He’s played with Christian McBride, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Rhoda Scott, James Carter, Cory Henry, Jon Batiste, Ozomatli and Roy Ayers. He counts among his influences Dr. Lonnie Smith, Jimmy Smith, Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson and Ahmad Jamal, among others. He opened for Stevie Wonder at the Apollo and when he’s not commanding the piano and Hammond B3, he plays music at his home church in Hackensack, New Jersey. Matthew Whitaker is just 18 years old. Let that sink in. A keyboard phenom who was born blind was given his first keyboard at the age of 3 and, at the age of 9 taught himself to play the organ. At 13 he became the youngest artist to be endorsed by Hammond in its 82-year history. He’s nothing short of an amazing player, as producer Ray Chew said. “He's not extraordinary because he's blind. He's extraordinary because he's extraordinary." Prepare to be amazed.
Matthew Whitaker
