He doesn’t lay claim to inventing reggae, but Frederick “Toots” Hibbert says he gave the Jamaican music style its name. Born in a town called May Ten in the hills far from Kingston, Toots headed for the lights of the city when he was still a teenager. As he tells the tale, “I’m from the […]
Bob Doran
Freelance photographer and writer, Arts and Entertainment editor from 1997 to 2013.
Posted inEat + Drink
Juice and Permaculture
Dave Feral pulls a handful of apples from a cardboard box and drops them into the hopper at the top of his cider press. As invisible whirling blades chop the fruit, he follows the apples with an equal amount of pears. Juice is already trickling into a glass pitcher from a wooden trough at the […]
Posted inMusic
All My Loving
directed by Tony Palmer Isolde Films Director Tony Palmer’s examination of the world of rock ’n’ roll in 1968 serves as a fascinating time capsule. Broadcast on the BBC 39 years ago, All My Loving , “a film of pop music,” was not shown in the U.S. and hasn’t been released on DVD until now. […]
Posted inMusic
Whatever It Is We Do
They’re back. The Redwood Jazz Alliance , that is. The collection of jazz educators and fans intent on bringing a wider range of improv music to Humboldt started with two concerts their first season. The RJA kicks off a more ambitious six show season Thursday, Sept. 27, with two shows at the Morris Graves Museum […]
Posted inMusic
Breaking the Silence
The great jazz keyboardist Joe Zawinul died last week. News of his passing spurred me to dig out my copy of In a Silent Way , the sublime Miles Davis album that took its name from one of Zawinul’s tunes. I bought the record when it came out at the end of the ’60s — […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Fair in Square
The Autumnal Equinox is this Sunday, which means it’s time for the North Country Fair, an annual gathering on the Arcata Plaza with a history stretching back 34 years. Streets around the town square will be closed to traffic Saturday and Sunday to make way for musicians and dancers, booths manned by artisans selling their […]
Posted inMusic
Elemental
For whatever reason, probably because I write about music, people tend to assume I am a musician. I’m not. Well, I did play in the marching band when I was younger, but gave that up when forced to parade in a Sgt. Pepper outfit during half-time at high school football games. For years people having […]
Posted inMusic
Spook Country
William Gibson is best known for a series of sci-fi novels he wrote in the ’80s, beginning with the seminal cyberpunk work, Neuromancer , a labyrinthine examination of a future where hackers cruise through virtual towers of data ruled over by shadowy megacorporations. In many ways, the future he envisioned has come to pass. Maybe […]
Posted inEat + Drink
It’s Official!
Whereas*, Humboldt County is renowned for its local dairies, grass-fed beef and fresh fruits and vegetables, and recognized as an emerging center for local family-owned farms in the United States; and* Whereas*, family farmers are a cornerstone of our communities — trusted providers of nutritious food and stewards of our precious natural resources; and* … […]
Posted inMusic
Long Live the King
It was around 60 years ago when young guitar player Riley B. King left his farm job in Indianola, Miss., for the bright lights of Memphis, Tenn. Living at first with his cousin, the bluesman Bukka White, he made an impression quickly and landed a spot on harmonica great Sonny Boy Williamson’s radio show. Later […]
Posted inMusic
The Way Home — Zap Mama, Santana and can’t-miss folk at Muddy’s
Marie Daulne has come a long way since 1990, when she founded the all-woman a cappella quintet Zap Mama . And it’s not just that she’s been around the world several times. The Zap Mama sound has evolved from an amalgam of African and European vocal styles to incorporate touches of jazz, hip hop, funk, […]
Posted inMusic
Words of Wisdom, plus a Parisian busker, Dr. John and the Lu’au
The first time I met Tevya "Wisdom" Jones, years ago, he was selling T-shirts along the road into Reggae. I bought one emblazoned with his logo — a red, green, gold and black pyramid/eye inside a flaming circle. The next year, stickers with the logo showed up on outhouses all over the concert grounds. A […]