Pharez Whitted
Encyclopedia
Biography
Since 1982, Whitted has performed throughout the United States and overseas, including gigs at the 1988 Presidential InaugurationPresidential Inauguration
A Presidential Inauguration is a formal ceremony to mark the beginning of a leader's term of office. To see detailed information on specific presidents, see the links below:* Brazilian presidential inauguration* Croatian presidential inauguration...
, The Arsenio Hall Show
The Arsenio Hall Show
The Arsenio Hall Show is an American variety/talk show that aired late weeknights in syndication from January 3, 1989 to May 27, 1994. The show was created and hosted by comedian/actor Arsenio Hall.- Background :...
, The Billboard Music Awards, Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
, and the MoTown Music Showcase.
Whitted studied music at DePauw University
DePauw University
DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, USA, is a private, national liberal arts college with an enrollment of approximately 2,400 students. The school has a Methodist heritage and was originally known as Indiana Asbury University. DePauw is a member of both the Great Lakes Colleges Association...
and went on to earn a master's degree from the Indiana University
Indiana University Bloomington
Indiana University Bloomington is a public research university located in Bloomington, Indiana, in the United States. IU Bloomington is the flagship campus of the Indiana University system. Being the flagship campus, IU Bloomington is often referred to simply as IU or Indiana...
Jacobs School of Music
Jacobs School of Music
The Jacobs School of Music of Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, is a music conservatory established in 1921. Until 2005, it was known as the Indiana University School of Music...
. He is currently the director of jazz studies at Chicago State University
Chicago State University
Chicago State University is a state university of the U.S. state of Illinois, located in Chicago.-History:Cook County Normal School was founded in 1867, largely through the initiative of John F. Eberhart, the Commissioner of Schools for Cook County...
and as of 2009 plays in Chicago, regionally, nationally and internationally, often with Bobby Broom
Bobby Broom
Bobby Broom , birthname Robert Broom, Jr., is an American jazz guitarist, composer and educator born and raised in New York City. Broom performs and records with jazz saxophone legend Sonny Rollins as well as his Bobby Broom Trio and the Deep Blue Organ Trio...
, Ron Perrillo, and Eddie Bayard. Whitted is a United Musical Instruments (UMI) clinician and is the son of the late singer and bassist Virtue Hampton Whitted
Virtue Hampton Whitted
Virtue Hampton Whitted was a jazz singer and bassist.In 1938 she moved to Indianapolis, Indiana and later formed the Hampton Sisters with her two sisters...
and the nephew of trombonist Slide Hampton
Slide Hampton
Locksley Wellington "Slide" Hampton is an American jazz trombonist, composer and arranger.He was a 1998 Grammy Award winner for "Best Jazz Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist", as arranger for "Cotton Tail" performed by Dee Dee Bridgewater...
.
Pharez Whitted has performed with such jazz musicians as Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Learson Marsalis is a trumpeter, composer, bandleader, music educator, and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Marsalis has promoted the appreciation of classical and jazz music often to young audiences...
, Branford Marsalis
Branford Marsalis
Branford Marsalis is an American saxophonist, composer and bandleader. While primarily known for his work in jazz as the leader of the Branford Marsalis Quartet, he also performs frequently as a soloist with classical ensembles and has led the group Buckshot LeFonque.-Biography:Marsalis was born...
, George Duke
George Duke
George Duke is a multi-faceted American musician, known as a keyboard pioneer, composer, singer and producer in both jazz and popular mainstream musical genres. He has worked with numerous acclaimed artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and professor of music...
, Kirk Whalum, Elvin Jones
Elvin Jones
Elvin Ray Jones was a jazz drummer of the post-bop era. He showed interest in drums at a young age, watching the circus bands march by his family's home in Pontiac, Michigan....
, Slide Hampton
Slide Hampton
Locksley Wellington "Slide" Hampton is an American jazz trombonist, composer and arranger.He was a 1998 Grammy Award winner for "Best Jazz Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist", as arranger for "Cotton Tail" performed by Dee Dee Bridgewater...
, John Mellencamp
John Mellencamp
John Mellencamp, previously known by the stage names Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American rock singer-songwriter, musician, painter and occasional actor known for his catchy, populist brand of heartland rock that eschews synthesizers and other artificial sounds...
, The Temptations
The Temptations
The Temptations is an American vocal group having achieved fame as one of the most successful acts to record for Motown Records. The group's repertoire has included, at various times during its five-decade career, R&B, doo-wop, funk, disco, soul, and adult contemporary music.Formed in Detroit,...
, Roy Meriwether, The O'Jays
The O'Jays
The O'Jays are an American R&B group from Canton, Ohio, formed in 1963 and originally consisting of Eddie Levert , Walter Williams , William Powell , Bobby Massey and Bill Isles. The O'Jays were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004, and The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005...
, Lou Rawls
Lou Rawls
Louis Allen "Lou" Rawls was an American soul, jazz, and blues singer. He was known for his smooth vocal style: Frank Sinatra once said that Rawls had "the classiest singing and silkiest chops in the singing game"...
, Ramsey Lewis
Ramsey Lewis
Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis, Jr. is an American jazz composer, pianist and radio personality. Ramsey Lewis has recorded over 80 albums and has received seven gold records and three Grammy Awards so far in his career.-Biography:...
, and former Tonight Show bassist and classmate Bob Hurst. Whitted wrote, produced, arranged, and played on his two compact discs for MoTown's Jazz record label, entitled Pharez Whitted and Mysterious Cargo. He also co-produced the MoJazz album People Make the World Go 'Round.
Whitted's third album, Transient Journey was released in 2010 by Indianapolis jazz label Owl Studios
Owl Studios
Owl Studios is an independent record label, started in 2005 by J. Allan Hall, that concentrates on jazz, R&B, and jam band genres. It is based in Indianapolis, Indiana and operates from its downtown offices on Monument Circle.-Formation:...
.
In January 2011, Pharez Whitted was nominated for The 10th Annual Independent Music Awards in the Jazz Album category for Transient Journey.
Albums
- 1994 - Pharez Whitted - Motown Records
- 1996 - Mysterious Cargo - Motown Records
- 2010 - Transient Journey - Owl Studios
Appearances
- 1991 - John MellencampJohn MellencampJohn Mellencamp, previously known by the stage names Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American rock singer-songwriter, musician, painter and occasional actor known for his catchy, populist brand of heartland rock that eschews synthesizers and other artificial sounds...
- Whenever We WantedWhenever We WantedWhenever We Wanted is American singer-songwriter and musician John Mellencamp's eleventh album, and the first to be credited simply to Mellencamp's given name .... - 1996 - MoJazz - Mojazz Christmas
- 1997 - Gregg Bacon - Secret Place
- 1998 - Jimmy CoeJimmy CoeJames R. Coe was a jazz saxophonist.He first played in a band with Erroll "Groundhog" Grandy who mentored J. J. Johnson and Wes Montgomery...
= Say What - 2000 - Jazz Heritage Orchestra - Steppin Out
- 2000 - Eric Gould - Who Sez?
- 2005 - John Goldman - In Walked Pierre
- 2007 - Ari BrownAri BrownAri Brown is an American jazz tenor saxophonist and pianist.Brown grew up in Chicago and attended Wilson College, where he met musicians such as Jack DeJohnette, Henry Threadgill, Roscoe Mitchell, and Joseph Jarman. He played piano in R&B and soul outfits int the 1960s, then switched to saxophone...
- Live at the Green Mill - 2008 - Michael Manson Up Front
- 2009 - Kobie Watkins Involved