Taylor McFerrin and Marcus Gilmore have a lot in common. The two artists both have an impressive musical lineage – McFerrin is the eldest son of vocalist and classical conductor Bobby McFerrin; Gilmore the grandson of legendary jazz drummer Roy Haynes – and both are part of the thirty-something year old set working off the improvisational foundation of jazz and creating music with a 21st century, often technologically-infused aesthetic.
Producer, keyboardist and beatboxer Taylor McFerrin released his debut album Early Riser in 2014 to wide acclaim. It featured guest appearances his father, vocalist and classical conductor Bobby McFerrin, Nai Palm (Hiatus Kiyote), Thundercat, Robert Glasper and Cesar Mariano, cementing his place among the new jazz elite.

Also guesting on that album is Gilmore who is also regular collaborator of MIJF alumnae Chick Corea, Vijay Iyer and Ambrose Akinmusire.

This album was not their first collaboration. They’ve shared stages from San Francisco Jazz to Cape Town. For These Digital Times, the pair will present a unique live performance – a split-screen set recorded in lockdown, separately, but in perfect synchronicity.

DERRICK HODGE

Two-time Grammy Award-winning bassist and Blue Note Recording Artist Derrick Hodge’s writing and arranging accomplishments straddle both the recording and live arenas – from composing original music for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, to arranging for Nas and the National Symphony Orchestra, Common and the Chicago Symphony, Maxwell and the National Symphony, as well as composing the original work “Infinite Reflections” for the Chicago Brass Ensemble, and being a Sundance Composer Fellow. He has also directed and scored other projects from being co-Musical Director for the 2015 Triumph Awards and arranging strings for Mos Def’s 2008 premiere at Carnegie Hall, to writing for films such as Back to School Mom, the 180 Days Documentary Series, Land of Opportunity, The Black Candle, The Army Recruiter and Uneasy Listening. Early film work includes When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts in which he did additional writing and scoring, as well as Who the $%@ Is Jackson Pollock?,and Faubourg Treme: A Story of Black New Orleans. Hodge’s most recent film projects include music consultant credit for the Feb 2020 Universal release “The Photograph”, as well as composer for the American library system documentary “Free For All Lives”, directed by Dawn Logsdon.

As a Blue Note Recording Artist, Hodge has released three solo projects under the label: Live Today (2013), The Second (2016) and Color Of Noize (2020).

With his third record, Derrick Hodge unleashes his freest work yet. Color of Noize is the band, the concept, and the album, and if that name evokes more questions than answers for you, then you’re reading it right.