MUSIC BOOKS HEALTH OUTDOORS STYLE TECHNOLOGY
Mural by Thomas “Detour” Evans
Behind The Music From the Oscars to the Super Bowl, Denver’s Derrick Hodge is the man making the tunes.
P H O T O G R A P H Y BY K E V I N M O H AT T
CoMPASS
Not everyone looks at the credits at the end of the Grammys or the Academy Awards. And most Colorado football fans are too hopped up on craft beer to notice who’s directing the music before the Super Bowl starts. But Centennial Staters who do pay attention to the fine print might have noticed a name that appeared at all three of those events in 2022: Derrick Hodge. Forty-two-yearold Hodge isn’t a household name in Colorado yet, but the Denver-based bassist and orchestra conductor has a gig this month that would be a career highlight for most musicians: co-conducting at the legendary Hollywood Bowl, a 100-year-old live music venue in Los Angeles. Hodge may have been destined for the opportunity to lead the Bowl’s Juneteenth Celebration since he was a child. Raised in New Jersey, Hodge would accompany his mother to church, where she was in the choir. From the pews, Hodge got a VIP view of a bassist named Joel Ruffin, who JUNE 2022
|
5280
21
