Sat 12/21 7:00 PM Bird & Beckett Books and Records [653 Chenery St. SF]
Streaming and in-person
… the adventures of the Chris Trinidad Trio continue as they take their sounds to Bird and Beckett in San Francisco! They're playing Chris's book of tunes spanning a range of Iridium Records releases including Common Themes, Certain Times, and Chant Triptych II. His compositions are inspired by such writers as Ralph Towner, Pat Metheny, Jack DeJohnette, Jan Garbarek, Bill Evans, Brad Turner, Chris Gestrin, and Chris Tarry. He also draws ideas from genres as disparate as Cuban Timba, Original Pilipino Music, Gregorian Chant, and British Progressive Rock. Join them for a warm evening of delectable sonic sustenance!  More...

Sat 12/21 8:30 PM The Lab [2948 16th St SF]
Christopher Robin Duncan: Seasons + Danishta Rivero  More...

Sat 12/21 9:00 PM The Caravan Lounge [98 Almaden Ave, San Jose, CA 95113]
Click to make donation  
X-Mas Metal, Experimental, Noise, Jazz show w/ #FREEJAZZHOUSEPARTY, Nine Dog Dick, Dust Lord, and All Shall Burn featuring live visuals by REALWARE  More...

Fri 12/27 7:00 PM Medicine for Nightmares [3036 24th St SF]
Other Dimensions in Sound with David Boyce  More...

Fri 12/27 8:00 PM Tom's Place [3111 Deakin Street Berkeley]
We have Fred Frith, the internationally renowned improviser and former Mills college professor who is playing with an unnamed and secret cellist who we are told is excellent.  More...

Fri 12/27 8:00 PM The Back Room [1984 Bonita Ave, Berkeley, CA]
Improvised/experimental music

Nathan Nakadegawa-Lee - sax/clarinet
Nick Reeves - cello
Matias E.A. - guitar
Sam Lefebvre - drums  More...

Sat 12/28 8:00 PM Tom's Place [3111 Deakin Street Berkeley]
December 28 we have the Kevin Murray Trio. Kevin Murray is a young drummer recently graduated from the New School and is rapidly becoming one of the most important percussionists of his generation. His side men are bay area mainstays Josh Allen on Saxophone and Tim Duff on Double Bass.  More...

Sun 12/29 8:00 PM Tom's Place [3111 Deakin Street Berkeley]
December 29 we have Gachopon which is an improvisational quartet featuring Nancy Beckman, Cindy Webster, Tom Bickley and Dean Santomieri; playing a variety of instruments including: shakuhachi, lyre, EWI (electronic wind instrument), bowed, amplified saw, hurdy-gurdy, taishogoto, guitar, percussion and voice. Opening for Gachopon we have Jasmine Zhang, a solo vocalist who has recently come to our attention and makes interesting and dynamic music from a operatic language of mantras.  More...

Sun 1/05 2:00 PM Old First Concerts [1751 Sacramento St. SF]
Sarah Cahill

Celebrating the composer James Cleghorn  More...

Sun 1/05 7:00 PM West Oakland Sound Series [2201 Poplar Street Dresher Ensemble Studio Oakland]
Chris Brown (composition, virtual piano and interactive electronics) and & JOHANNA POETHIG (video) present RhythmiChrome (2023), a suite of 7 scored+improvised pieces in just intonation.

For the first time in over a decade PHILIP GELB (buchla synth) has formed a new ensemble featuring 3 of the major players of the bay area scene (Kanoko Nishi-Smith, koto; Kyle Bruckmann oboe, english horn; Thomas Dimuzio synthesizer, sampler) and a newcomer/returnee to the bay area music community, FRED LONGBERG HOLM, cello.  More...

Sun 1/05 7:30 PM Temescal Arts Center [511 48th Street Oakland]
Doors That Only Open in Silence (open participation, non-hierarchical workshop in free improvisation)

Monthly series of improvisation research at Temescal Arts Center. Bring your instrument or come to listen. Movement and other disciplines encouraged. No advance notice needed — just show up.

Small groups will be randomly assembled from submitted names immediately before each group plays. Set up before 8:00 and be as ready to play as possible. We try to keep transition time between groups at a minimum. Over by 10pm.  More...

Wed 1/08 8:00 PM Luggage Store Creative Music Series [1007 Market Street SF]
VENDETTA RETREAT Ensemble
(Last concert at the Luggage Store Gallery)
In 2006, Jon Brumit‘s ensemble realized his Vendetta Retreat score (and celebrated its release on Edgetone Records) at the Luggage Store Gallery. Collective memory of it was that it cleared not only the club but the block. This review confirms aspects of that recollection. It’s time to realize the score once more with creative and non-violent alternatives to revengeful feeling.
Expect a double duo of drums (Jacob Felix Heule, Suki O'Kane) and guitars (Melne Murphy, Jas Stade), with electronicist Adria Otte.  More...

