Short Biography

Kirk Whalum born July 11, 1958 in Memphis, Tennessee, was surrounded by music as he grew up in the R&B capital of the South. In addition singing in his father`s church choir, Whalum also 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. These influences proved lasting, as 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."[1]


Whalum performing in a September, 2007 music festival in Nashville.
The `90s also brought Whalum an amazingly diverse series of session and touring jobs, working with artists like Whitney Houston, Willie Norwood, Babyface, Nancy Wilson, Yolanda Adams, Take 6, Bebe & Cece Winans, Barbra Streisand, Edwin Hawkins, Quincy Jones, Kevin Mahogany, Al Green, and Luther Vandross. He also has worked on a number of film scores, including those for The Prince of Tides, Boyz in the Hood, The Bodyguard, Grand Canyon, and Cousins (film).

In 2005 Whalum recorded the Babyface Songbook (2005) with R&B 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 superstar Dave Koz, and guitarists Norman Brown and Chuck Loeb among others

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