Producer/Singer/Songwriter/Guitarist, and True Groove Records Founder & CEO Tomás Doncker has long been a prime mover and innovator on the New York music, arts & culture scenes. From the early 1980’s as a member of groundbreaking No Wave and Punk Funk bands The Contortions and Defunkt, to international touring, recording & songwriting collaborations with luminaries such as Bootsy Collins, Yoko Ono, Madonna, Ivan Neville, and Bonnie Raitt, to helming his own band, Tomás Doncker and The True Groove All-Stars, he's established himself as a cross-genre innovator without peer.
For over a decade, his expansive creative endeavors (all released on True Groove) have included work with; Meshell Ndegeocello, Ravid Kahalani’s Yemen Blues, Finnish hip hop star Paleface, P-Funk alumni Michael "Kidd Funkadelic" Hampton and Amp Fiddler, hip hop pioneer Keith Shocklee (Public Enemy/Bomb Squad), iconic bassist/producer Bill Laswell and, the legendary Ms.Patti Smith.
In 2022, Doncker and longtime collaborator Pulitzer Prize winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa joined forces with visual artist Floyd Tunson to create Endangered, an immersive multi-media experience addressing the historical conundrum that Black men in America are endangered. Endangered launched in 2022 with a series of Juneteenth weekend performances and companion album release. Inspired by Tunson's Afro-Futuristic, politically charged artwork and powered by lyrics from Komunyakaa, Doncker and The True Groove All-Stars have charted a sonic journey to freedom, a modern day revolution of the mind that has been referred to as '21st Century Psychedelic Soul,' and hailed as "a socio-politically charged audio-visual soundtrack of 21st Century dissent, discomfort and reclamation."
Doncker has received praise for his groundbreaking productions from such taste-making music, art & culture discovery destinations as CNN, Huff Post, Mojo, Spin, Brooklyn Vegan, NPR’s “All Songs Considered,” Guitar World, All About Jazz, The Source, Vents Magazine, Paste Magazine, and No Depression, American Blues Scene, Music Crowns, and Rolling Stone - to name a few.
Recent Media Highlights:
The Telegraph: 'Tomás Doncker, whose decades in the business have seen him work with the likes of Bootsy Collins, Ivan Neville and Patti Smith, unleashes a new track fusing funky beats with soulful vocals, as he ruminates on the shifting tide of current politics.' Wonderland Magazine: 'Bridges genres with fire and soul.' Fresh on the Net: 'So real and accessible.'Fame Magazine: 'Uncompromising, genre-defying, and fiercely intelligent.' Jammerzine: 'Lucid percussive rhythm lays a guttural groove...'Music News Monthly: 'A powerful force that commands attention.The Chrd Mag: ‘Wha-Gwaan!’ features a guest appearance from the legendary Frank Benbini (Fun Lovin' Criminals/UB40/Uncle Frank), who adds his signature flair to the track with his dynamic drumming and soulful vocals Blues Matters: 'Tomás Doncker and the True Groove All-Stars have fused Blues, jazz, Funk, Soul and Gospel and taken them to another level.’Blues and Soul magazine: ‘A masterclass in Doncker’s inate knack for genre fluidity’.