Political Quotes

“Today I pay tribute to two members of the Michigan State University faculty who have contributed to the rich artistic landscape of our great State and helped shape the next generation of musical talent, all set to a distinctive jazz beat. As a young recording artist in Detroit, Rodney Whitaker likely never imagined he would one day build and lead one of the most distinguished jazz degree programs and performing faculties in the world. But the legendary bassist known for his distinctive ``bear-sized'' tones, today serves as director of jazz studies at MSU, a program he has transformed into a world-class training ground whose students have gone on to perform alongside some of the top jazz artists in the world. It is a case of those who can do, teach. Whitaker himself spent 7 years as a bassist with Wynton Marsalis' Septet and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, followed by a quarter-century touring around the world, collaborating and performing with legendary jazz artists from Dizzy Gillespie to Diana Krall. He continues to teach master classes at universities around the world, all while serving as the artistic director at the MSU Professors of Jazz, the East Lansing Summer Solstice Jazz Festival, the Dr. Phillips Center Jazz Orchestra in Orlando, Florida, and the Gathering Orchestra in Detroit to name a few of his many involvements.…”