Philip Elwood
Philip 'Phil' Elwood was born on March 19, 1926 in Berkeley, where his father was a professor of agriculture at the University of California.
As a teenager, Phil was introduced to jazz by photographer Dorothea Lange, prompting a lifelong love of the genre and inspiring him to build a large jazz record collection.
Elwood's love of jazz led to a career in radio and print journalism. From 1952-1996, he hosted a weekly series, Jazz Archives, on Berkeley's KPFA, making him one of the first jazz broadcasters in FM radio.
His work in radio celebrated the resurgence of interest in early jazz and documented what became known as the 'San Francisco Style.'
1965 while working at KPFA, Elwood joined the San Francisco Examiner as an entertainment critic, where he covered jazz, rock, blues, comedy, and cabaret shows in the Bay Area. After 2000, he continued his newspaper career at the San Francisco Chronicle. Following retirement
Phil passed away in 2006.
(Photo: Philip broadcasting on KPFA in 1959, playing Miles Davis)
24 articles
List of articles in the library by artist
Live Review by Philip Elwood, San Francisco Examiner, The, 18 April 1969
The Band — Too Little, Too Late ...
The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Capitol SMAS 2653)
Review by Philip Elwood, San Francisco Examiner, The, 3 June 1967
Last Respects to Beatles In an Album That Turns on ...
The Beatles: The Beatles (Apple)
Review by Philip Elwood, San Francisco Examiner, The, 19 November 1968
Beatles' Latest-in a Plain Wrapper ...
The Bee Gees: Disco: They said the same things about the Tango
Comment by Philip Elwood, San Francisco Examiner, The, 7 April 1978
"These new dances never lost their original reason for being — passion!" "If couples dancing these new steps could see themselves, especially from the rear, they ...
Bobby Bland, Maxayn: Bobby "Blue" Bland, Paulette Parker: Basin Street West, San Francisco CA
Live Review by Philip Elwood, San Francisco Examiner, The, 3 December 1969
Bobby 'Blue' Bland Is Right On ...
Live Review by Philip Elwood, San Francisco Examiner, The, 2 March 1968
"Rock and Roll '68" — Good Panorama of the Pop Scene ...
Cab Calloway: Of Minnie the Moocher and a Cab with ciass
Profile and Interview by Philip Elwood, San Francisco Examiner, The, 6 September 1976
CAB CALLOWAY, sharp, nimble, full of stories and laughs, moved through the noontime crowd at the Washington Square Bar and Grill and onto the sundrenched ...
John Coltrane, Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner: The John Coltrane Quartet: Jazz Workshop, San Francisco CA
Live Review by Philip Elwood, San Francisco Examiner, The, 15 September 1965
Coltrane, Jones Explode Together ...
Commander Cody: Cody's Airmen On the Way Up
Profile and Interview by Philip Elwood, San Francisco Examiner, The, 15 December 1969
THE NATIONAL pop music compass needle has been pointing toward Nashville for over a year and now it is digging into the past of country-and-western ...
Live Review by Philip Elwood, San Francisco Examiner, The, 11 January 1969
Impressive New Rock Group ...
Miles Davis, Grateful Dead: Grateful Dead, Miles Davis: Fillmore West, San Francisco CA
Live Review by Philip Elwood, San Francisco Examiner, The, 10 April 1970
Miles' Marvelous Montage ...
Jerry Garcia, Merl Saunders: Dead Leader Who Is Very Much Alive
Report and Interview by Philip Elwood, San Francisco Examiner, The, 11 January 1971
JERRY GARCIA is the principal power plant and instrumental, as well as inspirational, leader of San Francisco's oldest continuing rock band, the Grateful Dead. ...
Judy Garland: Circle Star Theater, San Carlos CA
Live Review by Philip Elwood, San Francisco Examiner, The, 2 September 1965
Judy's Electric, but Searching Evening ...
Crystal Gayle: She's more than a little sister
Interview by Philip Elwood, San Francisco Examiner, The, 17 September 1977
OVER THE last few years, as her own star has been rising high over the country music scene, singer Crystal Gayle has learned to live ...
It's a Beautiful Day: New New Sounds
Interview by Philip Elwood, San Francisco Examiner, The, 30 June 1968
BRIGHTEST AND most compelling of the newer local modern music groups, and certainly the one with the most intriguing sounds and name is violinist David ...
Rahsaan Roland Kirk: Roland Kirk's Expanding World
Profile and Interview by Philip Elwood, San Francisco Examiner, The, 12 September 1968
MUCH OF Roland Kirk's life has been a dogmatic and frustrating crusade to make his listeners realize that the reason he plays two or three ...
Buck Owens: Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco CA
Live Review by Philip Elwood, San Francisco Examiner, The, 11 March 1968
Exhilarating Time With Buck Owens ...
Jimmy Reed: A Chicago blues great dead at 50
Obituary by Philip Elwood, San Francisco Examiner, The, 31 August 1976
JIMMY REED, one of the great Chicago blues artists, died early yesterday morning in Oakland. He had been playing club engagements throughout Northern California in ...
Terry Riley: A Rainbow in Curved Air (Columbia 7315)
Review by Philip Elwood, San Francisco Examiner, The, 24 December 1969
THE WONDERFUL San Franciscan with the strange sounds, Terry Riley, has a second LP out, A Rainbow in Curved Air (Columbia 7315). ...
The Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder: Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder: Winterland, San Francisco CA
Live Review by Philip Elwood, San Francisco Examiner, The, 7 June 1972
Rolling, Rocking Stones Gather No Moss ...
Santana: Matrix, San Francisco CA
Live Review by Philip Elwood, San Francisco Examiner, The, 14 November 1968
Santana Band Up Close ...
Sex Pistols: The Sex Pistols: Winterland, San Francisco CA
Live Review by Philip Elwood, San Francisco Examiner, The, 16 January 1978
Sex Pistols end U.S. offensive bored but richer ...
Sylvester: Old Waldorf, San Francisco CA
Live Review by Philip Elwood, San Francisco Examiner, The, 21 July 1977
Sylvester: A turn in the right direction ...
Interview by Philip Elwood, San Francisco Examiner, The, 8 April 1969
WHAT'S THE magic ingredient that makes popular hit records? If anyone knew for sure he'd have a billion dollar industry rotating around him, at 45 ...
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