Bird & Beckett to Host Album Release in July

Prior to the pandemic, information about jazz performed at Bird & Beckett Books and Records tended to show up regularly in the weekly Bleeding Edge articles that appear on Mondays. Sadly, on this particular Monday, there are no Bleeding Edge gigs within the San Francisco city limits to be given account this week. However, next month there will be an album release tour that will visit the West Coast; and that tour will include a stop at Bird & Beckett. So this seems like an appropriate day to offer a preview.

Saxophonist Joel Frahm (from the Home page on his Web site)

The album to be featured on this tour is The Bright Side, which was actually released a little less than a year ago. The performers are a trio led by Joel Frahm, who plays both tenor and soprano saxophones. The other members of the trio are Dan Loomis on bass and Ernesto Cervini on drums. When the album was released, Brian Morton wrote the following in his review for the “jazz, blues and beyond” magazine DownBeat:

Pianoless trios can sound shambolic, even with great players, as if everyone is bailing furiously to keep the boat from swamping. Here, though, the trio plays as a unit, with absolute confidence. … He [Frahm] called a previous album We Used To Dance. These guys still do.

The visit to Bird & Beckett has already claimed a spot on the Calendar Web site. The performance will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 19. It is expected to be a two-set evening, which will run until about 9:30 p.m.

Readers following Bird & Beckett activities probably know that many of their concerts are live-streamed to the Bird & Beckett sites on both YouTube and Facebook. Whether this particular event will be live-streamed will probably be decided in about a month’s time. There will be a $20 cash cover charge at the door for those planning to be part of the Bird & Beckett audience. Doors will open at 7:20 p.m.

As of this writing, masks are still required for those in attendance. The location of the shop is convenient for those using public transportation. The address is 653 Chenery Street, which is a short walk from the Glen Park station that serves both BART and Muni.