Black Renaissance - Body, Mind and Spirit

Harry Whitaker is a piano player, producer and arranger who at the age of 26 recorded Black Renaissance "Body, Mind, and Spirit," a holy grail amongst collectors of soul-jazz and rare groove, and an album so rare it's virtually a myth to many. Made up of two long tracks that periodically build and release for forty minutes over two sides of an LP it's an improvised masterpiece combining Afrocentric spiritual soul, jazz, poetry, amazing solos, a tasty bass line or two and more than a fair share of funky beats. It's also one of the earliest jazz albums to feature rapping. "I called the project Black Renaissance because that is what I wanted to see happen - especially in music. I describe it as Dixieland circa 1976 - by the end of the songs everyone is playing together." Given its rarity, when asked if he was surprised that people knew about the album Whitaker jokes "I've told enough people about it over the years! Now they can actually hear it. It was a record before it's time. It's no