E. Doctor Smith's Blog

Tonight, I'll have the privilege of performing at the Edgetone Music Summit, an artist organized event founded in 2001 with fiscal sponsorship from 21 Grand Gallery, a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization in Oakland. The Summit exclusively features independent artists most of whom are practitioners in music and sound of improvised and or experimental nature. In association with the Summit there are two year-round music series’, The Luggage Store Gallery New Music Series and the S.I.M.M. Series at the Musicians Union Hall. Both series serve as local stages for residential artists as well as for touring artists from all parts of the globe. The summit opened last night at the Luggage Store with the amazing Pamela Z, and moves to 21 Grand Gallery in Oakland tonight. Billed as a "Night of Inventions Played by the Inventors", I'll be joining Boston trumpeter Eric Dahlman, on his most unusual "Trident Trumpet", and inventors Bob Marsh, Steven Baker, Tom ...

Berkeley's famed Ashekenaz, has long been on my list of venues to visit, and now I'll finally have my chance with two great groups, The West African Highlife Band, led by Kotaja's Ken Okulolo, and the youthful "Shumba Marimba". Following a request by David Nadel, the late director of Ashkenaz, for a band to concentrate on Ghanaian and West African highlife dance music and rhythmic styles, the West African Highlife Band was created. With master musicians from several West African countries and the United States, the band draws on folk traditions combined with modern stylistic elements played with acoustic and electric instruments, and include the infectious classic highlife dance hits of Ghana and Nigeria. Along with Okulolo, the band features Soji Odukogbe, Nii Armah Hammond, Lemi Barrow, Rasaki Aladokun and Pope Flyne. The West African Highlife Band The Bay Area's own West African Highlife Band, led by Ken Okulolo, is renowned for reviving Nigeria...

One of my favorite bands from the NY/DC area, “Spottiswoode and His Enemies”, will be performing next Thursday night, June 29th, at the Make Out Room, at 22nd and Valencia Streets. This will be a fine opportunity to see this amazing group, in what must be a rare west coast appearance, and following their shows in L.A., (and even a wedding at the Herbst!). The "Enemies", are led by the irrepressible Jonathan Spottiswoode, a Brit who whose talent and voice, conjures images of John Prine, John Mayall, and Tom Waits, all rolled into one. With long time partner, guitarist Riley McMahon, Spottiswoode and his fantastic “enemies” are fleshed out by some of New York and D.C.’s best musicians; bassist John Young, the charming Candace De Bartolo on sax, the ever crisp drumming of Tim Vail, Tony Lauria on accordian and keyboards, and Last Train Home’s absolutely fabulous Kevin Cordt on trumpet and assorted evening wear. Spottiswoode’s music is both raw and wonderful, and n...

Improvisational music is alive and well at Market Street's "Luggage Store Gallery". The gallery's long running experimental music series, hosted by Bay Area veteran improvisers/sound artists, Rent Romus and Matt Davignon, have brought some of the most critically acclaimed artists of the genre, from legendary guitarists like Henry Kaiser and Fred Frith, to the inimitable improv pianist, Cecil Taylor. Last night's performance, amid the beautiful green walls and a fantastic musical art installation, found the debut of electro-saxophonist Jaroba, as well the highly anticipated debut of the Bay Area's "High Vulture". Led by the incinderary guitarist of the famed group MX-80, Bruce Anderson and his improv cohorts, drummer John Moremen, and bassist Bill Raymond, High Vulture, screeched, swooped, soared, and even soothed most effectively under Anderson's guidance and special effects. This music is not for the squeamish, however, if you are bo...

Since their eponymous CD release in 2004, Sebastopol's Sol Horizon has blossomed, becoming one of the most popular and forward thinking bands of it's genre. The release of their latest CD, "First Light" and recent tours of California and Hawaii, as well as collaborations with England's rising reggae star, Pato Banton, should erase any doubt as to their authenticity and musical sincerity. Led by vocalist Michael Litwin, and his "party revolution" group, Sol Horizon are ably driven by lead guitarist Clayton Hunt, percussionist Peter van Gorder, and rounded out with bassist Frank Preuss, drummer Colin Menzies, rhythm guitarist Alexei Brown and keyboardist Jeremy Cooper. Sol Horizon continues to write and perform only their original music, a feat very few reggae groups would even attempt. No Bob Marley covers, no Peter Tosh, no Steel Pulse, no Melody Makers, just Sol Horizon! Their "conscious lyrics" and continued involvement in the su...

My love of Brazilian music is no secret to those who know me, for years I performed with guitarist Carlos Augustus and his DC ArtBeat ensembles. In my youth, I would often journey to see such great artists like Dom Um Romeo, of Weather Report, Egberto Gismonti, Milton Naciamento, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Paulhino de Costa, and of course my favorites; the incredible Flora Purim and Airto Moriera, whose incendiary tamborine solos conjured images of Panamanian drummer Billy Cobham at his height. In what could have been a catastrophe at the Rasselas Jazz Club last Sunday night for the Wilbur Rehmann Quartet show, (It seems the owner inadvertantly double booked the evening!), the gracious Caroline Chung of Brazuca Brown, stepped aside and wished us good luck. So moved was I by the group's generosity, that I endeavored to find out more about her and her band. Rehmann's show I might add, was a smashing success, and in the aftermath of that evening, I found another pleasant su...

Fans of the legendary saxophonist Sonny Rollins and British jazz drummer Bill Bruford, should enjoy the sounds of the Wilbur Rehmann Quartet: Special Edition, performing Sunday, May 14th at the Rasselas Jazz Club on Fillmore. An accomplished alto, tenor and soprano saxophonist, Wilbur Rehmann is considered one of the "elder statesmen of jazz" in his native Montana, and for his debut SF performance, he will be joined by pianist, composer Peter Fox, bassist Mike Shea, and E. "Doc" Smith, on "acoustic, electronic, and chordal drums". Fresh from his tour of Italy, Rehmann and his "Special Edition" quartet will be performing some of the music made famous by Rollins, John Coltrane, Thelonius Monk, Miles Davis, Horace Silver, Antonio Carlos Jobim, as well as Bruford's Earthworks. A frequent visitor to the Bay Area, Rehmann's debut has been a long time coming, and will hopefully be the first of many, many more. Rehmann, grew up in Bur...