Black Renaissance
You may not know the name, but keyboardist-composer-arranger Harry Whitaker is a quiet but powerful force in the music industry. Though he's worked with everyone fromthe SpinnerstoClaudia Acuna, he's best  known for his stint withRoy Ayers's soul-fusion Ubiquity group back in the  day, and he wasRoberta Flack's musical director when her big hit "Feel Like Makin' Love" lit up the charts. But to collectors and DJs around the world, his long-out-of-print 1976 albumBlack Renaissancehas always been the Holy Grail. Now released on CD for the first time, we can finally hear why. Recorded on Martin Luther King's birthday in the aftermath of the turbulent '60s, the recording features two long tracks that artfully combine jazz, funk, and R&B; into an early musical version of Afrocentricity. With no overdubs andWoody Shaw's great clarion trumpet tones, Whitaker laid down grooves that rock to this day. Put another way, Harry Whitaker'sBlack Renaissanceis a soulful soundtrack, starring a gifted but overlooked musical genius.--Eugene Holley Jr.