Matthew Whitaker - On Their Shoulders: An Organ Tribute - MOCAT Records
Whitaker’s new recording On Their Shoulders: An Organ Tribute, is his soulful, 7-track shout-out to the Hammond B-3 organ pioneers who paved the way for him. They include “The Organ Grinder’s Swing” by Jimmy Smith; Charles Earland’s “Happy ‘Cause I’m Goin’Home,” Dr. Lonnie Smith’s “Pilgrimage,” Joey DeFrancesco’s “In The Key of the Universe,” and the festive “Expect Your Miracle” by gospel organist Elbernita “Twinkie” Clarke of The Clarke Sisters. The recording also contains two in-studio jam sessions: the Latin-tinged, “Yessaah,” and the Afrofuturist, hip-hop-pulsed, “Don’t Count Me Out.” Whitaker is an artist who knows where he’s going, because he knows where he comes from. Whitaker is an American jazz pianist from Hackensack, New Jersey. He is blind since birth, but can play several instruments including the piano, drums, organ, keyboards, and percussion. He has performed at venues including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center and the Apollo Theater. At 10, he was the opening performer for Stevie Wonder’s induction into the Apollo Theater’s Hall of Fame.