Kirk Whalum

• Born: July 11, 1958, Memphis, TN
• Active: '80s, '90s, 2000s
• Genres: Jazz
• Instrument: Sax (Tenor), Saxophone
• Representative Albums: "Ultimate Kirk Whalum," "The Promise," "And You Know That!"

Biography

From his early days in Memphis, where he played in his father's church choir, veteran saxophonist Kirk Whalum drew inspiration from the rich musical traditions of that city, including gospel, R&B, blues, and eventually jazz. He received a scholarship to attend music school at Texas Southern University, where he formed a band in 1979 and began playing shows on the local club circuit. When he opened for Bob James in Houston in 1984, the pianist was impressed with Whalum's expressive style and invited him to play on his album 12. Whalum soon signed with Columbia Records and released his first solo album, Floppy Disk, in 1985. That album (as well as the next two, 1988's And You Know That! and 1989's The Promise) was produced by James, continuing the musicians' fruitful partnership. The early '90s saw Whalum issuing two more albums on the Columbia label -- Caché in 1993 and In This Life in 1995 -- each of them earning the saxophonist increased commercial attention and critical praise. Later, a duet with James titled "Joined at the Hip" took Whalum's career to a new level, as the song garnered Whalum his first Grammy nomination.

In 1997, Whalum jumped labels to sign with Warner Bros. His first solo album on Warner's tab, Colors, was released that same year, and perhaps more than any other album showed Whalum's ability to synthesize music from a variety of sources to produce a fusion of pop, jazz, and R&B. The following year, Gospel According to Jazz, Chapter 1 exhibited his ability to return to the music of his childhood stylistically, while also pursuing the kind of spiritual depth that has a long history in jazz, echoing artists like John Coltrane in taking advantage of the saxophone's unique expressive qualities. The decade also brought Whalum an amazingly diverse series of session and touring jobs, working with artists like Whitney Houston, Babyface, Yolanda Adams, Take 6, Bebe & Cece Winans, Barbra Streisand, Edwin Hawkins, Quincy Jones, Kevin Mahogany, Al Green, and Luther Vandross. In addition to his solo albums, Whalum worked on a number of film scores, including those for The Prince of Tides, Boyz in the Hood, Grand Canyon, and Cousins. His sax solo was featured on Whitney Houston's wildly popular single "I Will Always Love You," on the soundtrack for The Bodyguard.

The fan base that Whalum had been building throughout the '80s and '90s exploded with his 1998 release, For You, which spent nearly two years at the top of the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Chart and yielded four Top Ten NAC hits. His self-produced album, 2000's Hymns in the Garden, made a much quieter impact but was critically acclaimed, even earning Whalum a second Grammy nomination. Also in 2000, Whalum recorded again for Warner Bros. and released Unconditional, his third album for the label. Unconditional returned to the contemporary jazz style that had marked his early releases, with a few unexpected covers, including versions of Macy Gray's "I Try" and *NSYNC's "God Must Have Spent a Little More Time on You." "Can't Stop the Rain," a song written and sung by Shai, is the only other song on the album not composed by Whalum. Since 2001, Whalum has released four studio albums, including his second volume of gospel songs, The Gospel According to Jazz: Chapter 2, and Kirk Whalum Performs the Babyface Songbook, released on Rendezvous Music in 2005. In 2008, Whalum released Promises Made a benefit album for the Millennium Project dedicated to the relief of hunger, disease prevention, and economic development in Africa.~ Stacia Proefrock, All Music Guide

Promises Made: The Millennium Promise Jazz Project Buy this CD	Promises Made: The Millennium Promise Jazz Project Buy this CD	Hymns in the Garden Buy this CD	Gospel According to Jazz: Chapter 2 Buy this CD	Gospel According to Jazz: Chapter 2 [Video/DVD] Buy this CD
For You Buy this CD	Christmas Message Buy this CD	Unconditional Buy this CD	Gospel According to Jazz Buy this CD	Kirk Whalum Performs the Babyface Songbook Buy this CD

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jazz musician; saxophonist

Personal Information

Born Kirk Whalum on July 11, 1958, in Memphis, TN; married Rubystyne Whalum; children: Courtney (from a previous relationship), Kyle, Kori, and Evan
Education: Studied music at Texas Southern University.
Religion: Baptist.

