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Derrek Phillips

Bill Withers. The Police. Rick James. Earth, Wind, and Fire. Led Zeppelin. Prince.

These were some of the first words I learned after the usual “Mama” and “Dada”.  Music was just as common than food in my childhood home. Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, I was heavily indoctrinated by the sounds of Tower of Power, Journey, Sly and the Family Stone, Metallica, Tony! Toni! Tone! and Digital Underground. Thanks to my parents and older brothers, I developed an early obsession for music.

This obsession led to years in local bands, youth and community orchestras and the Concord Blue Devils drum and bugle corps. Lessons with Marc Van Wageningen and the late, great Tony Williams would soon follow. This same obsession took me to the East Coast to pursue a bachelor’s degree at William Paterson University in New Jersey. After years spent getting my career started in the New York jazz scene, I decided to head south and focus on the well-rounded Nashville scene.

My love for a diverse range of music has only blossomed since moving to Nashville. Since 2006, I have worked with BONNIE TYLER, DR. JOHN, ALISON KRAUS, JOHN CARTER CASH, JAMES OTTO , JIMMY HALL, TOMMY SIMS, DELBERT McCLINTON, GARY NICHOLSON, RACHEL LAMPA, IRMA THOMAS, KURT ELLING, EVEN STEVENS, CHARLIE HUNTER, THE McCRARY SISTERS, CHARLIE PEACOCK,  JACK PEARSON, SHELLY FAIRCHILD, ERIN BODE, GREG OSBY, RONNY JORDAN, DAVE DOUGLAS and LEE FIELDS. My drumming can be heard on the “NASHVILLE” TV SHOW SOUNDTRACK “Season 5, Volume 3”, VANESSA WILLIAMS’ “The Real Thing”, MICHAEL MCDONALD’S “This Christmas”, and ROBBEN FORD’S “Purple House” among many others. In 2009, I released own solo project entitled Derrek Phillips’ Manufactory. The music is a unique blend of hip-hop, r, electronica, drum-n-bass, jazz, and spoken word. The recording, “Offering”, is out on Ropeadope Records.

In 2014, I became HANK WILLIAMS JR’S drummer.  That same year, I received my first Grammy for MIKE FARRIS’ “Shine For All The People” on drums and percussion. I currently chair the drum seat for chart-topping Country artist BRETT ELDREDGE and received my SECOND Grammy for his performances on GLORIA GAYNOR’S “Testimony” in 2020.

I currently endorsed by Pearl Drums, Istanbul Cymbals, Evans Drumheads, Alclair Audio In-ear montiors, Drum Dots, Stack Ring Percussion and Vater Sticks.


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197
Album Review

Charlie Hunter Trio: Copperopolis

Read "Copperopolis" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki


Charlie Hunter's first trio record since 2003's Friends Seen and Unseen balances his talents as a composer (he wrote or co-wrote every track except for the set-ending take of Monk's “Think of One ), as a bandleader, as a band member interplaying with drummer Derrek Phillips and John Ellis (tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, Wurlitzer organ and melodica), and as lead guitar hot shot.

Hunter rips the lid off with the first cut, “Cueball Bobbin', which crackles with the ...

150
Album Review

Charlie Hunter Trio: Copperopolis

Read "Copperopolis" reviewed by AAJ Staff


First-time encounters with Charlie Hunter in a live setting usually leave listeners numb with the realization of how much music Hunter can make with one instrument. It's a sobering experience to see him play melody, chordal accompaniment and bass lines all at once on his custom eight-string guitar--which is obviously a most unnatural feat, even though he's been honing it for quite some time. The way he loses control of his facial muscles in the process, often succumbing to a ...

128
Album Review

The Charlie Hunter Trio: Copperopolis

Read "Copperopolis" reviewed by Doug Collette


Of the sessions with his trio that produced Copperopolis, guitar wunderkind Charlie Hunter says, “I was just feeling rocky I guess. Indeed, the first few seconds are the sound of the three players marshalling their collective strength, leader/guitarist at the fore, riffing and rocking to beat the band. In the midst of the shredding, however, the quirky character of the group and its leader remains evident, eventually superseding that unusually violent attack as the nine tracks continue to unfold.

Yet ...

268
Album Review

Charlie Hunter Trio: Copperopolis

Read "Copperopolis" reviewed by Paul Olson


Eight-string guitar whiz Charlie Hunter has done some especially interesting work recently--his Groundtruther experiments with percussionist Bobby Previte explored the limits of outside studio improvisation while his playing in the collective band Garage à Trois dug deep into New Orleans third-line groove and stacked rhythms. As good as those projects were, it's nice to see Hunter return to his main gig, the Charlie Hunter Trio, whose last CD, Friends Seen and Unseen (Ropeadope, 2004), seemed to set a standard for ...

152
Album Review

Charlie Hunter Trio: Copperopolis

Read "Copperopolis" reviewed by Mark F. Turner


To say that guitarist Charlie Hunter's been busy is an understatement. Constantly touring and collaborating with Garage à Trois and Groundtruther, he still found time to record Copperopolis with a trio that has been together for over five years. This followup to 2004's Friends Seen and Unseen finds Hunter with drummer Derrek Phillips and saxophonist John Ellis exploring a rock-oriented sound. The music still grooves, but with more bite and grit, marked by harder rhythms and edgier ...

159
Album Review

Charlie Hunter: Friends Seen and Unseen

Read "Friends Seen and Unseen" reviewed by Sean Patrick Fitzell


Still mining inspiration from his relocation to New York, eight-string guitar wizard Charlie Hunter returns to the trio format for Friends Seen and Unseen. The trio offers plenty of open space, though with Hunter's unique style of playing bass lines and guitar melodies simultaneously, the group can often sound like a quartet. Hunter and his partners, saxophonist John Ellis and drummer Derrek Phillips, relish the opportunity to alternately hunker down in and float around the irresistible rhythms. The result is ...

204
Album Review

The Charlie Hunter Trio: Friends Seen and Unseen

Read "Friends Seen and Unseen" reviewed by Doug Collette


Charlie Hunter is groove incarnate. Whether in his own groups, as a member of Garage a Trois, in duet with Bobby Previte, or reuniting with TJ Kirk (all this activity in the past year), this master of the eight-string guitar radiates an infectious joy that permeates his own playing as well as the musicianship of those around him. On much of his new album, Friends Seen and Unseen , Hunter sets the stage for his two partners, in just the ...

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160

Recording

Vocalist Dara Tucker Releases "Soul Said Yes"- Examines Common Threads of Soul in Jazz, Gospel and New Originals and Features 7-String Guitarist Charlie Hunter and Drummer Derrek Phillips

Vocalist Dara Tucker Releases "Soul Said Yes"- Examines Common Threads of Soul in Jazz, Gospel and New Originals and Features 7-String Guitarist Charlie Hunter and Drummer Derrek Phillips

Source: Greg Bryant

Jazz Vocalist and Songwriter Dara Tucker has released her second CD Soul Said Yes, a collection of music that examines the common thread of soul in Dara's gospel roots, jazz standards and in newer classics reworked in distinct arrangements. “Soul, to me, is an audible expression of the human experience," Tucker said. “As this album reflects a wide range of influences, it represents where we are musically and we are very excited about presenting it to our listeners." In addition ...

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Mosaic

Jazz Music City
2021

buy

Copperopolis

Ropeadope Records
2006

buy

Friends Seen and...

Self Produced
2004

buy

Swamba Redux

From: Copperopolis
By Derrek Phillips

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