About Chip White

"Music, for me, is a liberating force," explains drummer Chip White, "and I want to write and play music that will make people feel better by opening them up to their own thoughts as well as to mine. I believe music should be both entertaining and, on the highest level, spiritual." On Harlem Sunset, White's debut album as a leader, the visionary drummer/composer brought together an exciting and talented group of musicians to accomplish this goal. Together, saxophonist Gary Bartz, trombonist Robin Eubanks, vibist Steve Nelson, trumpeter Claudio Roditi, and bassist Buster Williams, as well as White, bring energy and enthusiasm to six of the drummer’s original compositions and to a tune by Roditi, "We (To Kristen and Me)". White, Bartz, Nelson, and Williams also play a classic version of Billy Eckstine's "I Want To Talk About You." "I was fortunate to get these great artists to join me on Harlem Sunset," says White, "and I'm really very happy with the wonderful musical contributions they made."

"All the tunes I write," he continues, "come out of some personal experience. My composition 'Club 609' reflects my feelings about playing at that legendary Harlem after-hours club -- to me, it felt like revisiting the Harlem Renaissance. And 'Harlem Sunset' itself grew out of my return to Harlem, where I was born; I experienced a kind of rebirth, coming back to where I began, and found myself writing that tune."

White began studying percussion and music at the age of nine, and moved on to music theory and harmony while in high school. After attending Ithaca College, he studied with Alan Dawson, Charlie Mariano, and Herb Pomeroy at the Berklee School of Music, and privately with Freddie Buda of the Boston Symphony. He later studied orchestration and arranging with Frank Foster.

Since moving back to New York in 1970, White has performed and/or recorded with such diverse artists as Carmen McRae, Jaki Byard, John Abercrombie, Johnny Coles, Tom Waits, Enrico Rava, Mulgrew Miller, Gary Bartz, and John Hicks. He has also toured extensively throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and Japan.With his own Chip White Ensemble, which he formed in 1984, the drummer has performed at clubs and festivals around the Northeast. In 1990, he cowrote and produced a jazz musical, Manhattan Moments, with choreographer Kathy Sanson. White also tours nationwide with Houston Person and the Etta Jones Quintet.