E. Doctor Smith's Blog

Last November, Gadd brought an all star line-up to Yoshi's in San Francisco with keyboardist Joey DeFrancesco, saxophonist Ronnie Cuber and guitarist Paul Bollenback. Now comes a live album featuring that band, "Live at Voce". A well-respected drummer who has appeared in many types of settings in many genres, Gadd's impressive technique and flexibility have been influential during the past 20 years. He started playing drums at the age of three, sat in with Dizzy Gillespie when he was 11, and after extensive study and a stint in the Army, Gadd became an important studio drummer beginning in 1972. Among his more significant jazz associations have been with Chick Corea (starting in 1975), Bob James, Al DiMeola, Tom Scott, Grover Washington Jr., David Sanborn, the group Stuff, the Manhattan Jazz Quintet, and his own impressive band (the Gadd Gang) which recorded for Columbia in 1986 and 1988. Gadd's website features a review of the aforementioned album, ...

Next Saturday, September 11, 2010, visionary musician and human rights worker, Michael Franti, along with Guerrilla Management present the 12th Annual Power to the Peaceful Festival (PTTP) at Speedway Meadow in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Beginning in 1998, this diverse music, arts, action and yoga festival has become a premiere San Francisco tradition dedicated to educating attendees on issues of social justice, non- violence, cultural co-existence and environmental sustainability. With over 70,000 attendees, PTTP has grown from a local community based event to one of the nation’s largest free annual music festivals in the U.S. PTTP features a variety of international musicians, visual artists, renowned keynote speakers and over 200 exhibitors and green vendors. The Power of the Peaceful movement has reached a new level by gaining international recognition. PTTP is committed to sustainability via innovative recycling programs, initiating partnerships with other sust...

My all-time favorite guitarist is none other than the legendary Allan Holdsworth. I first saw him back in the late '70s, in one of the latter incarnations of the Tony Williams Lifetime; next with the British group U.K., featuring Bill Bruford, John Wetton and Eddie Jobson; and later, after seeing subsequent tours with his own incredible trio of bassist Jimmie Johnson and drummer Chad Wackerman, I knew I was witnessing pure guitar genius. There is no one who sounds like the self-taught guitar wizard, though many have tried. His unique way of phrasing and beautifully crafted chords, is an extremely rare gift. Holdsworth is indeed, one of a handful of musicians who has consistently proven himself as an innovator within the worlds of rock and jazz music. Many of music's best-known instrumental masters cite Holdsworth as that rare and shining voice—a legendary player who continues to push the outer limits of instrumental technique and the electric guitar's range of ...

Alongside the late Tony Williams and Billy Cobham, Lenny White is part of my personal trinity of the greatest drummers of all time. I have seen all three, many, many times over their storied careers. There are none better. Williams, Cobham and White redefined jazz drumming in the '70s, giving birth to the jazz-rock era and paving the way for all who came behind them. According to Abstract Logix, his label's website, "Following his triumphant worldwide reunion tour with Return To Forever in 2008 and separate trio tours in 2009 with Chick Corea and Stanley Clarke and pianist Hiromi with Clarke, White was primed to put out his own recording, his first as a leader in ten years. With "Anomaly", the pioneering jazz-rock drummer returns to his roots, blending powerhouse backbeats and improvisational abandon in a bold, unapologetically aggressive manner that characterized the early 70s fusion movement. On that RTF tour he told sold-out crowds every night: “T...

This Sunday, the Excelsior Cultural Group and the San Francisco Parks Trust will present the 8th Annual Jerry Day Celebration at the Jerry Garcia Amphitheater, located at 45 John F. Shelley Drive. The first Jerry Garcia / Excelsior celebration happended in 2002 as a fundraiser for Crocker Amazon Playground in Jerry Garcia's childhood neighborhood - The Excelsior District. Spearheaded and conceived by Excelsior District natives and residents, this civic and cultural event is the largest event associated with the neighborhood. It's wholeheartedly embraced by the community and the city. In 2009, the festival received the "Best Community Building Event Award" from the City and County of San Francisco. Jerry Garcia, as most people know, was one of the biggest musical icons of our time, the leader of the Grateful Dead, and a native son of the Excelsior District who grew up at 87 Harrington Street. This community celebration of Jerry Garcia originated in 2002 a...

Outsound Presents, the home grown artist nonprofit collective of the Bay-Area returns July 18th - 24th for the 9th Annual Outsound New Music Summit, one of the most comprehensive experimental music festivals on the West Coast with another unique roster of talent. The festival seeks to build on its reputation for diverse and critically-acclaimed performances with headliners that run the gamut from the films of Martha Colburn, multi-phonic drummer Alex Cline, the siren voices of Amy X Neuburg to the unabashed performance noise of Chen Santa Maria. Every summer since 2002, the New Music Summit spends a week in July showcasing some of the most innovative and pioneering new music that is happening in California and beyond. At first a celebration of the eclectic vanguard artists on the DIY Edgetone Records Label, the Summit now features a broad range of artists from across the US, Europe, Australia and Japan. It features world premieres and exclusive debuts, raging free improvis...

Béla Fleck is often considered the premier banjo player in the world. “Throw Down Your Heart - Africa Sessions Part 2” includes fourteen new songs recorded during his journey from Nashville to Mali, The Gambia, Tanzania and Uganda. Fleck's goal was to collaborate with incredible African musicians, and look into the origins of the banjo and banjo music. This is also Fleck's second installment of his African musical odyssey and his first experiment with the idea of going direct to the listener online; no record company middleman, a popular concept being used in today's digital music world. For now, his website is the only place you can find and download this fabulous album. A New York City native, he picked up the banjo at age 15 after being awed by the bluegrass music of Flatt & Scruggs. While still in high school he began experimenting with playing bebop jazz on his banjo, mentored by fellow banjo renegade Tony Trischka. In 1980, he released his first solo...