E. Doctor Smith's Blog

Paula West, San Francisco’s favorite jazz singer returns to the Herbst Theatre for one performance only on Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 8:00 p.m. Performing with the noted pianist/arranger George Mesterhazy, (a familiar name to fans of the late, great Shirley Horn), she will perform songs from her new CD, “Live at the Jazz Standard.” The CD features many of West’s best loved tunes never before recorded by her. A long time resident of San Francisco, West has been a staple of the SF Jazz scene with sold-out, long run engagements at Yoshi’s, the Plush Room, and SF Jazz Performances. She has also performed at the White House; Jazz at Lincoln Center (where she performed with Wynton Marsalis); the legendary Oak Room in Manhattan’s Algonquin Hotel; and top Manhattan jazz clubs; Birdland, the Jazz Standard and The Blue Note where she has built a loyal following. She has won the prestigious Nightlife Award for Outstanding Jazz Vocalist three times. In addition, she has enchanted critics a...

Virtuoso bassist Doug Lunn is best known for his work with some of the world's best groups and musicians; the Fire Merchants, composer Mark Isham, guitarists David Torn, Andy Summers of the Police, the Out Trio, drummer Chad Wackerman plus many others. Lunn's latest release, "The Doug Lunn Project" is a collection of music composed, arranged, produced and performed by Lunn, featuring the mallet work of George Bernardo, drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, guitarists Peter Maunu, Mike Keneally and Dmitri Mahlis. The music draws on a wide range of influences including Zappa, Miles, Stravinski, Coltrane, Stockhausen, Eno, Zawinul, McLaughlin, and many more. Abstract Logix's bio describes Lunn as "a multi-instrumentalist performer/composer who specializes on 5 string fretless electric bass. He has appeared on over 100 recordings with artists including Bruce Springsteen, Mark Isham, (the aforementioned Torn and Summers), and numerous film and TV soundtracks. He's been the...

Kazumi Watanabe lives up to his name as the Japan’s world-class, top jazz guitarist. His quick tempo weaves fascinating ad libs and affluent melodies; he has been noted for elaborately combining various performing techniques and infusing rich expressive power to each and every note to create a one-of-a-kind “Kazumi Sound”. He has made the world his stage for over 40 years, transgressing genres and borders to perform with an outstanding number of domestic and international artists. The natural-born improviser also builds a unique world of composition and arrangements, always pioneering frontier instrumental music. After the series of fantastic musical statements with the Mo Bop Trio, Kazumi returns in the same electric format with Janek Gwizdala on bass and Obed Calvaire and Horacio 'El Negro' Hernandez on drums with his latest album, "TRICOROLL". According to Kazumi's website, he was "born 1953 in Tokyo, Kazumi Watanabe took the piano at the tender age of sev...