Kirk Whalum is an American smooth jazz saxophonist and songwriter.
Background
Kirk Whalum was born in Memphis, Tennessee. 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.
Education
He attended Melrose High School and Texas Southern University where he was a member of the World Famous Ocean of Soul Marching Band.
Career
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. Whalum has recorded a series of well received solo albums and film soundtracks, with music ranging from popular to Rhythm & Blues to smooth jazz. He told John H. Johnson"s magazine Ebony Manitoba in a 1994 profile, "The music I like to play and write encompasses the four elements I grew up with: Memphis Rhythm & Blues, gospel, rock, and jazz.
The emphasis, though, is on melody, period."
In 1986, he performed at Jean Michel Jarre"s giant concerts Rendez-Vous Houston and Rendez-Vous Lyon.
At each concert, he performed the track "Last Rendez-Vous", also known as "Ron"s Piece", in place of Jarre and Whalum"s mutual friend, saxophonist and astronaut Ron McNair, who died in the Challenger disaster. In 2005 Whalum recorded the Babyface Songbook (2005) with Rhythm & Blues icon Babyface"s best songs of the past 15 years, including "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)", "I"ll Make Love to You", "When Can I See You", and others
Joining in the intimate and stylish proceedings are other smooth jazz notables, including trumpeter Rick Braun, soprano saxophone player Dave Koz, and guitarists Norman Brown and Chuck Loeb among others Whalum also contributed to the 2008 documentary film Mission Human Immunodeficiency Virus. On June 20, 2014, Whalum was the inaugural Jazz Legend honoree of the National Museum of African American Music in Nashville, Tennessee.
In September 2015, it was announced that Whalum would be joining the faculty of Visible Music College in Memphis, Tennessee.