Discography

THE 7th HOUSE

Before, during and after Deryo’s days of college, he was in a band called: THE 7th HOUSE. THE 7th HOUSE was a singing group made up of four great singers that later became musicians as well. In the group were: Floyd Corgile, Cliff Liggins, Michael Bradley and Derrick Youman aka

Deryo. In those days Deryo was called Youman the Showman, a nickname given to him by Floyd Corgile, because of his stage presence.
Floyd played keyboards, Cliff played guitar, Michael played bass and Derrick aka Deryo played the drums. THE SEVENTH HOUSE played all over Northern California to crowds who loved them very much. The genre of music they played was a hard Funk Rock. The biggest and most memorable show they performed was on the U.C. Davis Campus, opening for Boz Scaggs. Pictures of this memorable show can be found here.

STRAIGHT FROM THE GATE

In 1977 I had the pleasure to perform with the great Herbie Hancock, who was responsible for forming the group The HeadHunters. Being a part of this group allowed me to record and performed with some of the finest musicians in the world. I recorded two albums with the group under a record label called Arista Records, but only one of them was released and it was titled Straight From The Gate. When I joined the group they were well into creating the album, by the time I joined the group the picture (above) was already taken. My picture was only on the back of the album, but the part that was most important I did have a hand in and that was in the creative process of recording the album.

The genre is a diverse one; it ranges from funky jazz like only the Headhunters played at that time. It was a unique sound, in addition to Herbie’s own magic. It also included a blend of funky groove, party dance to pop and sweetly performed ballads. The vocal performances and arrangements were my line of expertise on this album. I also played on a couple of the instrumentals using percussive instruments. As a young vocalist and musician, it was an experience that was great in nature, because it was different from the funk rock groove music I was performing at that time. I was doing vocals and playing the drums, as well as composing and arranging the music and lyrics. Click play (below) to listen to this timeless album.

MOON SCAPES

In 1978, I was privileged to have the pleasure to perform on the album MOON SCAPES. It was a unique jazz creation, composed by the great reediest Benny Maupin. What made it unique was the blend of melodic, but abstract melodies on top of an infused classic jazz that made you think while you listened, but also created blends that would sooth your emotions. It was a most educational experience for me, because I learned so much about melodic melody textures. Mr. Maulpin and I are dear friends till this day. On the album I did some vocal colorings on a song titled A Promise Kept. My performance on A Promise Kept was unique because I used my voice to sound as if it was yet another one of Mr. Maupin’s instruments, creating a truly unusual sound. MOON SCAPES was a very important album among jazz purist.

TWO TONS O’ FUN

The Two Tons O’ Fun was one the hottest and most talented duets of the disco era. On this album I had the pleasure in working with a very dear friend of mine by the name of Greg Crockett (an extraordinary musician). He’s the full package, and I was blessed to write the title song on the album with Greg Crockett and Harvey Fuqua. The title of the song was called DO YOU WANNA BOOGIE. The song is a pulsating groove that you can’t stop from moving to, it was during the time when the disco sound was very hot — as if it ever stopped. Click play to bring back the memories.
 

THE BAD C.C

In 1982 I had the pleasure to do some background singing on a friends’ album, called THE BAD C. C, an album recorded by Carl Carlton. It was a soulful and funky session and was full of star musicians and vocalist. THE BAD C. C was recorded at The Automat recording studio in San Francisco, CA.

 
 

EASTBAY RHYTHM

In the late 1970’s, I sung background on the album A Little Love Will Help. The album was a collaboration of some great artists and we were lead by the great drummer and friend James Levi. The album was released in 2001 and is to this day one of the funkiest projects ever put together. It was a great experience and a good learning process. Matter of fact, some the artists were from THE HEADHUNTER group I was a part of and recorded with at that time.
 

UNVEILED

Unveiled was released in 2007, under a record label called WILL RECORDS. It is a record label I started. Unveiled was the first CD to be released by the company. I now have two partners with me, who are helping me to move the company to higher heights. The album was produced by Greg Crockett and Derrick Youman for YO-SHO PRODUCTIONS. The artist is DERYO, which is myself and I composed the music and wrote the lyrics to every song along with my two partners, with the exception of one song, IMPOSSIBLE which I wrote with Greg Crockett. On this CD I played drums and some the keyboard parts. Unveiled tells the many stories of love, family and relationships. The story lines are backed with rhythmic grooves and soulful slow jams. If you haven’t had a chance to hear the CD you should take a listen, because it just might say something to you that might make a change for good in your life. I’m sure you will enjoy it also just for listening pleasure.

DERYO’S CONFESSIONS

In 2008, Will Records released Deryo’s second CD in which he produced for YO-SHOPRODUCTIONS, it was entitled: Deryo’s Confessions, which premiered at the Berkeley Juneteenth Festival. In this project Deryo composed and wrote his music based on an erythematic dance grooves with a hip hop accent. It was designed to allow his listeners to feel and dance to the different rhythms. Blended with the grooves are the stories of romance, life, love and loss, and most importantly hope for the future.
The beats are driving and the backbeat is set on the two and four and it’s a no stop groove situation. On top of that are bumping base parts that are steady, and there are bedded chord changes that open the door for melodic melodies performed by keyboards and vocals. There are also hip guitar rhythms that are very funky. And with all of that, Deryo is confessing his feelings to you.

SEARCHING FOR LOVE

SEARCHING FOR LOVE is Deryo’s latest project and will be released 2013. Deryo feels this is his best musical work to be published to date. James Gardener and Deryo at Pajama Studios in Oakland, CA, produced this CD for YO-SHOW PRODUCTIONS. In this work there is a magic that

came about during the recording of this project. All songs were composed by Derrick Youman with the exception of (A NEW TIME) which was composed and produced by Derrick Youman and Gregg Crockett. Erica and Larry Youman wrote lyrics on some of the songs with Derrick as well. In this project Deryo pushed the envelope on fusion music. Searching For Love touches on not one, but many genres. It was important for Deryo to express with the freedoms that lie within his heart.

A man who never worked within the box finally produced an album worthy of his funk rock past. Once again within his songs, Deryo reaches out to the listener to touch minds, hearts and souls, in hopes to give enjoyment as well as understanding and guidance in the world of love and relationships. But this album goes even one step further in an exploration of not only loving others, but understanding what it means to love ones’ self. Take a listen to the CD SEARCHING FOR LOVE, I’m sure in it, is something for every listener.

BRAND NEW DAY

The songs in this CD were written and composed in the nature of my everyday living. Experiences that I find are sometimes challenging and also rewarding, but just like everyone else, they are situations that are a part of life that we wake up to every brand new day. The title song deals with an outlook on the most important feeling in your being and that is the feeling of being loved.

In the music you will feel synergy. The rhythms aren’t there to just lay the beats, they are hitting in conjunction to the stories that are being told. The kick drum and bass stumps out the message of a heartbeat and the keyboards are laying and dressing the surrounding areas of accompaniment. Whether it’s in dance or exercise, within the story in the lyrics you will find a diverse vision of meanings, that will start at love and take you on a journey that shows a vision of what life is about, when interacting with others. After composing the music, I listened to it to inspire me in seeing with my mind’s eye, visions and experiences of the past and speculations of the future.
Brand New Day is what it says and when you listen to it you will see, feel and live each new day in a positive and inspired way.