Pharez Whitted is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

trumpeter, composer, band leader and educator from Indianapolis, Indiana. In January 2011, Whitted was nominated for the 10th Annual Independent Music Awards in the Jazz Album category for Transient Journey. In December 2016 he was named one of six "Chicagoans of the Year" by the Chicago Tribune.

Biography

Born in Indianapolis in 1960, Whitted grew up in a family of renowned jazz musicians that included his mother, Virtue Hampton Whitted, his aunt Dawn Hampton, and his uncle, the legendary

Slide Hampton Locksley Wellington Hampton (April 21, 1932 – November 18, 2021) was an American jazz trombone, jazz trombonist, composer and arranger. As his nickname implies, Hampton's main instrument was slide trombone, but he also occasionally played tub ...

. His father, Thomas, played drums with

Freddie Hubbard Frederick Dewayne Hubbard (April 7, 1938 – December 29, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter. He played bebop, hard bop, and post-bop styles from the early 1960s onwards. His unmistakable and influential tone contributed to new perspectives fo ...

and

Wes Montgomery John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery (March 6, 1923 – June 15, 1968) was an American jazz guitarist. Montgomery was known for his unusual technique of plucking the strings with the side of his thumb and for his extensive use of octaves, which gave him a ...

, both natives of Indianapolis. Whitted played football and studied music at

DePauw University DePauw University ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Greencastle, Indiana, United States. It was founded in 1837 as Indiana Asbury College and changed its name to DePauw University in 1884. The college has a Methodist heritage and was ...

and earned a master's degree from the

Jacobs School of Music The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana, is a music conservatory established in 1921. Until 2005, it was known as the Indiana University School of Music. It has more than 1,500 students, approximately half of whom ar ...

at Indiana University, Bloomington. He has worked with

George Duke George Martin Duke (January 12, 1946 – August 5, 2013) was an American keyboardist, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer. He worked with numerous artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and as ...

, Slide Hampton,

Elvin Jones Elvin Ray Jones (September 9, 1927 – May 18, 2004) was an American jazz drummer of the post-bop era. Most famously a member of John Coltrane's quartet, with whom he recorded from late 1960 to late 1965, Jones appeared on such albums as ''My Fa ...

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, Roy Meriwether,

The O'Jays The O'Jays are an American Rhythm and blues, R&B group from Canton, Ohio, formed in summer 1958 and originally consisting of Eddie Levert, Walter Lee Williams, William Powell, Bobby Massey, and Bill Isles. The O'Jays made their first chart appea ...

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, and Indiana University classmate and ''

The Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has been broadcast on NBC since 1954. The program has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2 ...

'' bassist Bob Hurst. Whitted wrote, produced, and arranged his first two albums for

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

. He co-produced the album ''People Make the World Go 'Round''. His album ''Transient Journey'' was released in 2010 by the jazz label Owl Studios. Whitted has performed throughout the United States and overseas, including shows at the 1988 Presidential Inauguration, ''

The Arsenio Hall Show ''The Arsenio Hall Show'' is an American syndicated late-night talk show created by and starring comedian Arsenio Hall. There have been two different incarnations of ''The Arsenio Hall Show''. The original series premiered on January 3, 1989 ...

'', ''The

Billboard Music Awards The ''Billboard'' Music Awards are honors given out annually by '' Billboard'', a publication covering the music business and a music popularity chart. The ''Billboard'' Music Awards show has been held annually since 1990, with the exception of ...

'',

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

, and the MoTown Music Showcase. He played in the jazz orchestra of 2023 Chicago on stage adaptation of the Duke Ellington-Billy Strayhorn Nutcracker, "Sugar Hill." He currently leads a quintet with a revolving cast of players including

Bobby Broom Robert Broom Jr. (born January 18, 1961) is an American jazz guitarist, composer, and educator. He was born and raised in New York City, then moved to Chicago, which has been his home town since 1984. He performs and records with The Bobby Broom ...

, Eddie Bayard, Julius Tucker, Dennis Carroll, Kyle Swan, Jeremiah Hunt, Kobie Watkins, Keith Brooks, Ron Perillo, Andrew Toombs, Lovell Bradford, Jon Wood, Greg Artry and others. He is jazz director of Chicago's Youth Symphony Orchestra and works with Jazz at Lincoln Center and Ravinia's Jazz Scholar program. Whitted has taught nearly nonstop since earning a master’s degree from Indiana. Before focusing on youth education, he taught at Ohio State University and Chicago State University. He is currently an instructor of jazz studies at

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois, United States. It was founded as "Northern Illinois State Normal School" in 1895 by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld, initially to provide the state with c ...

Awards and honors

In January 2011, Whitted was nominated for the 10th Annual Independent Music Awards in the Jazz Album category for ''Transient Journey''. In December 2016 he was named one of six "Chicagoans of the Year" by the ''Chicago Tribune''.

Discography

As leader

* 1994 ''Pharez Whitted'' (

) * 1996 ''Mysterious Cargo'' (Motown) * 2010 ''Transient Journey'' (

Owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...

) * 2012 ''For the People'' (

Origin Origin(s) or The Origin may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics and manga * ''Origin'' (comics), a Wolverine comic book mini-series published by Marvel Comics in 2002 * ''The Origin'' (Buffy comic), a 1999 ''Buffy the Vampire Sl ...

) * 2014 ''Tree of Life'' (Truth Revolution) * 2021 ''Pharaoh Smooth'' (Get Whitted Music)

As guest

* 1991

, ''

Whenever We Wanted ''Whenever We Wanted'' is the eleventh studio album by American singer-songwriter and musician John Mellencamp, and the first of his to be credited simply to Mellencamp's given name (i.e., without "Cougar" in the name). The album reached the top ...

'' * 1998 Jimmy Coe, ''Say What'' * 2005 Nicci Cheeks, ''Hip Hop Love Jazz'' * 2007 Ari Brown, '' Live at the Green Mill'' * 2009 Kobie Watkins, ''Involved''

References

External links

Review of ''Transient Journey'' at AllAboutJazz.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitted, Pharez American jazz trumpeters American male trumpeters American jazz composers American male jazz composers DePauw University alumni Jacobs School of Music alumni Chicago State University faculty 1960 births Living people Owl Studios artists 21st-century American trumpeters 21st-century American male musicians