Fri 1/10 8:30 PM Victoria Theatre [2961 16th Street San Francisco]
San Francisco Tape Music Festival (Concert 1)
LUC FERRARI - Visage V (1958)
Maggi Payne - Surface Tension (2010)
ANNETTE VANDE GORNE - Vox Alia IV: Vox populi (2023)
MARTIN BÉDARD - Honey (Architectures From Silence No. 1) (2021)
MARIE-JEANNE WYCKMANS - Voyage, Voyage (2006)
S.C. SHARMA - After the War (1969)
NIKOS KANELAKIS - Inflection Point (2024)
SAM GENOVESE - Image Storm (2024)
CHERYL E LEONARD - Eremozoic (2021)
DOUGLAS MCCLAUSLAND - Premiere (2025)  More...

Sat 1/11 11:00 AM Center for New Music [55 Taylor St SF]
CAVE EVIL Gaming ALL DAY.
11 AM to 7 PM
--
8PM - ? Live Show

Bran...POS
Psyberdrum (CO)
Harjo Alone & Colt Thrower
Gargoyle Madrigal
Spider Math Eviscerating Crepe Commodes

$10 Day, $10 Night//$17 All day/night pass

BRING YOUR OWN FOOD, DRINKS  More...

Sat 1/11 7:00 PM Victoria Theatre [2961 16th Street San Francisco]
San Francisco Tape Music Festival (Concert 2)
JOHN CHOWNING - Phoné (1981)
AMON TOBIN - Piece of Paper (2011)
GILLES GOBEIL - Dans l'air du soir (2019)
MAŁGORZATA ALBIŃSKA-FRANK - Voices Found (2024)
ENRICO DORIGATTI - Quantum (2020)
I.S. MATHUR - Soundtrack of Shadow Play (1969)
JULIE MONDOR - Phloême (2024)
THOM BLUM - Combustible (2008)
CLIFF CARUTHERS - Blue Sky (2006)
Matt Ingalls - Sketches (2025)
KRISTIN MILTNER - Premiere (2025)  More...

Sat 1/11 9:30 PM Victoria Theatre [2961 16th Street San Francisco]
San Francisco Tape Music Festival (Concert 3 : ambient/long-form/water/worlds/universe)
LAURIE SPIEGEL - Patchwork (1977)
YANNICK DAUBY - Other Topographics (2023)
CHARLES DELUGA - Ecospherical: The Flood (2023)
MARCO DIBELTULU - Due atomi di idrogeno e uno di ossigeno (2024)
DAVID PIAZZA - L'arène aux songes (2023)  More...

Sun 1/12 7:00 PM Victoria Theatre [2961 16th Street San Francisco]
San Francisco Tape Music Festival (Concert 4 : recombinant/collage/moplultularpashmup)
KARLHEINZ STOCKHAUSEN - HYMNEN (3rd Centre - SPAIN) (1967)
JOHN CAGE / MEDIO MUTANTE - Williams Mix 23A (1953/2023)
JOHN OSWALD - Plexture '24 (excerpt) (2024)
NEGATIVLAND - Incomprehensible Solution (2020)
RUTH ANDERSON - DUMP (excerpt) (1970)
CARL STONE - Apsara (2022)
PEOPLE LIKE US - Gone Gone Beyond (excerpt) (2022)
PHILIPPE MACNAB-SÉGUIN - Gone For Eggs (2024)
DIANA SALAZAR - La Voz Del Fuelle (2012)
Gino Robair - Doom Scroll (2024)
Wobbly - Wild Why (2002)
MICHAEL ZELNER - Public (2024)  More...

Fri 1/17 8:00 PM Old First Concerts [1751 Sacramento St. SF]
Samantha Cho  More...

Sat 1/18 12:00 PM Center for New Music [55 Taylor St SF]
Gwaffle at 25 yrs, the longest running California sound series next to the Kilauea volcano competitor who remains without any acts in hermetic isolation of late.

Ma++ Ingalls-------------------------------
Lx Rudis---------------------------------
Daniel Blomquist-----------------------------------
Cruel Work-------------------------------
The American Flag---------------------


GOURMET PANCAKES WITH ENTRANCE FEE  More...

Tue 1/21 8:30 PM The Lab [2948 16th St SF]
Mary Ocher + Flung  More...

Sat 1/25 8:30 PM The Lab [2948 16th St SF]
Gregg Kowalsky + Blevin Blectum  More...

Wed 1/29 7:30 PM Herbst Theatre [401 Van Ness Ave SF]
San Francisco Performances Pivot Festival (San Francisco, CA)

Carla Kihlstedt and Del Sol String Quartet will perform Kihlstedt’s 26 Little Deaths, inspired by Edward Gorey’s macabre alphabet book, The Gashlycrumb Tinies. Moving between art song, pop song, and cabaret, this hour-long song cycle captures the pathos, humor, and wit of Gorey’s iconic images.  More...

Thu 1/30 8:00 PM Ivy Room [860 San Pablo Ave Albany]
Amendola vs. Blades return to The Ivy Room!  More...

Thu 1/30 8:30 PM The Lab [2948 16th St SF]
Strider + St Celfer  More...