Drum & Bass Duo Carl Allen & Rodney Whitaker

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Bassists and drummers are the dynamic duos of modern music. There have been some terrific tandems: Art Blakey and Jymie Merrit; Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones; James Jamerson and Pistol Allen, and Willie Weeks and Bernard "Pretty" Purdie. Now, with their just released Mack Avenue Records debut, Get Ready, bassist Rodney Whitaker and drummer Carl Allen are the latest two-man titans of tone and tempo to join that illustrious list. With combined credits of nearly 200 recordings as sidemen, and nine CDs as leaders, Get Ready features the prolific partners supported by a superb cast: pianist Cyrus Chestnut, organist Dorsey "Rob" Robinson, guitarist Rodney Jones, and saxophonist Steve Wilson. The set features original compositions, as well as stirring renditions of Motown and contemporary gospel-associated tunes.

On Monday, June 11, Allen & Whitaker will be celebrating the release of Get Ready, with support from George Colligan (piano), Rodney Jones (guitar), and Steve Wilson (saxophones), at Sweet Rhythm, located at 88 Seventh Avenue South in New York City.

"Carl and I have known each other for close to 20 years", Whitaker proudly states. "One day he came to me and suggested that we do a project together. We picked music that was true to us. We're both from the Midwest; he's from Milwaukee, I'm from Detroit. He grew up in the African-American Baptist church; I grew up in the Sanctified church, the Church of God in Christ. All of that is in us."

"I grew up in a family of five kids", Allen recalls, expanding on Whitaker's point. "My mother was a gospel singer. I grew up listening to Mahalia Jackson, the Five Blind Boys of Alabama, Shirley Caesar; but I also listened to the Temptations and the Four Tops. For a lot of musicians of our generation, that was the case. We didn't get into jazz until our teens. So "Get Ready" and "Inner City Blues", all of that stuff is just home for us."

For these well-seasoned players, Get Ready gives Carl Allen and Rodney Whitaker the platform to dig into the music of their youth, and reach listeners with their sterling musicianship.

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