Mike Griot and Tomás Doncker
Acclaimed performer and multi-instrumentalist Tomás Doncker will celebrate his acclaimed “Big Apple Blues” record by helping launch the first-ever South by South Orange Festival (SOxSO) during the weekend of June 26-28, 2015 in South Orange, NJ.
Doncker will be playing alongside Will Calhoun (drummer for Living Colour), True Groove All-Star Josh David (currently front-man for The Wailers), and critically acclaimed violinist Alan Grubner at the “Causing Collisions” concert on Saturday, June 27, from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., at the SOPAC main stage, 1 Sopac Way.
The concert is curated by Mike Griot, bassist and CEO of PWI Media Entertainment.
“We’re very excited to involved with SXSO!” Doncker told Village Green. “Over the past four years, True Groove has been working in the Orange, New Jersey area extensively. We have developed valuable relationships, and performed for some of the most generous audiences in my career. It’s a real honor to have been invited to be the core of ‘Causing Collisions’ Orchestra’s main stage event on June 27. We look at it as a chance to give back to a culturally vibrant community that has given us so much.”
As a prime mover on New York’s downtown “No Wave” scene in the early 1980’s, Doncker cut his teeth as a guitarist with such genre-busting groups as James Chance & The Contortions, Defunkt, J. Walter Negro & The Loose Jointz and many more.
Eventually he went international, touring and recording in Japan with jazz pianist Masabumi Kikuchi, and producing studio and songwriting sessions with Boosty Collins, Yoko Ono, Grammy nominated Reggae vocal group The Itals, and Grammy-winning producer Prince Charles Alexander, to name just a few.
Since then, Doncker has continued to work with an A-list of iconic artists including Ivan Neville (on his solo album “Thanks”), Bonnie Raitt, Meshell Ndegeocello, Living Colour lead singer Corey Glover, former P-Funk keyboardist Amp Fiddler, 2013 Grammy award nominee Shamekia Copeland, and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa.
In 2010, Doncker performed for the first time in China as a headlining act at the Shanghai Folk Festival, and in front of an audience of over 100,000 as part of the Shanghai World Expo. His latest work as a singer/songwriter and producer embraces a broader musical vision that he likes to call Global-Soul, drawing influences from numerous sources, including East and West Africa and the Caribbean. He also frequently collaborates with legendary Grammy Award winning Producer/Bassist Bill Laswell, and his ongoing “Power Of The Trinity” project was featured on CNN on November 27, 2012 (Jimi Hendrix’ birthday).
In 2014, Tomás released the full length “Moanin’ at Midnight: The Howlin’ Wolf Project” album, which received widespread acclaim from sources such as Popmatters, All About Jazz, and Howlin’ Wolf’s own official website, who posted the album. Developed during a critically acclaimed run at NYC SummerStage during the summer of 2013 (and directed by award winning director Alfred Preisser), this project is now being shaped into a multimedia performance concert.
Doncker wrote “Big Apple Blues” with Pulitzer Prize winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa.
Hear Doncker playing live at the Iridium here. Or watch him play below:
Click here for more information — including how to puchase tickets — about the SOxSO Festival.
