Rodney Whitaker and Family

The Carr Center Presents– Rodney Whitaker and Family

Premiered Sunday, June 21, 1p ET

Stay tuned for this concert to be available on-demand in the near future.

A special Father’s Day Concert, “Rodney Whitaker and Family: A Father’s Day Concert – Ellington, Strayhorn and More“. This concert will feature the brilliant jazz master, Rodney Whitaker with his daughters Rockelle Whitaker on vocals and Sarah Whitaker on drums. Joining them is Michael Dease on trombone and there will also be a guest appearance from Jamerson Whitaker, Rodney’s 11-year-old son.

Rodney Whitaker is considered one of the foremost double bass players in the United States. He is the Director of Jazz Studies at Michigan State University, former Director of Jazz @Wharton Center, a former member of Jazz at the Lincoln Center Orchestra and for over 15years, the Resident Jazz Artist at the Carr Center.

A student and master of the Duke Ellington songbook, Rodney will use our online Father’s Day Event to pay his respects to the one and only Duke Ellington. The concert will feature interpretations of such Ellington classics a Take the A Train, Caravan, and Mood Indigo, plus Billy Strayhorn classics and more.

There will be a streamed ENCORE performance that same day @ 6 pm on the Carr Center YouTube and the Carr Center Facebook page.

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2 Comments

  1. Martin Saltzman

    Martin Saltzman June 21, 2020 at 12:05 pm
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    Your comment is awaiting moderation.

    Its now 1:03 and I get the following message:
    We’re sorry, but this video is not yet available. What gives?

  2. Martin Saltzman

    6/21/20

    I got it and listened closely. I’m now hearing an immediate repeat. Rodney Whitaker is a really good bassist, melodic, accurate and with a clear, ringing tone. The thing I noticed is the lack of a piano making it difficult to keep everyone in tune, but they all were. The singing was nice and happily in tune. RW’s younger daughter on drums was decent and didn’t overwhelm the rest. But I want to call out the trombonist, Michael Dease, whom I’ve never heard of. He’s quite terrific and for me a new discovery. Thank you for this broadcast. Take care.

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