As the sun set on the final day of last summer’s Reggae on the River, Seun Kuti’s band, Egypt 80, filled the stage and eased into a rock-solid Afrofunk groove. Like the bandleader, the gyrating dancers and many of the players were young, but the bass player and guitarist were clearly veterans, guys who’d backed […]
Bob Doran
Freelance photographer and writer, Arts and Entertainment editor from 1997 to 2013.
Posted inMusic
Struggling Man
Reggae singer Jah Sun straddles a stool in front of a computer desk in Jah Culture Studio, a cozy converted garage nestled beneath towering redwoods high in the hills above Arcata. His dreadlocked hair is so long it trails on the ground when he sits. One wall sports a large banner for Lion Camp, a […]
Posted inMusic
Playhouse Bound
With his dress shirt buttoned to the top and a ‘20s-era haircut, 20-something old timer Frank Fairfield looks like he could have stepped out of a time machine. He’ll often play selections he calls “unheard ofs and forgotten abouts” from his carefully curated collection of vintage 78-rpm records before he sits down with a guitar, […]
Posted inMusic
The Unbearable Lightness of The Parker Quartet
While the Eureka Chamber Music Series routinely brings in some truly fine touring string quartets, this Friday’s show is extra special. The Parker Quartet, founded a decade ago at the New England Conservatory of Music in conjunction with the conservatory’s professional string quartet training program, is arguably among the best in America. After garnering numerous […]
Posted inArts + Scene
Erin Go Bragh!
St. Patrick’s Day is upon us once again come Saturday, a day when everyone’s Irish, wearing green is considered mandatory, shamrocks are bandied about recklessly and the bartenders add green food coloring to beer. All this ostensibly to commemorate the death of a saint who was not Irish, because he supposedly drove some snakes out […]
Posted inArts + Scene
McKinleyville Art Night
A celebration of local art and artists with music, food and fun. McKinleyville Art Night is held on the third Friday of each month is open for all McKinleyville businesses to display the work of local artists. Contact Taffy Stockton at (707. 834-6460. More information at www.mckinleyvilleartsnight.com. 1. Eureka-Arcata Airport Special Event, View artwork by Humboldt […]
Posted inMusic
Living Every Story
Renata’s Crêperia is not normally a music venue, but it becomes one Thursday when Myshkin’s Ruby Warblers drop by on a tour for Myshkin’s latest CD, Diamond Lust. “Don’t know if you saw her with Lila Nelson at HumBrews last time passing through,” says Renata (a big fan), “but I caught her in Berkeley some […]
Posted inNews
Kala Kenyatte is Gone
Kala Kenyatte, a big man, and a fixture on the Humboldt music scene, died Thursday morning at around 3 a.m. at Mad River Hospital due to renal and congestive heart failure, the result of ongoing health problems related to diabetes. Born George Allen Dixon on Oct. 16, 1946 in Westchester, Virginia, Kala was active in […]
Posted inArts + Scene
The Life and Times of Judi Bari
As the film opens, the camera pans through a bucolic redwood forest, tilting up into the branches. Bird sounds and new age music on the soundtrack are interrupted by a Bay Area TV news report announcing, “A car bomb explosion sends two members of the activist group Earth First! to the hospital. And the question […]
Posted inMusic
Dirty Reggae
A long time ago, when I was first discovering reggae music, I picked up a three record compilation called The Trojan Story. Produced in the early ‘70s, it was a look back for the British label starting with the ska era, moving through rocksteady and ending with the dawn of reggae, with the main focus […]
Posted inMusic
On Their Way
MORE MUSIC: Music & More Grid / Events Calendar Fans of folky indie rock know the work of Portland’s Blitzen Trapper, especially since the band’s cool breakthrough album from a few years back, Furr. Perhaps you heard BT play “Might Find It Cheap” earlier this winter on Letterman. American Goldwing from 2011 is the latest […]
Posted inEat + Drink
Street Food
Slipping out the back door of the Alibi way past midnight on a Saturday, my stomach growling for food, I was dreading the probable line at Don’s Donuts. There would be famished teens, street people and half-drunk bar patrons waiting to order SE Asian sandwiches, pizza slices or classic sugar-bomb donuts. But right down the […]