Derrick Hodge (Jill Newman Productions)

Musician, Bassist & Composer

DERRICK HODGE @ DROM
OPENER: DONN T
+ DJ PRESERVATION
PRODUCED BY JILL NEWMAN PRODUCTIONS

Derrick Hodge's debut recording is a showcase of his widely respected versatility and melodic sensitivity, creating a unique sound all his own. Hodge represents something inventive and refreshing, fronting the wave of a unique generation of renaissance musicians working across all genres without borders. This release is a mural of what is now and where he comes from, representing the new and respecting the classic. His music is sure to touch the soul and not be forgotten.

Hodge has spent his youthful career transcending between various styles of Hip-Hop, Gospel, R&B, Funk, Singer/Songwriter and Jazz, performing and/or recording with Grammy Nominated and Awarded artists such as Maxwell, Common, Q-Tip, Mos Def, Timbaland, Jill Scott, Musiq Soulchild, Bilal,Gerald Levert, Kanye West, Andre 3000, Sade, Terence Blanchard, Mulgrew Miller, Clark Terry, Donald Byrd, and many more. In 2008, he was commissioned to write a piece by the Chicago Symphony entitled "Infinite Reflections", and was selected to be a part of the Sundance Composer Lab. Currently, he serves as the Musical Director for Maxwell, while maintaining a steady career as a film composer and performing as a solo artist in front of sold out crowds at various venues such as Summerstage and Blue Note Jazz Club.

MySpace Page

Progressive. Eclectic. Avant-garde. Maverick. The soulful, futuristic dance music on songstress Donn T’s KALEIDOSCOPIC embodies all these superlatives and more. This forward-facing singer-songwriter from the streets of Philadelphia satisfies all expectations for what a new millennium artist should be, slashing through musical genres while using modern technology to her utmost advantage. Donn T is a digital girl in a digital world, layering upbeat soul music all throughout her KALEIDOSCOPIC début album.

The Philly soul tradition is famously rife with outside-the-box, cutting-edge artists who stretched musical boundaries and turned the world’s ear to their sounds of expression. Donn T fits this description with the best of them. Though she nowadays also calls Los Angeles home and worked steadfastly on KALEIDOSCOPIC with esteemed UK-based French producer DJ Simbad. Donn T brings as much Philly to her game as Santigold, Jill Scott or Jazmine Sullivan before her.

“I believe my early eclectic musical influences are what most inform my approach to music today,” Donn T says. “I grew up with it all, every genre.” The daughter of ’50s doo-wop great Lee Andrews (of Lee Andrews & the Hearts), Donn T was always supported in her musical ambitions from an early age. KALEIDOSCOPIC ranges from funky London electronica to reconfigured Chicago deep house, from the post-disco New York vibe of the late ’70/early ’80s to that same period’s soulful Berlin sonics.

The frenetic first single “Look At (What U Startin’)” combines dance and pop aesthetics with a characteristically breezy ease. Upcoming remixes by Toddla T, Zed Bias, Altered Natives and Deetron should create a monster buzz for Donn T on club dancefloors worldwide. In fact, global demand for KALEIDOSCOPIC seems inevitable given the international nature of the entire project.

“[Neither] my label, nor my manager, nor the producer for KALEIDOSCOPIC are based in the U.S.,” Donn T explains. “Most of the key players responsible for pulling the project together, bringing it to light, are a world apart geographically. Digital media, blogging, all things virtual make our world go ’round. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say I never left my living room for meetings. Skype changes everything.”

No newbie to the industry, Donn T has long worked behind the scenes, i.e., songwriting on Common’s Electric Circus (“I Am Music”); performing a cover of Radiohead’s “Morning Bell” with the Randy Watson Experience (featured on Exit Music: Songs with Radio Heads); and contributing “Rainy Day” to the UPN Taye Diggs vehicle Kevin Hill, in addition to five songs for the second season of Showtime’s Street Time drama. Nearly as connected as her older brother Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson of The Roots hip-hop band, Donn T has also shared stages with or supported the live shows of singers Amy Winehouse, Zap Mama, Nelly Furtado, John Legend, Les Nubians, Floetry and more.

Now, Donn T takes the spotlight. “Being out the box musically is commonplace,” she remarks. “I really wouldn’t know how to do it any other way. Inspiring a wee-bit more authenticity in the world through my music, that’s what I wanna do.” KALEIDOSCOPIC is Donn T’s contribution to the genre-busting tradition carried on by the Janelle Monáes and Meshell Ndegéocellos of the 21st century world of modern music. Enjoy the colors.

Facebook Page