Whitaker was born in Detroit and attended Wayne State University. He studied with Robert Gladstone (principal bass with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra) and Marcus Belgrave (trumpeter). He was first recognized as a performer with Terence Blanchard’s Quintet, then with Roy Hargrove. In 1996, his first album Children of the Light, which was also released, was directed by Jeff Wray. The score for the movie China was released on PBS in 2002. Whitaker, who was a collaborator with Phil Dwyer, and Alan Jones, was nominated in 2006 for Juno Award Traditional Jazz Album Of The Year. Whitaker has been also working with Junko Onishi, a pianist. Whitaker is a professor of double bass at Michigan State University and the director of jazz studies in the College of Music. He has given master classes at Howard University, Duke University, University of Iowa and University of Michigan. He also helped to create a department for jazz education at Detroit Symphony Orchestra. He conducts the Civic Jazz Orchestra. from http://en.wikipedia.org
