E. Doctor Smith's Blog

There have been some exciting to come through San Francisco in 2013; too many to name in this space in fact. Sadly, we've also lost many musical greats, and yet we continue to see and hear some new music emerge, thrilling audiences worldwide, and making spirits dance. Here's a list of some of my personal favorites and musical moments... 10. SFJazz Center Opens San Francisco's newest venue, located on Franklin near City Hall, is the SFJazz Center which opened on January 23rd with "a star-filled line up “consecrating” the stage of the Robert N. Miner Auditorium." Hosted by Bill Cosby, the concert included pianists McCoy Tyner and Chick Corea, saxophonist and long time SFJazz Collective alum Joshua Redman, legendary vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, Esperanza Spalding, Mary Stallings, John Handy, Pete Escovedo, the SFJazz Collective, and the new SFJazz Center Resident Artistic Directors Regina Carter, Bill Frisell, Jason Moran, John Santos and Miguel Zenón among...

Back in 2006, Chesky Records released "Electric", "a blistering set of jazz, blues and classic rock anthems as performed by the pioneer of jazz-rock, Larry Coryell, with veteran 'Return to Forever' drummer Lenny White and former 'Weather Report' bass player Victor Bailey". "Coryell and friends have an all-out blast working their way through a track listing of rock and blues tunes, bending and stretching covers of well-known cuts popularized by Led Zeppelin (Black Dog), and Sly and the Family Stone (Sex Machine), as well as Miles Davis' "So What" (from his seminal Kind of Blue album) and Wayne Shorter's "Footprints" into a rockin' musical adventure. "We tried to straddle the lines between 'jazz', 'rock', 'funk' and 'fusion' and whatever other names people want to put on music," comments Bailey…" This amazing trio would go on to record another album in 2006, "Traff...

"Caught a great gig by E. Doctor Smith (aka today's birthday boy Eric Smith ) at Hotel Utah in SF last night. The master of the Zendrum performed music from his new CD Quantum, along with guitarist Jack Wright and bassist Tom Shiben. Excellent stuff crisscrossing prog, avant, funk and fusion territory. Learn more here: http://edoctorsmith.com/ (and happy birthday dude!)..." Kind words from my friend, Anil Prasad of the incredible musical archive Innerviews. We wrapped up our 2 city, CD release tour at the Hotel Utah Saloon with another long time friend, John Moremen and his Flotation Device, after playing a show Busboys and Poets in Washington, DC a week or so earlier. Great attendance with family, friends and fellow musicians made for some inspiring moments with Jack and Tom...

I was honored when Allan Leibowitz, editor of digitalDrummer magazine asked to do a feature on me for the November 2013 issue. Here's the text of the article below! "Not only is he a great drummer, but E. Doctor Smith is also a bit of an inventor. However, when he saw the Zendrum, he gave up on his own invention and showed his genius on the new instrument." -Allan Leibowitz, Editor digitalDrummer. My electronic musical journey began back in the ‘80s when I started programming sequencers, computers, and drum machines with my friend Stephen Bray, who was writing songs and working with Madonna in New York, then in LA. I also experimented with a Dynacord Rhythm Stick they had lying around. I was a big fan of Bill Bruford’s drumming and the Simmons electronic drums that he used in his groups Earthworks and King Crimson. I was really excited to get my hands on a basic 5-piece Simmons SDS9 kit, then to add 6 more pads, a Roland PM-16 interface, a Yamaha TX-7, and an A...

San Francisco has seen some fabulous jazz vocalists roll through town in recent weeks, Karyn Allison, Rhondi Charleston and Ann Dyer to name but a few. I'm happy to add Lisa Engelken's name to that esteemed list with her latest effort, "Little Warrior". Engelken builds on the success of her previous and critically acclaimed album "Caravan", with a musical journey that takes the listener to far away places like Brazil,  conjures melodies of Wayne Shorter or pays homage to works of Joni Mitchell and her works with Jaco Pastorius. However Engelken never imitates, and adds her own unique and fresh arrangements, making "Little Warrior" a another gem in her sparkling catalogue. "Little Warrior" begins with the "Foggy Bottom", (perhaps a nod to the One Step Down, an old jazz club in Washington, DC which Engelken's former stomping grounds and once home to the late, great Shirley Horn who regularly performed there), is a beautiful tu...

