Like many 13 year-olds, Matthew Whitaker likes to play on his Nintendo Wii console. He likes to munch on Goldfish crackers. The youngest of four, he has two brothers and one sister. He smiles often.
Matthew, who was born blind, gets a bit distracted if a throbbing bass sound echoes in the vicinity. His head perks up, his sound-dampening headset be damned.
To say he has an ear for music is akin to saying the sky is blue, or that fish can’t breathe outside water. It’s a given.
As New Haven found out when Matthew wowed a jazz audience on the Green.
Jordi Gassó Photo
When he was 3 years old Matthew (pictured) received a small Yamaha keyboard from his grandfather. His father and de facto manager, Moses, introduced Matthew to the genre at the age of 7. By the time he was 9, Matthew began to teach himself how to play the organ — a Hammond B3. Within two years he was an opening performer for Stevie Wonder’s induction into the Apollo Hall of Fame.
Experts and critics alike have used a number of monikers to describe Matthew. Genius. Prodigy. “What Ray Charles and Jimmy McGriff looked like at age 13 but played like at age 30.”
Audiences from Capri to Osaka seem to agree: the boy’s got a gift. Not only does he have perfect pitch, he can often play a song after just one listen. His fingers appear to be dancing on the organ keys.
Matthew, no stranger to large and public concerts despite his youth, performed at the Green on Aug. 23 as part of this year’s 32nd New Haven Jazz Festival. After standing ovation at the end of Matthew’s spellbinding renditions, Moses had to practically unglue him from his seat.
“Not yet,” Matthew muttered, as the crowd clamored for an encore. No can do. Perhaps next time. Matthew walked off the stage with a grin like a Cheshire cat.
The Independent sat down with Moses, Matthew and his mother May before his Saturday gig to learn more about what goes on inside the mind of this wunderkind, what thoughts hide behind those Aviator sunglasses. Matthew, the precocious musician, is still just a regular teenager. (Check out a clip of his performance at the top of the story.)
Is this your first time playing in New Haven?
Matthew: I think so, yeah. First one.
What brought you to this festival?
Moses: Matt has performed for the Jazz Foundation of America and they invited him to come play here at the New Haven Jazz Fest.
Are you looking forward to perform?
Matthew: Yes, I’m very excited.
What drew you to music, particularly jazz?
Matthew: I first started listening to jazz when I was 7, and I really liked it. I like how you can improvise in jazz — basically what that means is you get to do some soloing in the song.
What was the first instrument that you played?
Matthew: When I was 3, I first started playing keyboard. I got into piano when I was 5.
How many do you play?
Matthew: I play four: piano, organ, drums and keyboard.
Favorite one?
Matthew: Organ
Why?
Matthew: I can get a lot more different sounds of the organ.
You go to music school in New York. What do you study there?
Matthew: Classical piano, drums, music technology, braille music and jazz piano.
You’ve performed in France, Japan, New York — how do you juggle your education and all these gigs you’ve got lined up?
Moses: (Laughs.) That’s a mommy question.
May: How do you do it all, Matthew? Go to school and gigs and lessons?
Moses: Is it easy or what?
Matthew: It’s hard to balance.
Do you get to enjoy some spare time? What do you do, besides performing and going to music school?
Matthew: Uh, regular school.
But what do you for fun?
Matthew: Video games.
I love video games too. Which one’s your favorite?
Matthew: I have a lot of them. I always play the Wii.
Describe your typical day. What do you usually do?
Matthew: I practice. They say practice makes perfect. I try to do my homework and then I practice my music.
Is that every day? Even weekends?
Matthew: Weekends? Eh. On Saturdays I’m busy, with music school. And then on Sundays I go to church: I play drums on the third Sunday of the month. I play the organ if the organ player is late. (Laughs.) Dad, you know that.
Moses: (Laughs.) We know that but you don’t know that.
You once opened for Stevie Wonder. How was that?
Matthew: It felt great! I got to meet him, and he gave me one of his harmonicas.
And what would you say has been your favorite performance so far?
Matthew: I don’t know. I just like all of them.
Do you only play jazz or do you play other genres?
Matthew: I also play classical, R&B, gospel, stuff like that.
Looking at videos of your performances, you always seem very focused, very intense. What’s going through your mind when you’re playing?
Matthew: Sometimes, I’m thinking about whether I messed up or something.
Do you think audiences nowadays enjoy jazz? I know people talk about how interest for that kind of music comes and goes in cycles. Do you think it’s still a popular genre?
Matthew: Yeah I guess you could say that.
Moses: I think it’s less popular with the young folks right now because they weren’t brought up on jazz. I think that’s kind of why Matt fell in love with it, because I was playing it and he was listening to it. So a lot of young people don’t get to hear jazz that much anymore. I think it’s great that Matt is playing it and hopefully some young people follow him and get into it.
Critics have referred to you as a prodigy, as the “second coming of Ray Charles.” They compare you to all these jazz icons. How does that make you feel?
Matthew: I don’t know … Good, I guess?
Do you feel pressure, do you feel pride?
Matthew: Hmm. It just makes me feel good.
Do you see yourself as a prodigy?
Matthew: I just see myself as a musician.
How does your visual impairment affect how you approach music, if at all?
Mom: He’s always been blind since birth; he was born very premature. So his approach to music or reading or walking, it’s all the same because that’s all he’s ever known. He doesn’t have something to compare it to. That’s who he is.
You also compose music, right?
Matthew: Yes, I’ve composed about… I’d say nine songs already.
All jazz?
Matthew: One was a rearrangement of a classical piece, but it wound up being jazz.
Can you walk me through your process of composing music? Where do you start?
Matthew: I always record songs on my keyboard so I start with the drum part, then I do the bass part, and the piano or the keyboard part, and then I do the rest.
Moses: But where does it come from? Your head, your heart?
Matthew: Yeah, it comes from my head.
But what would be an example of something that’s inspired you to write a song?
Matthew: The first song I composed was about my sister.
Who have been your biggest musical inspirations?
Matthew: Dr. Lonnie Smith, Jimmy Smith, Joey DeFrancesco and Art Tatum.
What is the worst criticism you’ve gotten, if any?
Matthew (to May): You answer that.
May: I think because he’s so young, bad criticism hasn’t happened yet. I’m sure it’ll come. (Laughs.)
What would you say has been the best piece of advice you’ve received?
Matthew: Always practice, and have fun.
May: And play from where?
Matthew: Your heart.
Where do you see yourself in five or ten years?
Matthew: As a musician. I hope to be on a tour one day, record CDs and that stuff. Actually, I’m recording my first one in September.
Is there anything you would say to someone your age who might be interested jazz?
Matthew: Listen to different people who play jazz — Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane and those guys. And always practice because, you know, you never know what’s coming for you.
This interview has been condensed and edited.
