E. Doctor Smith's Blog

Marshall Crenshaw's magnificent, "Blues is King" is one of my all-time, personal favorite songs, and I can hardly believe it's been 25 years since breaking through to critical and commercial acclaim with his 1982 self-titled debut and its infectious, era-defining pop hit "Someday, Someway." Crenshaw returns with an incredible new chapter in his career with his 429 Records debut "Jaggedland", his first studio recording in more than six years is his most musically dynamic and lyrically intimate collection yet. Next Monday, April 30th, Crenshaw rolls into Yoshi's San Francisco with what promises to be another, unforgettable evening of music. "Classic Crenshaw attributes including an indelible sense of melody and tuneful essence combine to create a rich warmth and intimacy on every song of Jaggedland. The recording has a powerful vibe of immediacy thanks to Crenshaw's warm vocals and riveting guitar work. He takes the production t...

Alicia Mangan is an amazing musical anomaly; an advanced, free-style and avant-garde tenor saxophonist from Southern California. In high-school, she won state-wide acclaim in classical competitions on alto saxophone. Later, she even played baritone with a Mexican band in SoCal, and traveled with them as far as Australia on tour. In the late '90s she found her true love on tenor sax and broke new ground in the creative sounds of free improv and creative music while living in the Bay Area. Mangan is back in the Bay Area for a short visit and has gathered some of her colleagues from the time she lived and played here with Jim Ryan's "Forward Energy" group, and Marco Enedi's big bands. She's formed a quintet with Ryan that will play two sets at the Berkeley Arts Festival, next Monday, April 23rd, at 8:00 pm. Mangan honed her chops in bebop, classical, and Latin based music, but opted for total dedication to the calling of avant-garde jazz. Her music is influenc...

The modern world of digital music streaming has opened a Pandora's Box of issues and challenges for artists and labels, both indie and mainstream. Famed guitarist Robert Fripp (King Crimson/David Bowie/Brian Eno), and other notable musicians have been litigating against companies like Grooveshark , for using their music without permission and or adequate compensation. Spotify, one of the newest and biggest companies to offer online streaming, has also come under scrutiny for the amount of monies actually paid to their artists. Anil Prasad, one the most respected music journalists in his field and author of the critically acclaimed book, Innerviews , (a culmination of some of his fantastic interviews with many of the world's best musicians), recently flew to New Zealand to present the keynote address for the "2012 Sounds Aotearoa Music Expo", on the pros and cons of streaming. It was an informative presentation that gave the viewer an impressive overview of where we...

San Francisco's "Conspiracy of Beards is a 30-member a capella male choir which performs exclusively the songs of the legendary poet, novelist, and singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen. Inspired by the late performing artist Peter Kadyk and directed by Daryl Henline, the group performs gritty, uplifting renditions Cohen's songs." This Saturday, April 7th, the Beards, and special musical guests Peter Whitehead and Hazy Loper, perform at the SF Buddhist Center in a benefit for Jai Bhim International educational projects in India. The Beards' website bio revealed that "since its foundation in 2003, the choir has performed to dozens of enthusiastic audiences around the San Francisco Bay Area. Notable performances include the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco City Hall and the Great American Music Hall, as well as appearances on PBS television station KQED, radio stations KFOG and KPFA, and national radio program West Coast Live. The group became an off...