E. Doctor Smith's Blog

Judge Dredd is a fictional character whose comic strip in the British science fiction anthology 2000 AD is the magazine's longest running, having been featured there since its second issue in 1977. Dredd is an American law enforcement officer in a violent city of the future where uniformed Judges combine the powers of police, judge, jury and executioner. Dredd and his fellow Judges are empowered to arrest, sentence, and even execute criminals on the spot. The character was created by writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra, and Pat Mills. Dredd returns Friday in an all new reboot in 3D. Dredd is amongst the UK's best known home-grown comic characters. So great is the character's name recognition that his name is sometimes invoked over similar issues to those explored by the comic series, such as the police state, authoritarianism, and the rule of law. Dredd was named the Seventh Greatest Comic Character by the British magazine Empire. In 2011, IGN ranked him 35th in t...

This Friday's "Concerts at the Cadillac" series sees the return of pianist Jeffrey Chin and his trio, with bassist Myron Dove and drummer Billy Johnson. Joining Chin and his trio is the renown vocalist Margo LeDuc. This concert also marks the passing of the Cadillac's founder Leroy Looper a year ago, and where Chin gave one of his most memorable performances. Chin has been playing piano since the age of six, when he began his formal musical training in classical piano under the tutlelage of Julia McCaslin and Samuel Rodetsky. During that time, he won numerous scholarships and awards, performing regularly in many open competitions and recitals. After eight years of private lessons, his interests began to blossom; he branched out and taught himself to play many other styles and types of music, including what would eventually turn out to be his passion...jazz. Chin currently owns and runs his own recording studio, production company, music publishing company...

If you haven't had a chance to catch drummer Jack DeJohnette's incredible trio, featuring virtuoso pianist Chick Corea and bassist Stanley Clarke, you'll have to settle for the 10:00 pm shows Friday and Saturday night at Yoshi's on Fillmore. All of the 8:00 pm shows have been sold out, and rightly so. Born in Chicago in 1942, DeJohnette is widely regarded as one of jazz music's greatest drummers. Part of a four night "birthday celebration", the 70 year old DeJohnette has been delighting audiences on this tour and has shown no signs of slowing down. Jack DeJohnette has collaborated with most major figures in jazz history.  Some of the great talents he has worked with are John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, Sonny Rollins, Sun Ra, Jackie McLean, Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans, Stan Getz, Keith Jarrett, Chet Baker, George Benson, Stanley Turrentine, Ron Carter, Lee Morgan, Charles Lloyd, Herbie Hancock, Dave Holland, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Abbey...