DARRYL TOOKES - Keyboards / Vocals

When fame came knocking on Darryl Tookes' door in the early 1990's, he sent it away. Instead, he moved to the countryside and devoted his time and energy to developing his sound and his vision while raising a family in the multicultural community of Stamford, Connecticut. An artist in exile, Tookes ventured inward to create underground in the very shadow of New York, the epicenter of international culture and art.

What poured from his heart during this time were the songs of an ordinary man questing a universal vision on the edge of a new cultural epoch.

Darryl Tookes is a prolific composer and lyricist who is writing in a completely original voice. His early influences were such eclectic artists as Earth, Wind & Fire, Steely Dan, Stevie Wonder and Todd Rundgren. Tookes is deeply inspired by his idols. Pianists Oscar Peterson and Keith Jarrett, singer Nancy Wilson – icons of the post-modern era – Cannonball Adderley, John Coltrane and Miles Davis. Tookes has performed at the White House, and worked with his hero, Leonard Bernstein, on the PBS television show

Great Performances – the historic West Side Story recording conducted by the composer.

Darryl Tookes has vast experience exploring diverse musical genres. His professional credits include projects with: Dave Grusin, Quincy Jones, Sting, George Benson, Patti Austin, Roberta Flack, Blondie, Ramsey Lewis, Nancy Wilson, Elton John, Jewel, Dave Valentin, Gerry Mulligan, Diana Ross, Carly Simon, Bobby McFerrin, Patricia Kaas, Luther Vandross, Laurie Anderson, Buster Williams, Ole Edvard Antonsen, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Howard Levy, Juan Gabriel, Aretha Franklin, Korn, Cristina Aguilera, and Chic.

Along with his artistic endeavors, Tookes is the Chairman of the New York Singers Collective – an organization of independent singers in the New York area; and Board Member of the East Coast Chapter of the Society of Singers. Tookes also contributes his time and talents to Arts for Healing, the music therapy program founded by Karen Nisenson; and Songs of Love, John Beltzer’s innovative philanthropy for seriously ill children and their families.

Today Tookes re-emerges on the scene with his vision complete in an entirely new sound arising from his self-inflicted isolation. He has brilliantly honed his distinctive style into a new transcendent non-linear form of music and poetry, incorporating universal myth with personal narrative. Expanding his romanticism into new dimensions of multilayered storytelling, Tookes reaches deep into the universal myths guiding humanity during this critical time of cultural transition. Darryl Tookes has indeed come full circle.

From his seminal debut hit “Lifeguard,” to this, his seventh CD as leader, Darryl Tookes returns to center stage with his new band and their groundbreaking, Grammy nominated CD, Journey To The Hieros Gamos. (English translation: Journey to the Sacred Marriage).