E. Doctor Smith

E. Doctor Smith (born December 2, 1956, Naples, Italy), is an American musician, record producer and recording artist with Edgetone Records, who has variously worked with Brian Eno, Madonna, Warren Zevon and John Scofield. He is also the inventor of the musical instrument, the Drummstick.
Life and career
Smith began his musical journey as a teenager, playing percussion in the District of Columbia Youth Orchestra and in Maryland's Montgomery County Youth Orchestra. Inspired by the Miles Davis fusion bands of the mid-1970s, he continued his studies with Paul Sears, drummer of The Muffins. His first group, Oranus Rey, featured guitarist Paul Bollenback, bassist Ed Howard, and saxophonist Tim Chambers.
In 1980, Smith moved to New York where he met fellow Music Building tenants Madonna and her co-writer, Stephen Bray. With Bray, Smith performed in the Breakfast Club and The Same. The Same was produced by Brian Eno and featured keyboardist Carter Burwell, guitarist Chip Johannsen, singer Cloda Simmons, bassist Stanley Adler, and the motto "Semper Mutants."
Following Bray and Madonna to Los Angeles, Smith assisted on many of Madonna's biggest albums as well as other of Bray's projects including Nick Kamen, Gladys Knight, The Breakfast Club, Bryan Ferry, and Steel Pulse. In Los Angeles, Smith's audio engineering was used in sessions working alongside Michael Verdick and Tony Shepperd. Back on the East Coast, Smith performed with the New England groups K2, Flash to Bangtime, and Feat of Clay, using a Simmons kit he called the “Beast." Inspired by the drumkit of British drummer Bill Bruford, Smith’s 12-piece kit was the first embodiment of his love of digital drums.
In 1995, as a member of the trio Between The Lines, and influenced by the work of Roy "Future Man" Wooten, Smith designed and built the Drummstick, a percussion controller consisting of a 2x6 inch piece of wood with 16 finger-pads. Borne of a desire to walk on stage, plug in and play like a guitarist, while accessing digital sounds, Smith's Drummstick was further developed.
In 2000, Smith became the front of house engineer for the State Theater in Falls Church, Virginia, mixing and working with Warren Zevon, Dave Mason, David S. Ware, Mickey Hart, Bill Bruford, John Mayall, Little Feat, John Scofield, and several more local acts. The same year, Smith released his debut album, The Drummstick, with his band of the same name, which featured core members Jack Wright on guitar, Neil Mezebish on horns, and Celia DuBose on bass. That year he also performed using the Drummstick with Ben Lozago of Gong, Tom Principato, Bill Kirchen, Paul Bollenback, John Wubbenhorst, Sandip Burman, and Howard Levy.
Now living in San Francisco, Smith performed at the Edgetone New Music Summit of 2006 with horn player Eric Dahlman. In March 2007, Smith released the Drummstick 2 album, a collaboration with the original Drummstick band and other musical friends on Edgetone Records.
Smith also produced and performed on an Edgetone release entitled Robert Anbian and UFQ: the Unidentified Flying Quartet. It featured jazz and poetry with contributions from Robert Anbian, saxophonist Charles Unger, keyboardist Sam Peoples, and bassist Mike Shea.
In 2008, the makers of the Zendrum, a MIDI percussion controller, built a custom Zendrum for Smith that he has been using exclusively. This Zendrum is black, modeled after Jimi Hendrix's black Fender Stratocaster and is played vertically like the Drummstick.
In 2009, Smith had been asked to perform at Oakland's Rooz Cafe which led to him meeting Edo Castro. Like Manring before him, Castro was another master of the "E-Bow". Their live album, Live with Edo Castro, featured the music of Smith's earlier Drummstick 2, K2, Robert Anbian and the Unidentified Flying Quartet CDs, and was culled from performances recorded at the Sheba Lounge in San Francisco and Mill Valley's 142 Throckmorton Theatre.
Quantum is the latest work by Smith and his sixth on Edgetone Records. The work reunited Smith with his former Drummstick band mate, guitarist Jack Wright and featured Quantum Kids' bassist, Tom Shiben, and Smith's Feat of Clay co-founder, trumpeter Eric Dahlman. In this collaboration, Smith's fusion approach with the Zendrum EXP MIDI percussion controller, blended with the other musician's work. Quantum was released on October 29, 2013.
Discography
Studio albums
*1987 - Madonna/True Blue
*1987 - The Breakfast Club
*1989 - Madonna/Like a Prayer
*1995 - Between The Lines/Find the Place
*2001 - The Drummstick
*2007 - The Drummstick 2<ref name="Romus" />
*2007 - Robert Anbian and UFQ: the Unidentified Flying Quartet
*2008 - E. Doctor Smith and Seth Elgart's K2
*2009 - E. Doctor Smith Live with Edo Castro
*2013 - Quantum

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