Whitaker,Matthew - Connections (Sealed) (CD)

TRACK LIST: 1. Journey Uptown 2. A New Day 3. Bye-Ya (ft. Jon Batiste) 4. Spain 5. Connections 6. Stop Fighting 7. Lately (Stevie Wonder cover) 8. I'm Sorry 9. Jeannine 10. Don't Get Around Much Anymore (ft. Regina Carter) 11. Ble Rondo ? la Turk 12. Trust Me 13. It Will Be Okay 14. Garden Wall 15. Acceptance 16. His Eye Is On The Sparrow OVERVIEW: Matthew Whitaker's exciting new album, "Connections", is produced by Derrick Hodge. The album features superstar guest players, including Jon Batiste and Regina Carter. MORE INFO: As more than a year of lockdown and collective isolation appears to be ending, Matthew Whitaker—the twenty-year old keyboardist from Hackensack, New Jersey—has released an exciting, expansive new recording entitled Connections. Aptly titled for this pivotal moment, the sixteen-track collection is his third album and serves as both a bold declaration of Whitaker’s maturity as a player, composer and bandleader, and as a statement of musical connection—and re-connection, as Whitaker points out. “Connections is really about this idea of community, of musicians and family and everyone really, coming back together after being separated for so long,” Whitaker says. “It’s about how grateful I am for the connections we have with each other musically and spiritually as well. More than my other albums, this one has music that was created in the studio, improv moments that happened live. A few of these songs I wrote during the pandemic so I’m happy we were able to record those, and I’m excited. This is more expansive than anything else I’ve done!” Connections features music composed both before and during (and in reaction to) the pandemic, and recorded mostly between March 2 and 4, 2021. It includes a generous mix of original compositions with message-driven titles of uplift and instruction (“A New Day,” “Acceptance,” “It Will be Okay,” “Stop Fighting”), balanced with familiar melodies by Whitaker’s musical heroes, from Duke Ellington (“Don’t Get Around Much Anymore”), Stevie Wonder (“Lately”), and gospel singer Richard Smallwood (“Trust Me”), to Duke Pearson (“Jeannine”), Chick Corea (“Spain”), and Thelonious Monk (“Bye-Ya”)—this last one a sparkling, standout duet with pianist Jon Batiste. The performances on Connections reveal Whitaker’s burgeoning musical identity: one filled with deepening confidence, rhythmic vigor, and a marked melodic clarity. Dramatic entrances have become an aspect of his musical approach. Whether on piano, Hammond organ, Fender Rhodes or synthesizer, he doesn’t kick off a tune or improvisation as much as plunge into the music, twisting time and navigating structural shifts with fluidity. Relative to past recordings, he now pulls from a noticeably wider palette of modern jazz, Latin, and R&B sounds, still with a heady top-note of gospel— staying true to his roots. Fittingly, Whitaker offers a version of the venerable spiritual “His Eye Is On The Sparrow” as the album’s closing track. On Connections, Whitaker’s prowess on a wide variety of keyboards is in full effect; “usually we’d go into the studio with whatever backline they have there,” says Whitaker. “But this time I said, ‘we’re gonna bring everything,’ and I was really able to do my thing.” It is clearly a studio effort—evidence of Whitaker’s growing maturity as a recording artist; some tunes were developed during sessions with improvised moments, some were constructed with layered textures and other flavors overdubbed later. Derrick Hodge, noted bassist and bandleader, produced Connections, and added his distinctive, textural bass sound to a number of tracks. “Derrick was very active during the recording—that’s what I love about him,” adds Whitaker. “He had some wonderful ideas which really pushed me to experiment more as a composer and arranger. I was hoping he would play bass and after all the tracking was done, he did record on a few tracks.” Whitaker is buttressed on Connections by an A-level circle of talent that speaks