Resonance Jazz Ensemble, a one-of-a-kind jazz octet, performs their “Summer Time” concert, featuring a selection of arrangements and original jazz works for chamber jazz ensemble by composers from the 20th and 21st centuries. The performance will include tunes from Resonance’s newly released CD entitled Introductions with original music by bandleader Stephen McQuarry, as well as McQuarry’s creative arrangements of jazz standards, pop tunes, and classical favorites. The only jazz ensemble in Northern California with this unusual instrumentation, Resonance jazz octet is comprised of saxophone, flute, violin, viola, ‘cello, double bass, keyboard, and drums, resulting in a rich fusion of orchestral and big band sounds. Resonance melds together a mastery of both classical and jazz artists of richly diverse musical backgrounds who have performed with many legendary artists, including Dizzy Gillespie, Louie Bellson, Clare Fischer, Dave Anderson Quartet, Terrence Brewer, Joe Lovano, Jethro Tul...

George Duke, one of the greatest keyboardists I've have ever seen, passed away this week at the age of 67. Duke's career saw him play with everyone from Miles Davis, Cannonball Adderly, and Frank Zappa, to Billy Cobham, Stanley Clarke, Diane Reeves and a who's who of the greatest musicians of his generation. Duke will be missed; his battle with leukemia took many who didn't know by surprise. I first saw Duke in 1977 with Frank Zappa and his incendiary Mothers of Invention, featuring the incredible Ruth Underwood on mallets, Napoleon Murphy Bock, Chester Thompson and Tom Fowler, at Washington, D.C.'s now defunct Capital Centre. Duke was an amazing keyboardist who could hold his own with anyone, however he was a fantastic vocalist; Zappa's brilliant and complex "comedy music" was made even more enjoyable by Duke's soulful and gorgeous singing. A true musical genius, Duke will be greatly missed. That Zappa concert left a great impression on me and my ...

According to Mickey Hart, "A superorganism is a complex organism composed of many smaller organisms. A band is a superorganism, so is the universe." In the past two years, Mickey Hart (Grateful Dead/Mickey Hart Band) has sonified the Universe, the Golden Gate Bridge, the America's Cup, and now, he is going even deeper. On his new record "Superorganism", due out August 13, 2013, Hart is breaking new ground by combining music with science and the human body.  "For the last few years I have been creating music from the source sounds of the cosmos and now the body." The album cover features an MRI scan of Hart’s brain as well as his brain activity, as captured through an EEG cap. Hart will be performing live with the same EEG cap on his upcoming 70th birthday tour. "These sounds are noise—harsh, strange—and it is only after dancing with their essence face to face that music can be created. This time we journey into the micro, the hidden worl...

My previous blog looked at my journey from my original percussion controller, the "Drummstick", to the newest Zendrum, the "EXP". When the Zendrum EXP finally arrived, I was ecstatic, especially after having seen early photos of it posted on my facebook page. I'd already set up all of my studio gear in advance and when I was in Europe, I downloaded a copy of the updated ZenEdit, and even mapped out the EXP's trigger placements. I quickly learned that I actually needed to be more flexible, because those early set-ups didn't last very long! Everything worked great; even my wireless MIDIJet Pro performed perfectly. I'd used the settings from my Zendrum ZX as a starting point, and they translated to the EXP quite easily. One of the first things I noticed was the wonderful placement of the strap locks for me by David Haney. Haney knows my penchant for playing vertically, and on the model he made for co-designer John Emrich, the lock seemed to be placed l...

I was in Europe when "Man of Steel", the latest update to the Superman was released. I'm a long time comic book fan of both the DC and  Marvel superheroes, and after recovering from jet lag, I finally managed to catch it. As regular readers of my columns know, I have a thing about remakes, especially when it comes to comic book heroes. The biggest challenge these film makers have is to make those classic stories relevant, to find a new way to retell those iconic tales with each new generation; and without sacrificing the things about them that made them great. With the exception of the gratuitous, CGI destruction of Metropolis during the last 30 minutes, this is perhaps, one of the best of the Superman films or TV series made to date. Now I've seen every single film and TV series ever made about the Man of Steel, so I will share my thoughts about each of them, and why I think this latest version ranks among the best. I'm afraid I'll have to leave the animated ...

Every year, the Outsound New Music Summit showcases some of the most innovative and pioneering new music that is happening in California and beyond. Many of the artists scheduled to perform on the 2013 12th Annual Outsound New Music Summit (left to right Opera Wolf, Kevin Robinsons from KREation, Jordan Glenn's Wiener Kids, #Max, Fernando Lopez-Lezcano, Joe Lasqo, Ritwik Banerjir, Ilya Rostovtsev, The CCRMA Ensemble, Matt Davignon, Fuzzybunny, Hasan Abdur-Razzaq, David Molina's Transient, LA Jenkins, Rent Romus' Lords of Outland, India Cooke, Karl Evangelista, Lewis Jordan, Kyle Bruckman's Wrack). Now in its twelfth year, the New Music Summit will feature during cutting-edge experimental and ambient music, twitter-fed performances, improvising software musicbots, electro-acoustic performances, found-object and tape-player interactions, as well as traditional instrument ensembles bending the acoustic paradigm in new and startling ways. Featured during the seven-night fes...

