Harry Whitaker
Harry Whitaker (born September 19, 1942 in Pensacola , Florida , † November 17, 2010 in New York ) was an American fusion and jazz pianist , keyboardist and composer who was a long-time member of the jazz scene in the West Village district of Downtown New York was.
biography
Harry Whitaker grew up in Detroit ; he had his first professional appearance with the rhythm and blues musician Lloyd Price . After graduation, he moved to New York, where he played in a Brooklyn band called Eddy Jacobs Exchange , for which he also composed and arranged. The band belonged to the bassist Leon Pendarvis ; they released some singles on Columbia Records after Al Kooper had sponsored them. Their first single contained the Whitaker composition "Pull My Coat", stylistically based on the funk of James Brown .
In 1969 Alphonse Mouzon introduced him to Roy Ayers ubiquity band ; Whitaker then worked on his album He's Coming (1970), to which he contributed the composition "We Live in Brooklyn". He worked as a companion for Roberta Flack in the mid-1970s and was involved in her successful title “Feel Like Makin 'Love” (1975). Whitaker then worked as Flack's musical director until 1981 and was instrumental in their hits "The Closer I Get to You", "And the Feeling's Good" and "Back Together Again". During this time he also worked on productions by the soul musicians Phyllis Hyman and Gene McDaniels .
He also worked with his own formations and performed with them in New York when he was not touring with Flack. Whitaker can also be heard on recordings by Bobbi Humphrey (1972), Carter Jefferson (1978), Carmen Lundy (1985) and Claudia Acuña .
In addition to his club appearances, he also recorded a number of albums with his own compositions; his 1976 debut album, Black Renaissance: Body, Mind & Spirit, was "a poem set to music that reflected the status of African-American music in the 1970s," whose influences range from Sun Ra , John Coltrane to Herbie Hancock fusion music. Contributing musicians were Azar Lawrence , Woody Shaw , David Schnitter , Buster Williams and Billy Hart . In 1981 he worked with a formation consisting of Gary Bartz and Terumasa Hino and the vocalist Sybil Thomas (daughter of Stax legend Rufus Thomas ), with whom he recorded the work Do It to the Music for West End Records .
Playing in a spectrum of jazz , funk , R&B and gospel , Whitaker had a regular quartet of Brandon Lewis (drums), Renee Cruz (bass) and Sharel Cassity (alto saxophone) with whom he played in the jazz clubs of the West Village and played concerts in the clubs Fat Cat Billiards and Smalls .
Whitaker died on November 17, 2010, likely of complications from a heart attack.
Discographic notes
- 2002: The Sound of Harry Whitaker (Blue Moon)
- 2007: Thoughts (Past and Present) (Smalls)
- 2008: One Who Sees All Things (Smalls, recorded 1981-82)
Web links
- Harry Whitaker at Discogs (English)
- Harry Whitaker at Allmusic (English)
- History of the Black Renaissance Project
Individual evidence
- ^ Review of Rob Theakstone's album at Allmusic
- ^ Obituary by Andrew Mason in Waxpoetics
- ↑ Obituary at revivalist ( Memento of the original from November 24, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Review of the album at All about Jazz
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Whitaker, Harry |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American fusion and jazz pianist, keyboardist and composer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 19, 1942 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Pensacola , Florida , USA |
| DATE OF DEATH | 17th November 2010 |
| Place of death | New York , USA |