Tomás Doncker is an American musician, and the CEO of True Groove Records. In 2011 CNN credited him with creating a new genre, Global Soul. He is best known as the lead guitarist in

James Chance and the Contortions James Chance and the Contortions (initially known simply as Contortions, a spin-off group is called James White and the Blacks) was a musical group led by saxophonist and vocalist James Chance, formed in 1977. They were a central act of New York ...

Career

Doncker cut his teeth as a guitarist with New York No Wave acts including James Chance & The Contortions,

Defunkt Defunkt is an American musical group founded by the trombonist and singer Joseph Bowie in 1978 in New York City. Their music touches on elements of punk rock, funk, and jazz. Career Joseph Bowie is the brother of big band musician Byron Bowi ...

and J. Walter Negro & The Loose Jointz among others. He is noted for touring and recording with Japanese jazz musicians Sadao Watanabe and Masabumi Kikuchi. This led to him to producing studio and songwriting sessions with

Bootsy Collins William Earl "Bootsy" Collins (born October 26, 1951) is an American bass guitarist and singer. Rising to prominence with James Brown in the early 1970s, and later with Parliament-Funkadelic, Collins established himself as one of the leading n ...

, Yoko Ono, and

The Itals The Itals are a Jamaican reggae vocal group formed in 1976 by Alvin "Keith" Porter, Lloyd Ricketts, and Ronnie Davis (formerly a member of The Tennors), all of whom had previously also recorded as solo artists. All three had worked together in ...

. Doncker has worked with artists including

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

Ivan Neville Ivan Neville (born August 19, 1959) is an American multi-instrumentalist musician, singer, and songwriter. He is the son of Aaron Neville and nephew to members of The Neville Brothers. Career He has released four solo (music), solo albums and ha ...

Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American blues singer and guitarist. In 1971, Raitt released her self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed roots-influenced albums that incorporated ...

, Meshell Ndegeocello, Corey Glover of Living Colour, former Parliament Funkadelic keyboardist Amp Fiddler, Grammy winning producer/bassist Bill Laswell,

Chocolate Genius Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civi ...

, and 2016 Grammy award nominee Shemekia Copeland. His ongoing collaborations with

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

-winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa have received massive critical acclaim. He has produced hundreds of records for independent musicians. He is the founder and CEO True Groove Records. In recent years Doncker has completed successful Chinese and European tours as a solo musician. He has also performed at the

Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival The biennial Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival is the largest poetry event in North America. The 16th edition, and 30th anniversary, of the biannual event took place in Newark, New Jersey, October 20–23, 2016. The next festival will take place in ...

, Milwaukee Summerfest, and New York

Summerstage The City Parks Foundation is the only independent, nonprofit organization to offer programs in parks throughout the five boroughs of New York City. The organization works in over 750 parks citywide, presenting a broad range of free arts, sports ...

. With James Chance and the Contortions he played six sold out shows at The Blue Note Tokyo in January 2016.

Discography

* ''Inside Out'' (2007) * ''Small World Part 1'' (2008) * ''Power of the Trinity'' (2011) * ''Howlin' Wolf EP" (2014)'' * ''Power of the Trinity... A Slight Return (The Global Soul Mixtape Vol. 1)'' (2014) * ''Moanin' At Midnight: The Howlin' Wolf Project'' (2014) * ''Big Apple Blues'' (2014) * ''The Mess We Made'' (2015)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doncker, Tomas Soul musicians Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American rhythm and blues singers American blues guitarists American male guitarists