For this album Whittaker gathers generational contemporaries and modern masters including saxophonist Antonio Hart, pianist, Bruce Barth and drummer Gregory Hutchinson—each a friend and musical partner for close to a quarter-century. Reinforcing the family feel of the proceedings, Whitaker’s daughter, Rockelle Fortin, brings her expansive voice and keen interpretative skills to five selections. “Quartet with saxophone is really my voice,” says Whitaker. “I grew up playing in that context and with vocalists. When you’re from Detroit, you don’t compartmentalize or segregate music. You play funk, you play bebop and you play gospel.”