E. Doctor Smith's Blog

This Friday, one of my favorite pop bands, The Orange Peels, emerge from their Sunnyvale studio to perform at the Make-Out Room, along with the Corner Laughers and the Incredible Vickers Brothers . The Peels, led by the pop-stylings of singer/guitarist Allen Clapp and bassist Jill Pries, return with "special guests", perhaps "the incredible" Bob Vickers, ex-Mummies guitarist Larry Winther, who left to build a new home Oregon, or drummer John Moremen who left to tour with Last Train Home, MX80 and Half Japanese. The founders of the Peels, Clapp and Pries remained, and continued with the duo's latest and perhaps best effort, "Circling The Sun". Reunited with producer/drummer Bryan Hanna, and the Ocean Blue's guitarist Oed Ronne, which helped Clapp and Pries to continue with the same vigor and energy that made the Orange Peels one of the very best pop groups in the Bay Area. From their Sunnyvale Eichler home, Clapp alongside Pries, produc...

Previously, I'd written that I'd seen my first concert with jazz pianist Chick Corea some thirty years ago, with his now legendary group, Return to Forever. Considered one of the greatest fusion bands of all time, that incarnation featured the famed bassist Stanley Clarke, drummer Lenny White and guitarist Bill Connors. If my mind hadn't already been blown, it surely was after seeing the next RTF line-up following Connor's departure and the debut of a young guitarist named Al DiMeola. For three amazing nights in a row and only a few blocks from my childhood home, I sat in awe of this groundbreaking new music that would ultimately become known as "jazz-fusion". Now, some 25 years later, Return to Forever has reunited and performed for two extraordinary and captivating nights at the Grand on Van Ness and Sutter. Miles Davis’ electric bands in the late ‘60s, featured on such classic albums as "In a Silent Way" and "Bitches Brew", ...

I first wrote about Angelique Kidjo in May of '04, having first heard her during one of my visits to Montreal's annual Festival d'Afrique. Here musicians from Africa, the Carribean, and the Americas, converge and for one week, every style imaginable, from Techno to Morroco can be heard. Kidjo, a fabulous singer from Benin, has attempted to prove that the world is "much smaller and far more culturally connected than it may appear". Her music has been said to "glorify individual cultures while also underlining their universal similarities". Kidjo returns to the Bay area this Sunday, along with incredible line-ups like Mickey Hart, Parliament Funkadelic, Jefferson Starship, Paula Cole, Sol Horizon, among others at the 30th Harmony Festival, June 6th-8th in Santa Rosa. With Djin Djin, her new release on Razor & Tie/Starbucks Entertainment, Kidjo comes home. The four-time Grammy-nominated, much-celebrated singer, composer, and performer began ...

Vacationing in Kauai this week has afforded me the opportunity to catch up on reading, spending time with family, friends and listening to music; music I might not ordinarily be exposed to. Enjoying an after dinner Mai tai with my sister-in-law Diane, I mentioned that one of my favorite musicians, Futureman of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, had just finished a tour with Hawaii's most famous uke player. "Jake Shimabukuro?", she asked. "Why yes!" I said, "Do you know him?" Diane revealed that Shimabukuro had once performed for her young cancer patients at Capiolani Childrens Hospital in Honolulu. "He was amazing and his music was beautiful. Plus he was really, really fast." I first heard Shimabukuro on the Flecktones' 2003 album, "Little Worlds". His recent video performances on MySpace during Futureman's Black Mozart Ensemble's tour, will convince anyone who sees it, that Shimabukuro is indeed one of the most...

Before my arrival in Kauai this week, fellow music lover, friend, (and D1 Supervisor candidate) Eric Mar, turned me on to the song "E Ala E", by "IZ", aka Israel Ka"ano'i Kamakawiwo'ole, one of Hawaii's greatest musical geniuses. The 1995 album featured the political title song "E Ala E" and the moving "Kaleohano". As his career progressed, IZ became known for promoting Hawaiian rights and Hawaiian independence, both through his music (whose lyrics often stated the case for independence directly) and through his life. IZ became famous outside Hawaii when his album "Facing Future" was released in 1993 with his medley of "Over the Rainbow" and "What a Wonderful World", which was subsequently featured in several films, television programs, and commercials. Kamakawiwo'ole was nicknamed "The Gentle Giant" by his admirers. He was described as always cheerful and positive, and he w...

"Twenty Years of Talking Tabla" is a 20-year journey through the career of percussionist Trilok Gurtu. Rita Ray of BBC Radio described him as “a serial collaborator” – this carefully chosen compilation shows exactly that side of him. As a world class virtuoso, now in his mid fifties, Trilok has attracted a world class set of collaborators; these started with John McLaughlin in whose trio Trilok flourished as the featured soloist for 4 years, other jazz greats continued this path – Joe Zawinul, Jan Garbarek, Don Cherry, Pharoah Sanders were all attracted to Trilok’s burning sense of rhythm. Of course he is deeply rooted in the Indian tradition, so it is no surprise to see that collaborations also took place with the glitterati of Indian musical society – his mother, Shobha Gurtu, Zakir Hussain, L. Shankar, Shankar Mahadevan and Sultan Khan. World music has become an established genre in which Trilok has further “ploughed his own furrow” to great effect, collaborat...

Recently, I received a copy of a fantastic DVD by the the multi-talented musician Kit Watkins entitled, "The Works". This Data/DVD is an incredible collection that spans nearly thirty years of this prolific artist. Watkins first came to my attention on the campus of Georgetown University, during his tenure as founding member of the group, "Happy the Man". Sponsored by the university's then forward thinking radio station, WGTB, Watkins and his group produced a show that is now the stuff of legend and heralded the age of prog-rock and new age music of the late '70's and '80s. There are 27 albums and 12 bonus tracks in mp3 format on the DVD, (including my personal favorite, "Over the Andes" with Coco Rousell), making this a must have collection of a true musical genius. Another reviewer once wrote of Watkins, "Kit Watkins first came to prominence as part of legendary progressive band, Happy the Man. Despite disbanding years a...