Career

Session musician and recording artist, 1985- albums: Floppy Disk, 1985; And You Know That!, 1988; The Promise, 1989; Caché, 1993; In This Life, 1995; Colors, 1997; For You, 1998; The Gospel According to Jazz, Chapter One, 1998; Joy, 1999; Unconditional, 2001; The Christmas Message, 2001; The Best of Kirk Whalum, 2002.

Life's Work

Categorized by some critics as a smooth-jazz performer, tenor saxophonist Kirk Whalum has released albums of worship and gospel music, covers of pop tunes, straight-ahead rhythm and blues, and movie soundtracks in addition to his jazz recordings. He has also played on tour and in the recording studio with Babyface, Whitney Houston, Luther Vandross, Barbra Streisand, and George Benson. His talent and versatility have made Whalum one of the few commercially successful contemporary jazz performers who also garners respect from jazz critics, many of whom dismiss radio-friendly jazz music as artistically questionable. For his part, Whalum has simply tried to make the music that he, and audiences, love to hear. "I must say that I'm motivated pretty much by the attitude of musicians like Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington," he told Karen Rutter of the Mail & Guardian Online website in April of 2000. "Not because they pushed the limits, but because they played music for the people. They played the kind of music you could dance to, listen to, make love to. You might call it a commercial approach, but I think it's more about a human touch."

Kirk Whalum was born in 1958 in Memphis, Tennessee, where his father was the pastor of a Baptist church. Whalum played the drums for the choir in church; at home he was inspired by the examples of two of his uncles, arranger Wendell Whalum and pianist and saxophonist Hugh "Peanuts" Whalum, who were successful jazz artists, as well as by his grandmother, Thelma Twigg Whalum, who gave piano lessons. Although he first took up the drums, Whalum started to play the saxophone while he was in junior high school. By the time he reached high school, his talent for the instrument was so obvious that he was drafted into his school's jazz band by its music instructor. He quickly developed a love for jazz music and began playing at some Memphis clubs while he was still in high school. Although he pursued jazz as his primary interest, Whalum was influenced by a diverse range of musical sources. "I grew up in Memphis, one of the world's most eclectic places," he explained to Jeff Bradley of the Denver Post in a 1996 interview. "You've got some serious blues, gospel is really big, and Nashville is right around the corner. If you travel between the cities, you find people of every ethnic persuasion who like all different kinds of music."

After completing high school in Memphis, Whalum was awarded a scholarship to study music at Texas Southern University in Houston. He lost no time in diving into one of the most creative jazz scenes in the country, and formed his own jazz band. "Houston was such a cool music town in the early eighties," Whalum recalled in a biography posted on his website. "There were so many live music venues then. And everybody came through Houston.... I was like a sponge--just sitting there with these giants and absorbing everything they threw my way." After he completed his studies at Texas Southern, Whalum almost put music aside for a more practical career. After spending just one day on the job at a Houston department store, however, he suffered a car accident that caused him to reevaluate his priorities. He decided that he could only be happy by pursuing music as a full-time career.

Whalum's first big break came in 1983 when his band opened for jazz pianist and composer Bob James. James immediately invited Whalum to play saxophone on an album he was recording, titled 12. In addition to soloing on some of the album's cuts, Whalum wrote one of its tracks, "Ruby, Ruby, Ruby," which he penned in honor of his wife, Rubystyne Whalum. Whalum subsequently became part of James's touring band and in 1984 secured a recording contract with Columbia Records. His first album, Floppy Disk, was produced by James and was released in 1985. And You Know That! followed in 1988 and The Promise was released in 1989. Although sales for the albums were modest, each helped to build Whalum's reputation with critics and jazz lovers. "It's a blessed wind that blows everyone good," wrote David Hiltbrand of People in a review of The Promise. The critic added, "And the sweet zephyr emanating from Whalum's sax is such a godsend."

