Tue 9/16 7:00 PM Make-Out Room [3225 22nd St SF]
Jazz at the Make-Out Room (formerly the Monday Make-Out) continues! A wily evening of cutting-edge jazz, free improvisation, and creative music.
***
Jazz at the Make-Out Room
Tuesday, September 16, 6pm doors/7pm show

7pm Song & Dance Trio
(Karl Evangelista - Guitar, Jordan Glenn - Drums, Cory Wright - Saxophone)

8:15pm Trio
(Ben Goldberg - Clarinet, Ben Davis - Cello, Tim Bulkley - Drums)  More...

Thu 9/18 5:00 PM The Yard [Downtown San Jose Dm: @theyard.sj]
Experimental Improvised Electronic and Instrumental Music!!

Four 30 minute sets of local Bay Area musicians
Jam sesh after the performances BRING YOUR AX!
Drum kit and pa available  More...

Thu 9/18 7:00 PM Black Cat Jazz Supper Club [400 Eddy St San Francisco, CA 94109]
Caelan Cardello Trio ft. Jonathon Muir-Cotton & Domo Branch

Together, this trio delivers an electrifying vision of where jazz is headed—sophisticated, soulful, and unapologetically fresh.  More...

Thu 9/18 7:30 PM Wyldflowr Arts [809 37th St West Oakland]
Francis Wong
3-Day Residency
featuring Purple Gums

Get tickets  More...

Thu 9/18 7:30 PM The Back Room [1984 Bonita Ave Berkeley]
INSECT LIFE: Ben Goldberg, Raffi Garabedian, Danny Lubin-Laden, Ben Davis with Myra Melford & Hamir Atwal.  More...

Fri 9/19 5:00 PM Listening Party [RSVP for attendance details]
w i n d o w listening party
$FREE | RSVP HERE

Bimodal Press hosts a listening party for w i n d o w, a 97-minute excerpt from the 14-hour performance of Thingamajigs Performance Group and poet Stephen Ratcliffe, recorded live on September 4, 2022.  More...

Fri 9/19 6:00 PM Mr Tipple's [39 Fell St SF]
Lisa Mezzacappa Quartet

Two sets:
6:00 pm - 7:05 pm
7:25 pm - 8:30 pm
Adventurous approaches to standard jazz repertoire, original music by members of the group, and rarely performed gems by heroes Herbie Nichols, Charles Mingus, Carla Bley, Ornette Coleman, Sam Rivers and others.

Aaron Bennett | Tenor Sax
Mark Clifford | Vibraphone
Lisa Mezzacappa | Bass
Eric Garland | Drums  More...

Fri 9/19 7:00 PM Medicine for Nightmares [3036 24th St SF]
Other Dimensions in Sound: Boyce/Huegel/James Trio  More...

Fri 9/19 7:30 PM CNMAT [1750 Arch Street Berkeley]
INSECT LIFE: Ben Goldberg, Raffi Garabedian, Danny Lubin-Laden, Ben Davis with Myra Melford & Hamir Atwal  More...

Fri 9/19 7:30 PM Mills College Littlefield Concert Hall [5000 MacArthur Blvd Oakland]
Schola Cantorum SF, Darius Milhaud Concert — Mills Music Now

Join Schola Cantorum SF and friends in a program of stunning, rarely performed choral music by Milhaud and his contemporaries.  More...

Fri 9/19 7:30 PM Audium [1616 Bush Street]
Red Clay Sound Haus at Audium  More...

Fri 9/19 8:00 PM Indexical [Tannery Arts Center 1050 River St. #119 Santa Cruz]
Luke Wyland + Briana Marela  More...

Sat 9/20 7:00 PM BKUMC Church [451 MORAGA Way, Orinda CA 94563]
Ensemble ARI, a professional classical group, presents Schumann’s Piano Trio alongside vibrant contemporary works by California composers.  More...

Sat 9/20 7:00 PM Opening Ears Concert Series [1026 Pleasant Oaks Dr 94523 In pleasant hill]
James Goode solo electronics
Scott Looney (piano/electronics) in duo with Aaron Bennett Saxophone  More...

Sat 9/20 7:30 PM Audium [1616 Bush Street]
Red Clay Sound Haus at Audium  More...

Sat 9/20 8:00 PM Center for New Music [55 Taylor St SF]
Alex Heigl presents a concert of original compositions augmented by historical images and recordings drawn from the Library of Congress' collection "California Gold: Northern California Folk Music from the Thirties."  More...

Sat 9/20 8:00 PM Birdhouse Gallery [2548 Judah St. San Francisco]
Click to make donation  
Babbling at the Birdhouse
Glenn / Katz Duo
Live at Birdhouse Gallery
with
Julie Herndon
and
Matias E.A.  More...

