Jazz Articles about Rodney Whitaker

About Rodney Whitaker

Album Review

Rodney Whitaker: Mosaic: The Music of Gregg Hill

Read "Mosaic: The Music of Gregg Hill" reviewed by Paul Rauch

by Paul Rauch
February 20, 2025

In their fourth collaboration on Origin Records, bassist and bandleader Rodney Whitaker and Central Michigan composer Gregg Hill strike gold once again, backed by a formidable gathering of musicians. Hill's music has experienced a surge in interest due to his prolific releases on Origin, which have featured musicians in and around the impressive jazz faculty roster at Michigan State University, a program with Whitaker at the helm. Hill's compositions have a notable sound uniquely tied to both urban ...

Radio & Podcasts

Rodney Whitaker, Julia Hulsmann, Jeremy Pelt and Amina Claudine Myers

by Hobart Taylor
February 19, 2025

New music from bassist Rodney Whitaker and from his proteges Kasan Belgrave and Nanami Haruta... Also Julia Hulsmann, Jeremy Pelt and Peter Lenz.Playlist Kasan Belgrave “Down 4 the Count" from Dual Citizen (Tribe) 0:00 Nanami Haruta “ Sister Tosa" from The Vibe (Origin) 7:38 Rodney Whitaker “Mosaic" from Mosaic (Origin) 14:17 Yulia Musayelyan “ Carnavalito" from Strange Times (Wherego Music) 22:33 Host Speaks 29:16 Jeremy Pelt “Invention #2 Black Conscience" from Woven (HighNote) 30:22 Claire Cope & Ensemble ...

Liner Notes

Rodney Whitaker: Mosaic: The Music of Gregg Hill

by Michael Dease
February 15, 2025

At just fifty-six years young, Rodney Whitaker has cemented his legendary status as a sought-after bassist extraordinaire and, arguably the pre-eminent jazz educator of his generation. The Detroit, Michigan native, recently elected to the hallowed ranks of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, that includes such innovators as Benjamin Franklin and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., continues to firmly establish himself as a superb interpreter of original music, notably through his fruitful association with composer Gregg Hill. Mosaic is ...

Album Review

Nanami Haruta: The Vibe

Read "The Vibe" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
February 14, 2025

The news of a trombonist fronting a small jazz ensemble brings the name J.J. Johnson (1924-2001) to mind. He pioneered that form of jazz expression. Before he stepped onto the scene the big brass horn stayed mainly in the background, eclipsed by trumpets and saxophones. Many have followed in Johnson's footsteps: Curtis Fuller, Steve Turre, Michael Dease. The door opened, and a slew of talent stepped across the threshold. This brings us to Nanami Haruta, who ...

Liner Notes

Nanami Haruta: The Vibe

by Willard Jenkins
February 8, 2025

Unlike other members of the family of western instruments, the ranks of the trombone are a bit exclusive--perhaps even more exclusive in the art of the improvisers, the jazz landscape. Which is yet more reason to celebrate the arrival of a new trombone voice in jazz music. Her name is Nanami Haruta and she arrives at this debut recording moment from Sapporo in the Hokkaido prefecture, the northernmost of Japan's main islands. Hokkaido is known for its volcanoes--perhaps explaining Nanami's ...

Album Review

USAF Airmen of Note: Aim High/The 2024 Jazz Heritage Series

Read "Aim High/The 2024 Jazz Heritage Series" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
November 15, 2024

Aim High, recorded as part of the 2024 Jazz Heritage Series, is the forty-sixth album by the U.S. armed services' premier jazz ensemble, the Airmen of Note, founded in 1950 to honor the tradition of Major Glenn Miller's Army Air Corps dance band, which entertained the troops during World War II until Miller's untimely death in 1944. Those who have heard no more than one of those recordings would no doubt agree that any accolades aimed at the AON have ...

Album Review

Michael Dease: Grove's Groove

Read "Grove's Groove" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci

by Richard J Salvucci
October 6, 2024

The story of Michael Dease's journey from sax to trombone and back again is one any parent of a musically talented child could recognize. Dease started out as an alto saxophonist in middle school. Sometime later, he wanted to switch to the baritone sax. He worked at it. And worked at it some more. His combination of talent and practice paid off. Dease became something of a young monster on the horn, outplaying his senior bandmates in high school. But ...