As a solo artist, session musician, and father, Whalum found that the late 1980s and early 1990s were a busy period. Along with his wife, Ruby, whom he married around 1981, Whalum raised four children, Courtney (Whalum's daughter by a previous relationship), Kyle, Kori, and Evan. Whalum was also active as a movie soundtrack composer and arranger on films such as The Prince of Tides, Boyz in the Hood, and Grand Canyon, all of which were released in 1991. In 1992 one of Whalum's guest appearances in the recording studio helped make pop music history. His saxophone solo on Whitney Houston's rendition of the Dolly Parton song "I Will Always Love You" from the soundtrack of the movie The Bodyguard helped the song spend 14 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The single set a record for the most weeks on top of the charts, and its popularity encouraged Whalum to move back to the United States from Paris, where he had lived with his family for a brief period. Whalum ended up joining several of Houston's concert tours in the 1990s as her opening act.

Whalum released two more albums on Columbia, Caché; in 1993 and In This Life in 1995. In 1997 he signed with Warner Brothers and released Colors, an album inspired by his interest in promoting cross-cultural harmony. In 1998 Whalum released two albums that demonstrated his range of talent and interests. The Gospel According to Jazz, Chapter 1 reflected his deep spirituality, while For You reached a broad audience with covers of popular songs such as "My All" and "That's the Way Love Goes." In an interview with the Mail & Guardian, Whalum described For You as "My way of saying thank-you to all the fans who have been so loyal over the past 15 years, and to all the musicians I've worked with." The album became Whalum's most successful to date and hit the top spot on Billboard's Contemporary Jazz Albums chart.

Although Whalum's 2001 release, Unconditional, included a couple of pop cover tunes, it featured a more aggressive sound that surprised some critics who had expected him to continue with his successful, smooth-jazz image. "Sometimes it is thought that the listeners of what is termed 'smooth jazz' want some sort of background music," Whalum explained in an interview with Billboard. "But I think most of them want something honest and a bit raw, something with substance." Whalum changed directions again with an album of holiday-themed songs on The Christmas Message in 2001. In addition to his recorded output, Whalum continued to be a popular performer in concert.

By now based in Nashville, Tennessee, Whalum took satisfaction in the release of The Best of Kirk Whalum in 2002, and in the continuing respect of jazz fans and critics. Yet his biggest source of professional pride came from the personal connection he had made with his listeners through his music. "Musically, I am most encouraged by people telling me that when they hear me play, they don't hear just a saxophone, but my actual voice, as if it's just a vehicle for what's deep inside me," he told Jonathan Widran on the Smooth Jazz website. He added, "It's a motivating blessing for me."

Works

Selected discography

• Floppy Disk, Columbia, 1985.
• And You Know That!, Columbia, 1988.
• The Promise, Columbia, 1989.
• Caché, Columbia, 1993.
• In This Life, Columbia, 1995.
• Colors, Warner Brothers, 1997.
• The Gospel According to Jazz, Chapter 1, Warner Brothers, 1998.
• For You, Warner Brothers, 1998.
• Joy, Warner Brothers, 1999.
• Unconditional, Warner Brothers, 2001.
• The Christmas Message, Warner Brothers, 2001.
• The Best of Kirk Whalum, Sony, 2002.

Further Reading

Periodicals

• Billboard, October 7, 2000, p. 39.
• Denver Post, February 19, 1996, p. E10.
• Newsweek, May 20, 1996, p. 76.
• People, September 4, 1989, p. 19.
• Post and Courier (Charleston, SC), September 23, 2001, p. 5.

On-line

• All Music Guide, http://www.allmusic.com/ (September 12, 2002).
• Kirk Whalum (official artist website), http://www.kirkwhalum.com/ (August 29, 2002).
• Mail & Guardian Online, http://www.chico.mweb.co.za/art/q_n_a/qna.html (April 18, 2000).
• Smooth Jazz News, http://www.smoothjazznews.com/ (May 2001).

— Timothy Borden

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