Sun 9/21 5:00 PM Spruce Street Concerts [send email to harry@fullplatemedia.com]
Violinist Jennifer Choi presents a program she calls "The Partita Project", a violin recital featuring John Zorn's Partita, the Bach D Minor Partita No. 2, and Missy Mizzoli's Dissolve, O My Heart, a work inspired by the monumental Chaconne movement of the Bach 2nd Partita.  More...

Sun 9/21 7:15 PM West Oakland Sound Series [2201 Poplar Street Dresher Ensemble Studio Oakland]
FRED LONBERG-HOLM is trying to make sense of this world while making sounds on the cello and just about anything else he can get his hands on. He performs a duo of improvised music with Grammy-nominated percussionist William Winant, internationally regarded as a leading performer of avant-garde music.

Bassist KATHRYN SCHULMEISTER—praised for her “expressive and captivating performance” and a faculty member at the University of the Pacific—and jazz pianist NICK SANDERS—a Sunnyside Records recording artist celebrated for his inventive, acrobatic style—draw on their eclectic musical backgrounds to perform original compositions and improvisations, including previews from Schulmeister’s upcoming debut solo album Imagining Hands.  More...

Mon 9/22 6:00 PM Live Oak Park [1301 Shattuck Ave Berkeley, CA]
Wendy Reid's Ambient Bird-Live Oak
with sfSOUND, the bird ensemble,
and Brenda Hutchinson's dailybell
musicians:
Lulu, African Grey parrot
Wendy Reid, violin
Krys Bobrowski, gilsglas
Brenda Hutchinson, long tube
Aurora Josephson, voice
Ron Heglin, tuba
David Samas, percussion
Kanoko Nishi, koto
Ben Davis, cello
Diane Grubbe, flute
Matt Ingalls, clarinet
Brendan Lai-Tong, trombone
John Ingle, saxophone
David Michalak, skatch birds  More...

Wed 9/24 8:00 PM Tom's Place [3111 Deakin Street Berkeley]
Twitch: Fred Frith & Jordan Glenn  More...

Thu 9/25 6:00 PM Asian Art Museum Samsung Hall [200 Larkin Street, San Francisco]
Yan Jun (Beijing) and Kevin Corcoran (San Francisco), improvisation for electronics, acoustic instruments, and voice. 6:00-7:00 PM at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco.  More...

Thu 9/25 7:00 PM Indexical [1050 River Street, Studio #119, Santa Cruz, CA 95060]
Click to make donation  
Santa Cruz Electronic Music OM is a series of live electronic music every 4th Thursday of the month in Santa Cruz, from ambient to techno and improv to sequenced; using synthesizers, sequencer devices, and other electronic instruments featuring David Leikam, plus more!?  More...

Thu 9/25 7:30 PM Wyldflowr Arts [809 37th St, Oakland]
Fred Lonberg-Holm w/ Krys Bobrowski and Brenda Hutchinson  More...

Thu 9/25 8:00 PM California Ballroom [1736 FRANKLIN ST. OAKLAND, CA 94612]
Click to make donation  
Award-winning composer and record-holding one-man band, Samson Y Hiss, brings his psychotic ooze of circus horror, opera, and theatre to Oakland. The theatrical experience features an original story, art song, an avant-garde quartet (organ, sax, tuba, percussion), circus performers and overhead projectors. Synopsis? Patient 51 escapes an insane asylum, falls headfirst into a traveling carnival and flees across the desert from the authorities—a wake of vultures. Carnival of Psychos isn't a place, but a theatrical escape hatch into terror and lunacy.  More...

Thu 9/25 8:00 PM Gray Area Art And Technology [2665 Mission St. SF]
Kelly Moran Live AV
with Shipwreck Detective

Join us for an unforgettable evening with Kelly Moran, blending virtuosic piano with electronic dreamscapes.  More...

Fri 9/26 7:00 PM California Ballroom [1736 FRANKLIN ST. OAKLAND, CA 94612]
Click to make donation  
Award-winning composer and record-holding one-man band, Samson Y Hiss, brings his psychotic ooze of circus horror, opera, and theatre to Oakland. The theatrical experience features an original story, art song, an avant-garde quartet (organ, sax, tuba, percussion), circus performers and overhead projectors. Synopsis? Patient 51 escapes an insane asylum, falls headfirst into a traveling carnival and flees across the desert from the authorities—a wake of vultures. Carnival of Psychos isn't a place, but a theatrical escape hatch into terror and lunacy.  More...

