E. Doctor Smith's Blog

Tonight, I'll have the privilege of performing at the Edgetone Music Summit, an artist organized event founded in 2001 with fiscal sponsorship from 21 Grand Gallery, a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization in Oakland. The Summit exclusively features independent artists most of whom are practitioners in music and sound of improvised and or experimental nature. In association with the Summit there are two year-round music series’, The Luggage Store Gallery New Music Series and the S.I.M.M. Series at the Musicians Union Hall. Both series serve as local stages for residential artists as well as for touring artists from all parts of the globe. The summit opened last night at the Luggage Store with the amazing Pamela Z, and moves to 21 Grand Gallery in Oakland tonight. Billed as a "Night of Inventions Played by the Inventors", I'll be joining Boston trumpeter Eric Dahlman, on his most unusual "Trident Trumpet", and inventors Bob Marsh, Steven Baker, Tom ...

Berkeley's famed Ashekenaz, has long been on my list of venues to visit, and now I'll finally have my chance with two great groups, The West African Highlife Band, led by Kotaja's Ken Okulolo, and the youthful "Shumba Marimba". Following a request by David Nadel, the late director of Ashkenaz, for a band to concentrate on Ghanaian and West African highlife dance music and rhythmic styles, the West African Highlife Band was created. With master musicians from several West African countries and the United States, the band draws on folk traditions combined with modern stylistic elements played with acoustic and electric instruments, and include the infectious classic highlife dance hits of Ghana and Nigeria. Along with Okulolo, the band features Soji Odukogbe, Nii Armah Hammond, Lemi Barrow, Rasaki Aladokun and Pope Flyne. The West African Highlife Band The Bay Area's own West African Highlife Band, led by Ken Okulolo, is renowned for reviving Nigeria...