Rodney Whitaker
| Rodney Whitaker | |
|---|---|
Whittaker performing at the 2009 Detroit Jazz Festival
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| Background information | |
| Born | February 22, 1968 |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, educator |
| Instruments | Double bass, bass guitar |
| Labels | Alma, Mack Avenue |
| Associated acts | Terence Blanchard, Roy Hargrove, Wynton Marsalis, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra |
| Website | www |
Rodney Whitaker (born February 22, 1968) is an American jazz double bass player and educator.
Born in Detroit, Whitaker attended Wayne State University, and studied with Robert Gladstone, principal bass with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and trumpeter Marcus Belgrave.
He achieved recognition performing with Terence Blanchard's Quintet and then with Roy Hargrove. His own first album Children of the Light was released in 1996
His score for the film China, directed by Jeff Wray, was released on PBS in 2002.
In 2006, Whitaker was nominated for the Juno Award Traditional Jazz Album of the Year for Let Me Tell You About My Day, his album in collaboration with Phil Dwyer and Alan Jones. He has also been working with the pianist Junko Onishi.
Whitaker is professor of jazz double bass and director of jazz studies at Michigan State University's College of Music. He has presented master classes at such institutions as Duke University, Howard University, University of Iowa, University of Michigan, the New School (NY), Lincoln Center, and the Detroit International Jazz Festival, and at the conferences of the International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE). He has also worked with Detroit Symphony Orchestra to develop a jazz education department, and conducts their Civic Jazz Orchestra, as well as being on the faculties of University of Michigan and Juilliard School.
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Wikipedia