Fri 9/26 7:00 PM Medicine for Nightmares [3036 24th St SF]
Other Dimensions in Sound: ObandoBoyce/Funkonya  More...

Fri 9/26 7:30 PM Audium [1616 Bush Street]
Red Clay Sound Haus at Audium  More...

Fri 9/26 8:30 PM Bird & Beckett Books and Records [653 Chenery St. SF]
Lisa Mezzacappa 5(ish)
Aaron Bennett - tenor sax
Kyle Bruckmann - oboes, synth
Mark Clifford - vibraphone
Brett Carson - piano
Lisa Mezzacappa - bass
Jordan Glenn - drums  More...

Sat 9/27 11:00 AM Center for New Music [55 Taylor St SF]
All Day gaming:11 AM to 7 PM Horror games: Cave Evil, Psycho Raiders, Freakface!!!, Sea Evil, Don't Let The Wolves Eat Our Baby!

Bring your own food-beverage, or fooberage, for eating.Ya'll can head next door for some Yemeni treats also.&&&---&&&Night show at 8pm. Delicatrocities will provide food in the evening. A horror based food of course!  More...

Sat 9/27 7:30 PM Bird & Beckett Books and Records [653 Chenery St. SF]
Darren Johnston's Standard Issue  More...

Sat 9/27 7:30 PM Audium [1616 Bush Street]
Red Clay Sound Haus at Audium  More...

Sat 9/27 8:00 PM Indexical [Tannery Arts Center 1050 River St. #119 Santa Cruz]
Rick Walker + David Tristram + CHATT3R  More...

Sun 9/28 6:00 PM Noc Noc [557 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA 94117]
Future Perfect SF features live electronic hardware performances monthly. Experimentation is encouraged. Music for musicians. Featuring Mister Unruly, Aquamoon, A.K.aye, Minus Man, David Leikam, plus more!?  More...

Sun 9/28 7:15 PM West Oakland Sound Series [2201 Poplar Street Dresher Ensemble Studio Oakland]
VEN VOISEY is a sculptor, composer, and designer who currently splits his time between Oakland, CA and Wonder Valley (Twentynine Palms), CA. His work is informed by an attention to surroundings; he creates rituals, tools and circumstances as a means of exploring the relationship between internal and external space; between the spiritual and physical.

THREE TRAPPED TIGERS Recorder Duo (David Barnett and Tom Bickley) present Pilgrim songs from the 14th c. Llibre Vermell de Montserrat, selections from “Music for Every Occasion” by Alvin Curran, a ballade by 14th c. Italian Francesco Landini, a 13th c. aubade, Bickley’s Hibernian Cities/Hebridean Islands for alto recorder and electronics, and Medieval Nights for solo tenor recorder by Pete Rose. As the styles and periods juxtapose, with improvisation as a through line, the duo invites you to explore pre modern music for post modern ears and vice versa.  More...

Sun 9/28 8:00 PM Center for New Music [55 Taylor St SF]
Featuring Northern California’s most versatile and innovative musicians—Motoko Honda (pianist-composer), Cory Wright (multi-woodwinds), Jordan Glenn (drums), and Matt Small (bass)—the Simple Excesses Quartet delivers a bold blend of classical chamber music, jazz, free jazz, and experimental sound. Intricate, dynamic, and full of surprises, their performances take audiences through shifting sonic landscapes, captivating both performers and listeners alike.  More...

Thu 10/02 7:00 PM Shapeshifters Cinema [567 5th St. Oakland]
Do-Over Music Series @ Shapeshifters Cinema

7pm: Chris Brown's "RhythmiChrome"
8pm: Improvised music and film with Chris Brown, Isabelle Waldner Kalb, Danishta Rivero, Sadie Greyduck, Jordan Glenn and films screened and manipulated by the Shapeshifters hosts  More...

Fri 10/03 6:00 PM Bird & Beckett Books and Records [653 Chenery St. SF]
Harold Carr with Bruce Ackley, Andrew Voigt, Flavia Cervino-Wood and Derek Coombs  More...

Sat 10/04 5:00 PM Indexical [Tannery Arts Center 1050 River St. #119 Santa Cruz]
Whitney Johnson - FIAT  More...

Sun 10/05 2:00 PM The Tiger Garage [a private studio in south Berkeley, near Ashby BART]
The Birthdays Concert by Three Trapped Tigers Recorder Duo (David Barnett & Tom Bickley, recorders and electronics): medieval, trecento, and new music, including selections from Alvin Curran's "Music for Every Occasion," Tom Bickley's "Hibernian Cities/Hebridean islands," and Pete Rose's "Medieval Nights."  More...

