Beckett." They won't be sorry, and neither will you!
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Pianist Grant Levin
