Talks & Entertainment

“This young man is a genius! I love the way he’s mastering those keys…. He will go far…. Watch out!” – Jon Batiste, pianist and music director, “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”

A piano and Hammond B-3 organ wunderkind currently taking the jazz world by storm, 18-year-old Matthew Whitaker became, at age 13, the youngest musician to be endorsed by Hammond in the company’s history. Steeped in tradition yet pushing forward into a groove-infused space of his own, he has logged a series of A-list gigs as a leader, including the 2019 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and the 2017 NEA Jazz Masters induction ceremony for B-3 godfather Dr. Lonnie Smith at Kennedy Center.

As the L.A. Times wrote of the Whitaker concert experience: “He sat center stage between two very large pieces of furniture: a Hammond B3 and a grand piano, [and] summoned the ghosts of Larry Young and Oscar Peterson…. [His] instrumental trio inspired spontaneous dancing and a standing ovation.”

Washington Performing Arts performances at Sixth & I are made possible in part through the generous support of the Galena-Yorktown Foundation.