Kirk Whalum
| Kirk Whalum | |
|---|---|
| Born |
July 11, 1958 Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Genres | Smooth jazz, Pop, R&B, Gospel |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, Songwriter |
| Instruments | Tenor saxophone, alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute |
| Years active | 1985 — present |
| Labels | Rendezvous, Mosaic Contemporary, Warner Bros., Sony, Columbia |
| Associated acts | Jonathan Butler, Whitney Houston, Luther Vandross, Babyface, Bob James, Donny Hathaway, Lalah Hathaway |
| Website | www.KirkWhalum.com |
Kirk Whalum (born July 11, 1958) is an American smooth jazz saxophonist and songwriter. He toured with Whitney Houston for more than seven years and soloed in her single "I Will Always Love You", the best-selling single by a female artist in music history. He was also featured on many Luther Vandross albums, most often playing on the singer's covers of older pop and R&B standards like "Anyone Who Had a Heart", "I (Who Have Nothing)" and "Love Won't Let Me Wait".
Whalum has recorded a series of well received solo albums and film soundtracks, with music ranging from pop to R&B to smooth jazz. Kirk’s musical accomplishments have brought him a total of 12 Grammy nominations. He won his first Grammy award in 2011 for Best Gospel Song (“It’s What I Do”, featuring Lalah Hathaway) alongside lifelong friend and gifted writer, Jerry Peters.
Kirk Whalum was born in Memphis, Tennessee. He attended Melrose High School and Texas Southern University where he was a member of the World Famous Ocean of Soul Marching Band. In addition to singing in his father's church choir, Whalum learned to love music from his grandmother, Thelma Twigg Whalum, a piano teacher, and two uncles, Wendell Whalum and Hugh "Peanuts" Whalum, who performed with jazz bands around the country. He told John H. Johnson's magazine Ebony Man in a 1994 profile, "The music I like to play and write encompasses the four elements I grew up with: Memphis R&B, gospel, rock, and jazz. The emphasis, though, is on melody, period."
...
Wikipedia