Biography
Growing up in Memphis, saxophonist Kirk Whalum has perpetually incorporated the city’s deep gospel, R&B, blues, and jazz roots into his distinctive approach. Frequently likened to John Coltrane and Grover Washington, Jr., he has earned praise for his genre-blending style, reaching the summit of the contemporary jazz chart with 1998’s For You and securing the Grammy for Best Gospel Song for “It’s What I Do” from 2011’s The Gospel According to Jazz: Chapter III. He has also laid down tracks alongside legends such as Luther Vandross, Al Green, and Whitney Houston, contributing the memorable saxophone line to her enduring single “I Will Always Love You” from The Bodyguard soundtrack. In addition to his tenure with the smooth jazz trio BWB, he has stayed linked to R&B by reinterpreting material from Babyface, Donny Hathaway, Stevie Wonder, and others.
Whalum expressed his devotion to gospel on 2017’s #Lovecovers and joined forces with an international roster of musicians that included Keiko Matsui and Marcus Miller on 2019’s Humanité. He issued his second holiday collection, How Does Christmas Sound?, in 2021, then reentered the Top 20 of the jazz charts with 2024’s Epic Cool.
Born in Memphis in 1958, Whalum sang in the choir at Olivet Baptist Church, where his father, Kenneth Whalum, Sr., served as pastor. Shaped by a musical household that featured his grandmother, a piano instructor, and two jazz-playing uncles, he began on drums before turning to saxophone. Beyond church services, he participated in his school’s concert and marching bands while absorbing a constant stream of Stax soul, gospel, and jazz recordings. A scholarship took him to Texas Southern University in Houston, where he assembled a band in 1979 and started performing on the local club scene. Opening for Bob James in Houston in 1984, the pianist was struck by Whalum’s emotive phrasing and asked him to appear on the album 12.
Whalum soon joined Columbia and issued his debut solo effort, Floppy Disk, in 1985. James produced that project along with the next two, 1988’s And You Know That! and 1989’s The Promise, sustaining their productive alliance. During the early ’90s, Whalum put out two further Columbia releases—Caché in 1993 and In This Life in 1995—each bringing him greater commercial visibility and critical recognition. A subsequent duet with James titled “Joined at the Hip” elevated his profile by earning his first Grammy nomination.
In 1997 Whalum moved to Warner Bros. His initial solo album for the label, Colors, appeared that year and perhaps best illustrated his skill at merging pop, jazz, and R&B influences. The following year, Gospel According to Jazz revealed his capacity to revisit the sounds of his youth while exploring the spiritual dimensions long associated with jazz, recalling the work of John Coltrane in exploiting the saxophone’s singular expressive range.
That decade also yielded an unusually wide array of session and touring engagements with artists including Luther Vandross, Al Green, Peabo Bryson, Babyface, Yolanda Adams, Take 6, Bebe & Cece Winans, Barbra Streisand, Edwin Hawkins, Quincy Jones, and Kevin Mahogany. Outside his own recordings, Whalum contributed to several film scores, among them The Prince of Tides, Boyz ’n the Hood, Grand Canyon, and Cousins. His saxophone solo graced Whitney Houston’s massively successful single “I Will Always Love You” on The Bodyguard soundtrack.
The audience Whalum had cultivated through the ’80s and ’90s surged with 1998’s For You, which remained near the pinnacle of the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Chart for nearly two years and produced four Top Ten NAC hits. His self-produced 2000 release, Hymns in the Garden, registered more modestly yet received strong reviews and brought a second Grammy nomination. Also in 2000, he returned to Warner Bros. with Unconditional, his third album for the company, which revisited the contemporary jazz direction of his earlier work while adding unexpected interpretations such as Macy Gray’s “I Try” and *NSYNC’s “God Must Have Spent a Little More Time on You.” The sole track not written by Whalum was “Can’t Stop the Rain,” composed and performed by Shai.
Whalum offered his second volume of gospel material, The Gospel According to Jazz: Chapter 2, in 2002, followed by Kirk Whalum Performs the Babyface Songbook on Rendezvous Music in 2005. He then formed the BWB trio with trumpeter Rick Braun and guitarist Norman Brown, launching the group with Groovin’. In 2008 he released Promises Made, a benefit project supporting the Millennium Project’s efforts to combat hunger, prevent disease, and foster economic growth across Africa. Two years later came The Gospel According to Jazz: Chapter III, featuring George Duke, Lalah Hathaway, Bishop T.D. Jakes, and Kevin Whalum, among others. The track “It’s What I Do” from that album earned the Grammy for Best Gospel Song. Also in 2010, Whalum became President and CEO of the Stax Museum of American Soul Music and, in August, issued Everything Is Everything: The Music of Donny Hathaway.
He resurfaced in 2012 with Romance Language, a refined work modeled on the classic 1963 Impulse! LP John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman, with vocals supplied by his brother Kevin Whalum. The next year he reunited with BWB for Human Nature. The Gospel According to Jazz: Chapter 4 arrived in 2015, succeeded a year later by another self-titled BWB album. In 2017 Whalum presented the gospel-oriented #Lovecovers, containing reinterpretations of songs by gospel figures such as Donnie McClurkin and the Clark Sisters alongside renditions of hits by Beyoncé, Dolly Parton, Stevie Wonder, and additional artists.
On 2019’s Humanité, Whalum adopted a worldwide perspective, tracking with British producer James McMillan across locations ranging from Jakarta and Tokyo to Paris, Johannesburg, Nairobi, and beyond. The album includes partnerships with pianist Keiko Matsui, Indonesian singer Grace Sahertian, South African vocalist Zahara, bassist Marcus Miller, and others. His second holiday set, How Does Christmas Sound?, appeared in 2021. In 2024 he released Epic Cool, which reached the Top 20 of the Jazz Albums chart.
