E. Doctor Smith's Blog

Another of my favorite drummers is none other than San Rafael's Narada Michael Walden. From his early days with John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra, (replacing the amazing Billy Cobham), to his chart-topping work with Aretha Franklin, Walden has also proven he's a one of a kind producer and songwriter. This Saturday night, Walden and his band journey to Mill Valley's Throckmorton Theater, in a benefit concert for the family of his dear friend, the late, great chef, Anton Perkins. Walden not only brings together some of the top Bay Area studio and concert musicians to perform his hits, he supports and encourages great young raw talent as well. The core of his group has worked together for more than 30 years on projects ranging from the Rain Forest Benefit at Carnegie Hall for Sting and Trudie Styler, to recording hits for Whitney Houston. Their live show is always alive and fresh under the inspired leadership of Walden on drums. Among a handful of the mos...

This Friday, one of my favorite pop bands, The Orange Peels, emerge from their Sunnyvale studio to perform at the Make-Out Room, along with the Corner Laughers and the Incredible Vickers Brothers . The Peels, led by the pop-stylings of singer/guitarist Allen Clapp and bassist Jill Pries, return with "special guests", perhaps "the incredible" Bob Vickers, ex-Mummies guitarist Larry Winther, who left to build a new home Oregon, or drummer John Moremen who left to tour with Last Train Home, MX80 and Half Japanese. The founders of the Peels, Clapp and Pries remained, and continued with the duo's latest and perhaps best effort, "Circling The Sun". Reunited with producer/drummer Bryan Hanna, and the Ocean Blue's guitarist Oed Ronne, which helped Clapp and Pries to continue with the same vigor and energy that made the Orange Peels one of the very best pop groups in the Bay Area. From their Sunnyvale Eichler home, Clapp alongside Pries, produc...

Previously, I'd written that I'd seen my first concert with jazz pianist Chick Corea some thirty years ago, with his now legendary group, Return to Forever. Considered one of the greatest fusion bands of all time, that incarnation featured the famed bassist Stanley Clarke, drummer Lenny White and guitarist Bill Connors. If my mind hadn't already been blown, it surely was after seeing the next RTF line-up following Connor's departure and the debut of a young guitarist named Al DiMeola. For three amazing nights in a row and only a few blocks from my childhood home, I sat in awe of this groundbreaking new music that would ultimately become known as "jazz-fusion". Now, some 25 years later, Return to Forever has reunited and performed for two extraordinary and captivating nights at the Grand on Van Ness and Sutter. Miles Davis’ electric bands in the late ‘60s, featured on such classic albums as "In a Silent Way" and "Bitches Brew", ...

I first wrote about Angelique Kidjo in May of '04, having first heard her during one of my visits to Montreal's annual Festival d'Afrique. Here musicians from Africa, the Carribean, and the Americas, converge and for one week, every style imaginable, from Techno to Morroco can be heard. Kidjo, a fabulous singer from Benin, has attempted to prove that the world is "much smaller and far more culturally connected than it may appear". Her music has been said to "glorify individual cultures while also underlining their universal similarities". Kidjo returns to the Bay area this Sunday, along with incredible line-ups like Mickey Hart, Parliament Funkadelic, Jefferson Starship, Paula Cole, Sol Horizon, among others at the 30th Harmony Festival, June 6th-8th in Santa Rosa. With Djin Djin, her new release on Razor & Tie/Starbucks Entertainment, Kidjo comes home. The four-time Grammy-nominated, much-celebrated singer, composer, and performer began ...