E. Doctor Smith's Blog

Everyone agrees these days; the music industry is changing. But San Francisco based band Ten Mile Tide saw the writing on the wall years ago. "We've been positioning ourselves for this change for years," says lead guitarist Jason Munning. In 2003 Ten Mile Tide rode the file-sharing wave by becoming one of the first bands to encourage music fans to download their music for free. While bands like Metallica and Britney Spears were suing their fans for illegally sharing their music, TMT went from a part-time local band to a full-time touring national act, fueled by the support of Kazaa fans who downloaded over 10 million TMT songs worldwide. Meet the new music industry, as independent band Ten Mile Tide releases it's newest album, "Riverstone", with a series of grass roots promotion strategies. Filesharing scared the industry though and the RIAA began suing individual music fans, a campaign which resulted in both the decline of filesharing and p...

September 11th is indeed a tragic day for many, and just last year, the jazz world saw the departure of the legendary Joe Zawinul. My earliest memories of Zawinul were from the mid 1970's, during his days with the enigmatic group Weather Report, featuring the incomparable saxophonist, Wayne Shorter. Among them, my fondest were his first shows at Washington, D.C.'s Kennedy Center with percussionist Dom Um Romeo and bassist Alphonso Johnson; with drummer Chester Thompson and Alex Acuna at G.W.'s Lisner Auditorium; to a surprising double bill with John McLaughlin's Shakti, and the debut of the bass wunderkind, Jaco Pastorius. With Weather Report, Zawinul brought the electronic keyboard and synthesizers to jazz like no one had before. Zawinul, alongside Shorter, took us to new musical heights, imitated by many, but surpassed by none. Herbie Hancock wrote of Zawinul's passing, “Joe Zawinul is one of my oldest friends in the music business. He was a force as ...

In an era where sports fantasy leagues are all the rage comes a real-life historic teaming that serious music fans and bass players have long dreamed of. Last Tuesday night at the Regency on Van Ness, saw the incredible bass trio "SMV", featuring musical titans Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller and Victor Wooten. This unique alliance of three generations of bass gods has been on chat room and fan gathering wish lists for over 15 years, kept alive by periodic statements from all three that schedules permitting they would give it a go. Finally, in October 2007, with Clarke set to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from Bass Player magazine, at its annual Bass Player Live! event in New York City, Miller and Wooten made the time to attend and induct their mentor. The ensuing VSOP jam not only blew the minds of the 900 in attendance, it cemented for the trio their inherent musical chemistry and thus the viability of pursuing the project in earnest. As a result, in Janu...

This Saturday night, two of my favorite musicians will join forces and debut their recent collaboration at the Rockit Room on Clement Street. "The Paul And John", is a new project by guitarist John Moremen in collaboration with fellow songwriter Paul Myers. They'll be playing songs from their upcoming album "Inner Sunset". The lineup for this show will be John Moremen - Guitar & Vocals, Paul Myers- Guitar & Vocals, Mike Levy - Bass, Daniel Swan - Drums. This show is also part of the International Pop Overthrow Festival. Also on the bill are good friends The Bobbleheads and the Corner Laughers. The duo informs that, "Since we are old people, we go on at 7:30pm." The full lineup is: 7:30 The Paul And John 8:00, Sentinel 8:30, Pleasure Trip 9:00, Eric Friedmann and The Lucky Rubes 9:30, Walter Clevenger and The Dairy Kings 10:00, The Corner Laughers 10:30, The Bobbleheads 11:00, The Brink 11:30, and the Preoccupied Pipers. In the word...

According to some basic, undeniable laws of nature, when two powerful forces collide, something explosive will occur, and a dramatic transformation is likely to take place as a result. It’s a law that applies to every dynamic in the known universe, including jazz. It stands to reason, then, that when a formidable jazz quartet like the Yellowjackets convenes in the studio with a high-energy guitar virtuoso like Mike Stern, the resulting reaction will be a singular event – one that’s likely to create something entirely new on the jazz landscape. Their show last night and again tonight at the Yoshi's on Fillmore, was indeed, such a performance. This phenomenon was also captured on "Lifecycle", the new collaborative recording by the Jackets and Stern set for worldwide release on Heads Up International a division of Concord Music Group on May 20, 2008. The first Yellowjackets recording in 15 years to feature a guitar player, Lifecycle illustrates the kind of ener...

It's no secret that one of my favorite guitarists is none other fellow DC expatriate, Paul Bollenback. From his work with jazz legends like the late, great Stanley Turrentine, to the fabulous organist Joey DeFrancesco, Bollenback has become one of the most sought after musicians in jazz. Recently, he has been in the company of one of Australia's greatest singers, the incomparable Chris McNulty. McNulty demonstrates a finely honed improvisational sensibility delivered with an intense depth of feeling. Long a major jazz singer who has in recent times finally started to gain recognition for her talent, McNulty is one of the foremost singer-composers on the scene today. Her intonation and articulation are commanding and provide a preview for the level of musical excellence and creative artistry. Tonight, McNulty and her Magic Trio come to Healdsburg as part of a tour that brings this trio to the West Coast for the first time. The Magic Trio features McNulty on vocals...

An artist organized event founded in 2001 by saxophonist Rent Romus and Outsound Presents, a leading non-profit emerging artist collective for new and experimental music, announced the schedule for the 7th Annual Edgetone New Music Summit, a project also sponsored by ROVA:ARTS Inc. Beginning July 20 and running through July 26 the Festival will feature a wide cross palate of audio/video performances from lie detectors, dioramic holo-cinema, and the shredded films of No More Twist!, Kwisp and Thickness/Mono-Layer, the experimental sounds of Birgit Ulher, Gino Robair, Tim Perkis, (the) giants of gender from Youngstown Ohio, and the journey music of Shudder, to the burning swinging pulse of Different Strokes, COMA, Noertker’s Moxie, GoGo Fightmaster, and on to the mind bending steel bar stripping sounds of 15 Degrees Below Zero, Mute Socialite, Say Bok Gwai and The Late Severa Wires from Santa Fe New Mexico. Every year the Edgetone New Music Summit showcases some of the most...