OUTERVIEWS is a limited monographic series – the first episode is on the late piano player, composer and arranger Harry Whitaker.

Italian hybrid drummer, producer, and DJ Tommaso Cappellato is a musical maverick, from free‐form electronics to hip‐hop beats and jazz improvisation. His seemingly unorthodox breadth of style and vision gives us a truly unique new school artist – from building his jazz chops as a resident drummer in NYC, to hip hop excursions alongside Brooklyn MC’s; traveling to Senegal to meld with local world music masters, to collaborating with experimental electronica and techno artist Rabih Beaini, and visionary Egyptian producer Maurice Louca.

HARRY WHITAKER
Harry Whitaker is a piano player, producer and arranger born in Pensacola, Florida who began playing piano at age 5. He grew up in Detroit, soaking up the bluesy sensibility of Barry Harris, Tommy Flanagan, and Hank Jones. Harry moved to New York City in 1961, playing nights and weekends until his first long-term gig with R&B star Lloyd Price. He landed various road jobs, including stints with Eugene McDaniel and Blood, Sweat & Tears. He spent four years with vibist Roy Ayers in the group “Ubiquity,” for which he composed the famous tune “We Live In Brooklyn, Baby”. Next he became Roberta Flack’s musical director, a position he held for nine years. Since then, he’s worked with such artists as Stephanie Mills, Carmen Lundy, Gary Bartz, and Phyllis Hyman, while director Quentin Tarantino featured his music in the film “Jackie Brown.” On Martin Luther King day of 1976, at the age of 26, Mr. Whitaker recorded “Black Renaissance – Body, Mind, and Spirit” a holy grail amongst collectors of soul-jazz and rare groove. During his later years, he recorded three more jazz piano albums for Fresh Sound Records and Smalls Records. He frequently played in various downtown New York City jazz clubs, such as Smalls, Fat Cat and Arturo’s. Harry Whitaker died on November 17 2010.

TRACKLIST:
Roy Ayers Ubiquity – Boogie Back
Harry Whitaker – One Who Sees All Things
Roy Ayers Ubiquity – We Live In Brooklyn, Baby
Roberta Flack – I Can See The Sun In Late December
Eugene McDaniels – Jagger The Dagger
Terumasa Hino – This Planet Is Ours
Harry Whitaker – The After Life Part 1
Norman Connors – Skin Diver
Teruo Nakamura – Love Is A Reflection In The Mirrors Behind Your Eyes
Harry Whitaker – Black Renaissance – Body, Mind & Spirit
Teruo Nakamura – Morning Mist – Steppin’ With Lord
Terumasa Hino – Samba De La Cruz
Harry Whitaker – Magic Ritual
Harry Whitaker – The After Life Part 2