It’s a pleasure to hear the fruits of Derrick Hodge‘s musical labours, independent of his long-time recording and performance work with artists like Robert Glasper, Terence Blanchard, Maxwell, Q-Tip, Jill Scott and Common.
On his new solo album The Second, released on Blue Note, credit for almost all its sounds goes to Derrick Hodge himself. He produced and wrote its twelve tracks except for “Underground Rhapsody” which was co-written with drummer Mark Colenburg. He also plays all instruments, with contributions from other musicians on only four songs: Colenburg on drums in three; and horns by Keyon Harrold (trumpet), Marcus Strickland (tenor sax) and Corey King (trombone) on “For Generations” – musical sublime taking you way back to a dark, intimate, smokey venue of yesteryear.
The Second is a super-chilled cinematic sonic journey designed to uplift. Derrick Hodge created this music “for the people”. That’s me. And that’s you. So take and appreciate your gift of music given with the best of intentions by this very talented artist.
Check out two sample tracks from The Second here. Remember they’re just dirty, compressed mp3-versions of all the sounds recorded by the makers – which can be heard in their fullest glory when you buy and hear the album in hard copy.
“Underground Rhapsody” by Derrick Hodge – The Second
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“For Generations” by Derrick Hodge – The Second
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If Derrick Hodge and his collaborators are up your musical alley, you can check out interviews, live concert reviews and sample album tracks by some of those artists here: Keyon Harrold; Marcus Strickland; Robert Glasper; Jill Scott; Maxwell; Mos Def; Common.