Ragan Whiteside
Musical adventurer Ragan Whiteside has never been known to pull punches with her studio work, and the accolades for her fourth studio album, Treblemaker, keep coming accordingly. A musical prodigy since the age of five, Ragan found her way to the flute after the piano, the violin, and a turn with the drum set. She attended the Cleveland Institute of Music and the prestigious Harid Conservatory, where her sound was honed with the tried-and-true classical training, graduating with a Bachelor of Music Performance degree.
Ragan then found herself in New York and immersed herself in the world of jazz, funk, and R&B, going on to collaborate with contemporary heavyweights such as Patrice Rushen, Bob Baldwin, Kim Waters, Chieli Minucci, Frank McComb, and many more. Since her debut with Class Axe, Ragan honed her arranging and songwriting skills alongside Bob Baldwin and acclaimed producer/arranger Dennis Johnson, and focused on the deeper inner workings of producing and releasing music. The albums that followed, Evolve and Quantum Drive, flow along a variety of musical styles, the sounds never parking themselves too long in one genre or another, leaving no aficionado wanting.
The first single off Raven’s album, Early Arrival, rose to #7 on Billboard after a residence in Smooth Jazz’s Top 10 Most Added songs for airplay. Corey’s Bop surpassed that record by skyrocketing to #1 on Billboard, held a residence of 2 weeks at #1 at Smooth Jazz Network’s Top 100, and 4 weeks at #1 on MediaBase’s charts, making Ragan the first female flautist to hold the #1 spot on 3 major smooth jazz charts simultaneously. Lightning struck again with the 3rd single, “See You at the Get Down,” which grabbed the #1 spot on MediaBase, Radio Wave, and Smooth Jazz Network, and hit Top 5 on Billboard.
Ragan Whiteside is a resident of Atlanta, GA and tours globally. Stay tuned for Ragan’s 5th album, to be released in 2019!