Matthew Whitaker: Conjuring Organ Spirits

News, From the Magazine, Matthew Whitaker

By Stephanie Jones I Aug. 27, 2024

“He would always call me his grandson,” Whitaker says of the late Dr. Lonnie Smith. Smith’s personal assistant sent Whitaker one of the master’s B-3s after he died in 2021.
(Photo: Hollis King)

At the close of 2021, Matthew Whitaker faced a glut of options. Having met with his management team to discuss ideas for his fourth leader release, the Jersey-based composer and multi-instrumentalist felt gripped by indecision: “We kept repeating this theme, ‘Album. Tribute. Heroes … album… tribute… heroes… .’” But in moments of contemplation, he couldn’t quite piece together the project. He remained stuck on what kind of gesture he wanted to create, or whether a particular instrument would emerge as the focal point.

Motivated by what naturally transpires — in the studio, on the bandstand and away from the music entirely — Whitaker felt uneasy about expanding a theme into an album for the sole purpose of releasing new music. So he continued courting inspiration. “I love the whole live feel and the whole organic vibe,” he says. “Every time I get a chance to play a different instrument, I’m learning something new.”

Whitaker’s approach to life has always been collaborative. Hours spent chatting and listening to music with friends often prompt new ideas for his creative output. In September 2022, Whitaker had been corresponding with a friend who’d been sending him different tunes from Jimmy Smith. “That’s how it all started,” he says. When he received Smith’s 1965 recording of “Organ Grinder’s Swing” featuring Kenny Burrell and Grady Tate, he thought, “‘Oh, man. I haven’t heard this song in so long — I should try to arrange this.’ So she gave me the initial spark [for the record],” he said.

Hit with that jolt of inspiration, Whitaker set out to record On Their Shoulders: An Organ Tribute, his album-length homage to an eclectic sampling of Hammond B-3 heroes. He landed on certain artists immediately; others took time to select. But as he immersed himself in different sounds and contexts, each artist’s singular style, collectively, became collateral motivation for the project.

“I really wanted to showcase my arranging skills on this [record],” says Whitaker, who invited more than 10 artists to perform on the album as part of the band. And as he prepared for the work that lay ahead by deep listening to each organ master’s catalogue, he began integrating different ideas and modes of expression into his personal sound.

“Any recording is always a learning process,” he says. “You’re not going to play the same thing, even if you do different takes of the same song — which is great because you get more options and have more variety. For this album, I had to really hone in on a lot of other styles of playing, not just the ones I’m familiar with — had to get the right sound for a particular song or a particular section. Moving this controller, playing with this [effect], while putting my own spin on stuff.”

The album interprets compositions and seminal recordings from Dr. Lonnie Smith, Joey DeFrancesco, Charles Earland and Elbernita “Twinkie” Clarke, whose Clarke Sisters single “Expect Your Miracle” features choir members from Hackensack, New Jersey’s New Hope Baptist Church, where Whitaker has served as minister of music since 2020. “Twinkie’s the one that’s really churchy,” he laughs. “She’s so versatile. She can play jazz, too — and classical.”

On Their Shoulders features lyrical blues development, harmonic rubs, gutsy crunches and textural overlays of syncopated patterns and sustained sound. Beyond fleshing out new ideas for arranging and orchestration, Whitaker’s reasons for including different tunes on the record shift from hero to hero. The album’s fulcrum, DeFrancesco’s “In The Key Of The Universe,” compels the bandleader and his fellow artists to dig in stylistically. “It’s a left turn all of a sudden,” says Whitaker, who had the chance to collaborate with the widely loved organ legend before his death in August 2022.

Having listened to Earland’s music since before he can remember, Whitaker arranged “Happy Cause I’m Goin’ Home,” featuring a solo gesture from flutist Antonina Styczen and trades from trumpet players Summer Camargo and David Sneider. “I thought, ‘Let’s bring this one back,’” laughs Whitaker, whose father introduced him to the tune.

A lasting, rather special connection to the instrument Whitaker was made through Dr. Lonnie Smith, whose iconic composition “Pilgrimage” appears on the record. “You don’t really have to do a lot for the song to come alive,” says Whitaker. “The melody is there. The harmony is there.” The 23-year-old artist remembers hearing Smith perform for the first time at the Jazz Standard in New York. Smith surprised Whitaker by inviting him on stage to play with the band. “He would always call me his grandson.” On behalf of the organ master, after he passed away in 2021, his personal assistant sent Whitaker one of Smith’s organs, a symbol of the mentor’s faith in his mentee’s musical commitment: “I’m honored and grateful and blessed to have it and use it.”

A spontaneity addict and habitual collaborator, Whitaker couldn’t leave the studio without allowing some music to emerge purely from the hang: “I told the band I wanted to just hit ‘record’ and see what happens,” a decision that would lead to releasing “Yessahh” and “Don’t Count Me Out,” the album’s third and final tracks, respectively. “Shout-out to Andre Betts, who helped me mix this entire project together,” says Whitaker. “He put up with all my ideas, including wanting some splice in these jam sessions. So if you hear a lot of samples and sound effects, that’s all him.”

Gleaning ideas and creative insights not only from the music and its heroes, but also from his friends, family and fellow artists, Whitaker finds inspiration in his community. He recently attended a record release party for percussionist Ivan Llanes Montejo, a friend who’d invited Whitaker to perform on and produce one of his album’s tracks. “Just being there,” says Whitaker, “being in the audience and listening — observing from that point of view — so good. I really appreciate that.” DB