Sun 10/05 7:15 PM West Oakland Sound Series [2201 Poplar Street Dresher Ensemble Studio Oakland]
SFSOUNDGROUP presents a concert honoring recently departed composers. The first half features works by the Russian composer SOFIA GUBAIDULINA (1931 – 2025), known for her spiritual and dramatic works. The second half includes a circular breathing wind duo by the pioneering minimalist composer TOM JOHNSON (1939–2024), and a work for improvisers and tape by the celebrated composer and conductor PETER EÖTVÖS (1944–2024). The evening also includes "Instruments II" by MORTON FELDMAN, a prime example of his evolving -- and often overlooked -- output from the 1970's. Rounding out the program with a living composer, sfSound's own MONICA SCOTT presents a recent composition for cello and piano.  More...

Sun 10/05 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.  More...

Tue 10/07 7:30 PM Temescal Arts Center [511 48th Street Oakland]
Improvisation Workshop hosted by Lewis Jordan: Inviting musicians, poets, dancers, to a non-hierarchical setting to improvise together. Improvisation is the key.  More...

Sat 10/11 12:00 PM Center for New Music [55 Taylor St SF]
Click to make donation  
G|O|D|W|A|F|F|L|E||N|O|I|S|E||P|A|N|C|A|K|E|S

Gourmet pancakes and exceptional sounds from California’s best featuring Andrew Wayne (Sac), Michael Gendreau, Fluorescent Grey, David Leikam, Doom Legs, plus more!?  More...

Sat 10/11 8:00 PM Indexical [Tannery Arts Center 1050 River St. #119 Santa Cruz]
Maria Chavez + La Macacoa  More...

Sat 10/11 8:00 PM Zellerbach Hall [UC Berkeley Berkeley]
Kronos Quartet will perform new and recent works by an international cohort of strikingly original women composers, including world premieres by Dai Wei and Victoria Shen; plus a special presentation of Beyond the Golden Gate, featuring Wu Man, pipa, in conversation with David Lei.  More...

Thu 10/16 7:00 PM Brava Theatre [2781 24th Street SF]
A panoply of composers will assemble for the 29th Other Minds Festival in San Francisco, an international annual showcase for composers held at the Brava Theater Thursday–Sunday, October 16–19, 2025. Join us for multi-generational musical connections, multimedia masterpieces, and contrasting takes on the fusion of gamelan and American musical traditions.  More...

Fri 10/17 8:30 PM Bird & Beckett Books and Records [653 Chenery St. SF]
Will Bernard / Beth Custer Duo  More...

Sat 10/18 7:30 PM Weill Hall [GREEN MUSIC CENTER | SONOMA STATE UNIVERSITY | 1801 EAST COTATI AVENUE, ROHNERT PARK, CA]
Join the Kronos Quartet as they connect iconic Nonesuch records like El Sinaloense from Nuevo, Terry Riley’s Cadenza on the Night Plain, for the 40th anniversary of Nonesuch, with new works from Charlton Singleton, Peni Candra Rini, Aleksandra Vrebalov, and recent arrangements from Kronos cellist and composer, Paul Wiancko.  More...

Sat 10/18 8:00 PM Indexical [Tannery Arts Center 1050 River St. #119 Santa Cruz]
Eric Wong + Anna Friz  More...

Sun 10/19 2:00 PM Presidio Theatre Performing Arts [99 Moraga Avenue San Francisco]
Facing the Moon: Songs of the Diaspora

Genny Lim turns her gaze to the full moon at Mid-Autumn Festival. Voices of mothers and daughters, across continents and generations, anchor this multimedia performance with new music by Chinese-diaspora composers Theresa Wong, Vivian Fung and Meilina Tsui. Del Sol String Quartet  More...

Fri 10/24 8:00 PM Indexical [Tannery Arts Center 1050 River St. #119 Santa Cruz]
Matthew Ryals + CHARI  More...

Sat 10/25 1:30 PM Indexical [Tannery Arts Center 1050 River St. #119 Santa Cruz]
Workshop: Cultivating an Improvisational Practice as an Electronic Musician  More...

Wed 10/29 8:00 PM Ivy Room [860 San Pablo Ave Albany]
Scott Amendola's Floating Parade @ The Ivy Room! Nate Brenner, Mark Clifford, Robert Lopez, Ryan Schaeffer!  More...

Thu 10/30 7:30 PM Wyldflowr Arts [Oakland]
ROOTSTOCK ARTS presents:

Kjell Nordeson, solo percussion
+
duo B. vs. Liberty Ellman
Lisa Mezzacappa, bass
Jason Levis, drums
Liberty Ellman, guitar  More...