Whalum expressed his devotion to gospel on 2017’s #Lovecovers and joined forces with an international roster of musicians that included Keiko Matsui and Marcus Miller on 2019’s Humanité. He issued his second holiday collection, How Does Christmas Sound?, in 2021, then reentered the Top 20 of the jazz charts with 2024’s Epic Cool.
Born in Memphis in 1958, Whalum sang in the choir at Olivet Baptist Church, where his father, Kenneth Whalum, Sr., served as pastor. Shaped by a musical household that featured his grandmother, a piano instructor, and two jazz-playing uncles, he began on drums before turning to saxophone. Beyond church services, he participated in his school’s concert and marching bands while absorbing a constant stream of Stax soul, gospel, and jazz recordings. A scholarship took him to Texas Southern University in Houston, where he assembled a band in 1979 and started performing on the local club scene. Opening for Bob James in Houston in 1984, the pianist was struck by Whalum’s emotive phrasing and asked him to appear on the album 12.
Whalum soon joined Columbia and issued his debut solo effort, Floppy Disk, in 1985. James produced that project along with the next two, 1988’s And You Know That! and 1989’s The Promise, sustaining their productive alliance. During the early ’90s, Whalum put out two further Columbia releases—Caché in 1993 and In This Life in 1995—each bringing him greater commercial visibility and critical recognition. A subsequent duet with James titled “Joined at the Hip” elevated his profile by earning his first Grammy nomination.
In 1997 Whalum moved to Warner Bros. His initial solo album for the label, Colors, appeared that year and perhaps best illustrated his skill at merging pop, jazz, and R&B influences. The following year, Gospel According to Jazz revealed his capacity to revisit the sounds of his youth while exploring the spiritual dimensions long associated with jazz, recalling the work of John Coltrane in exploiting the saxophone’s singular expressive range.
That decade also yielded an unusually wide array of session and touring engagements with artists including Luther Vandross, Al Green, Peabo Bryson, Babyface, Yolanda Adams, Take 6, Bebe & Cece Winans, Barbra Streisand, Edwin Hawkins, Quincy Jones, and Kevin Mahogany. Outside his own recordings, Whalum contributed to several film scores, among them The Prince of Tides, Boyz ’n the Hood, Grand Canyon, and Cousins. His saxophone solo graced Whitney Houston’s massively successful single “I Will Always Love You” on The Bodyguard soundtrack.
The audience Whalum had cultivated through the ’80s and ’90s surged with 1998’s For You, which remained near the pinnacle of the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Chart for nearly two years and produced four Top Ten NAC hits. His self-produced 2000 release, Hymns in the Garden, registered more modestly yet received strong reviews and brought a second Grammy nomination. Also in 2000, he returned to Warner Bros. with Unconditional, his third album for the company, which revisited the contemporary jazz direction of his earlier work while adding unexpected interpretations such as Macy Gray’s “I Try” and *NSYNC’s “God Must Have Spent a Little More Time on You.” The sole track not written by Whalum was “Can’t Stop the Rain,” composed and performed by Shai.
Whalum offered his second volume of gospel material, The Gospel According to Jazz: Chapter 2, in 2002, followed by Kirk Whalum Performs the Babyface Songbook on Rendezvous Music in 2005. He then formed the BWB trio with trumpeter Rick Braun and guitarist Norman Brown, launching the group with Groovin’. In 2008 he released Promises Made, a benefit project supporting the Millennium Project’s efforts to combat hunger, prevent disease, and foster economic growth across Africa. Two years later came The Gospel According to Jazz: Chapter III, featuring George Duke, Lalah Hathaway, Bishop T.D. Jakes, and Kevin Whalum, among others. The track “It’s What I Do” from that album earned the Grammy for Best Gospel Song. Also in 2010, Whalum became President and CEO of the Stax Museum of American Soul Music and, in August, issued Everything Is Everything: The Music of Donny Hathaway.
He resurfaced in 2012 with Romance Language, a refined work modeled on the classic 1963 Impulse! LP John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman, with vocals supplied by his brother Kevin Whalum. The next year he reunited with BWB for Human Nature. The Gospel According to Jazz: Chapter 4 arrived in 2015, succeeded a year later by another self-titled BWB album. In 2017 Whalum presented the gospel-oriented #Lovecovers, containing reinterpretations of songs by gospel figures such as Donnie McClurkin and the Clark Sisters alongside renditions of hits by Beyoncé, Dolly Parton, Stevie Wonder, and additional artists.
On 2019’s Humanité, Whalum adopted a worldwide perspective, tracking with British producer James McMillan across locations ranging from Jakarta and Tokyo to Paris, Johannesburg, Nairobi, and beyond. The album includes partnerships with pianist Keiko Matsui, Indonesian singer Grace Sahertian, South African vocalist Zahara, bassist Marcus Miller, and others. His second holiday set, How Does Christmas Sound?, appeared in 2021. In 2024 he released Epic Cool, which reached the Top 20 of the Jazz Albums chart.
Albums
Joined At The Hip (2019 Remastered)
2019
Human Nature
2013
The Millenium Promise Jazz Project
2008
When The Saints Go Marching (Back) In
2005
Into My Soul
2003
The Gospel According To Jazz, Chapter II
2002
The Best Of Kirk Whalum
2002
The Christmas Message
2001
Unconditional
2000
For You
1998
Colors
1997
In This Life
1995
Caché
1993
The Promise
1989
And You Know That!
1988
Live