On Tuesday, we left the chillier confines of "merry olde" England and arrived in warm, and sunny Lisbon, Portugal. I was reunited with a long-time musical ally, the Angolan-born, Brazilian raised Carlos Martins. Carlos was an excellent host, and showed us a side of Lisbon not seen by most tourists. Lisbon was surprisingly buoyant; the kids were out of school and the plazas were full of energy and life. The tiny, aged cobblestone streets are a bit slippery, but with an eye towards caution, we'll manage. Lisbon has been called the San Francisco of Europe; it has its own version of the Golden Gate Bridge, the hills and the cable car trolleys are a lot like home, and the monuments to the earthquake of 1755 is a a sombre reminder of the volatile nature of this region. Our first stop was a lovely, outdoor restaurant high atop Lisbon called "Lost in Espalnada"; great views, great food and a colorful atmosphere, I highly recommend you make it one of your stops if you vi...

Traveling from Paris to London is a breeze these days, all one needs is a passport and a ticket aboard the high-speed train, the Eurostar. So taking advantage of a brief break from my musical adventures in France, we arrived at St. Pancras station in London and traveled to a lovely part of town known as Clapham Commons. A beautiful mix of brick homes and trendy shops, Clapham is also centrally located with easy access  to all parts of the city by bus or tube. Clapham Commons is also home of the Holy Trinity Clapham Church; where the song "Amazing Grace" was born and the British abolitionist movement against the slave trade with William Wilberforce took hold. The great film 2006 "Amazing Grace", with Ioan Gruffudd and Albert Finney captures the events of that era quite well. The Tower of London, Parliament and Westminster Abbey Getting an "Oyster Card" and taking the No. 88 bus from Clapham is great, as it follows one of the best routes for sightseeing in L...

For the last few weeks, I've been traveling and performing in Europe with the Wilbur Rehmann Quintet. From the quaint little towns like Fa, Quillan, Eygalieres and Moustiers Sainte-Marie, to the lively centers of Carcassonne, Cannes, Nice and Paris. Tourist season is now in full swing; the French Open is behind us and the Tour de France is about to begin. France has also seen some unusual weather; flooding has closed the town of Lourdes, postponing the annual pilgrimage there. The French however, are a resilient lot, and will bounce back as they have for centuries. In my next few columns, I'll describe a few of the amazing places I'll be visiting; France, England and Portugal, all the while heeding  travel writer Rick Steves' adage of "getting to know the locals, and straying off the beaten path." Toulouse, Carcassonne and Eygalieres After a rather uncomfortable flight from SFO, non-stop to Heathrow; (with an iPad playing, fidgety child and seats designed to e...

Drummer Billy Martin of Medeski, Martin and Wood and up and coming organist Wil Blades come together for a new duo project. After two highly successful shows in San Francisco and New Orleans, Martin and Blades are taking the show on the road. The duo's music is at once danceable and highly improvisational. With a steady base as one-third of the renowned experimental jazz trio Medeski, Martin, & Wood, drummer Billy Martin has become one of the most forward-thinking, innovative, and influential percussionists in the music world. His ultra-sensitive, hyper-melodic drumming -- which explores the ideas of jazz, hip-hop, electronica, African music, and other genres -- has an organic feel to it, filled with soft, natural edges and fluid energies. When not performing with Medeski Martin & Wood, Martin continues to collaborate with other musicians in improvisational projects, many of which are documented on his own Amulet Records imprint, which he founded in 1995. Blades, a native C...

The Drummstick v.2.0 and the Zendrum EXP By 2001, I'd already been playing the Drummstick, (my analog-MIDI drum controller), for 7 seven years, and in August of that same year, I finally got the chance to debut the first ever Drummstick album with a CD release show at the State Theater in Falls Church, Va. Joining me were my regular bandmates, (Celia DuBose, Neil Mezebish and Jack Wright), and some special guests, Siobhan Canty, Neeta Ragoowansi, Eric Dahlman, Carlos Martins, and the Indian percussionist Sandip Burman. Burman nearly stole the show with his incredible tabla playing, and rightly so, as he was also on tour with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones promoting their "Outbound" album with Andy Narell, Paul Hanson and Paul McCandless. The next day, we took Burman to Wolftrap, Va. to rejoin the tour with Fleck and the Flecktones. It was there that I first met Roy "Futureman" Wooten, off stage after a great sound check. Wooten and I spoke at length about the Dru...