Derrik Jordan is an award-winning composer, singer-songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist, recording artist and teacher. He plays electric violin, percussion, guitar and keyboards.
His song "Speak Through Me" won 2nd place overall in the USA Songwriting Competition and "Somethings Gonna Change" won Reggae Song of the Year from Just Plain Folks. "Sky Mirror" a composition for string quartet, shakuhachi and electric guitar, was awarded the Shakuhachi Chamber Music International Prize 2008. In addition, "Odzihozo And The Lake" was commissioned by the Vermont Symphony Orchestra for their 2009 Made In Vermont Fall Tour and was performed in 10 venues around the state in September 2009.
Derrik has produced many CDs of his own music including two instrumental world fusion CDs under the name SuperString Theory. He has made musical trips to Senegal, Ghana, Brazil and Trinidad and he plays with many bands including Tony Vacca and World Rhythms, Impulse Ensemble, Zabap, Simba, Moonlight Davis and Natural History.
Thorn Forest Walkabout is a four minute mini-drama of passionately interactive dialoging cellos driven relentlessly by a fiery dumbek.
Overall it has an improvisational feel and flow. The inspiration for the opening pizzicato riff in the 2nd cello came from listening to the music of Madagascar and particularly the brilliant guitar virtuoso DGary, who is a personal favorite of composer Derrik Jordan. Madagascar has a famous thorn forest, which is a very unusual ecosystem with its own unique species of animals and plants.
Thorn Forest Walkabout was written for 2VC and premiered March 15, 2009 at B'nai Jeshurun.