Harry Whitaker
piano
Pianist who grew up with Lonnie Hillyer and Charles McPherson in Detroit; Barry counts him among the young players who came up through him, and he stayed in the loft where Barry first lived in New York.
- mentions
- 2
- recordings
- 1
- Barry speaking
- 2
What Barry says
Saying that all the musicians who left Detroit with him made it in New York, Barry tries to recall the regular pianist at Arturo’s who played for the singers. When the interviewer prompts ‘Harry’, he names Harry Whitaker, who grew up with Lonnie and Charles, as another of his piano players.
Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶231Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶232Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶233
Earlier in the same interview, after naming Charles McPherson and Lonnie Hillyer, he gropes for the name of another pianist who grew up with them, worked at Arturo’s and has never been much recognised; the details match Whitaker. He calls him part of himself, and recalls hearing him again at a Brooklyn birthday party after many years.
Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶129Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶233
At that party the pianist told Barry it was the first time he had heard him play in all those years, and Barry agrees that it was true.
Describing how young Detroit players got to play alongside older ones, Barry names the young ones he knew: Brooks, Charles McPherson, Lonnie Hillyer, Harry Whitaker, Donald Walden and others.
Interview: Detroit and after4:04
Later in the same interview he says he had young players and made them play well, naming McPherson, Hillyer, Whitaker, Donald Walden and a Jackson, before saying the boys he heard in Italy, aged 12 to 14 when he first heard them, were something he can hardly describe.
Interview: Detroit and after15:10
When Barry first settled in New York he lived in an unheated loft on Broad Street, heated with a coal stove and scrap wood. Ira Jackson, who played tenor and piano, was there with him, and Harry Whitaker stayed there too.
In his own words
Harry Whitaker grew up with Lonnie and Charles, so that’s another one of my piano players.
The one that really has really never been recognized much – worked at Arturo’s he’s part of me too, you know. He grew up with Lonnie and Charles.
I had some young cats and I made them play good. Charles McPherson, Lonnie [Hillyer], Harry Whitaker, Donald Walden, Ira Jackson, all these people, they play good.
I was there with Ira Jackson, a fellow who plays tenor and piano, who is still around New York. Harry Whitaker stayed there.
Every mention
2 moments in the recordings, 2 of them Barry speaking. Each says who is talking.
Interview: Detroit and after
In the interviews and notes
Trying to name the regular pianist at Arturo’s who played for the singers, Barry is prompted with ‘Harry’ and names Harry Whitaker: he grew up with Lonnie Hillyer and Charles McPherson, so he is another of Barry’s piano players.
Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶231Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶232Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶233
Barry describes an unnamed pianist who grew up with Hillyer and McPherson, worked at Arturo’s and has never been recognised much. Years later he heard him play at a birthday party in Brooklyn. The details match what he says of Whitaker later in the interview.
Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶129Barry Harris, Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program ¶233
Asked whether he lived with other musicians when he settled in New York, Barry says he shared an unheated Broad Street loft with Ira Jackson, and that Harry Whitaker stayed there too, along with a bass player and another man who later took up the lute.
Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶261Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶262Barry Harris on WKCR-FM ¶263
Method ideas nearby
Ideas of the method taught in the classes where they come up, with how many mentions fall in each.