传记

  • 出生

    1958 年 July 11日 (66 岁)

  • 生于

    Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee, 美国

by Stacia Proefrock
From his beginnings in Memphis, where he played in his fathers church choir, 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 on the local club circuit. When he opened for Bob James in Houston in 1984, the pianist was impressed with Whalums expressive style and invited him to play on his album 12. Whalum signed with Columbia and released his first solo album, Floppy Disk, in 1985. That album and the next two — And You Know That! (1988) and The Promise (1989) — were produced by James, continuing their fruitful partnership. The early 90s brought two more Columbia albums — Caché in 1993 and In This Life in 1995 — each of which brought Whalum increasing commercial attention and critical praise. A duet with James titled Joined at the Hip took Whalums career to a new level with his first Grammy nomination. In 1997, Whalum signed with Warner Brothers. His first solo album for them, Colors, was released that year and perhaps more than any other album showed Whalums 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 would show 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 saxophones unique expressive qualities. The 90s 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. He has 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 Houstons hit song 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, Hymns in the Garden, which followed in 2000, made a much quieter impact, but was critically acclaimed and earned Whalum a second Grammy nomination. Also in 2000, Whalum recorded again for Warner Brothers 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 Grays I Try and NSyncs God Must Have Spent a Little More Time on You. Cant 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.

七次葛莱美奖提名、BILLBOARD当代爵士榜53周TOP 10纪录
他的演奏实力深受Bob James赞赏提携;他的出色表现为惠妮.休斯顿演唱的"I Will Always Love You"担纲最无可挑剔的伴奏;他的亮眼成绩囊括了七次葛莱美奖提名、BILLBOARD当代爵士榜53周TOP 10纪录…他是萨克斯风好手-寇克华伦(Kirk Whalum)。

出生在曼菲斯的萨克斯风手Kirk Whalum从父亲的教堂唱诗班中伴奏出身,由于曼菲斯地处多方音乐的交会区,所以Whalum也曾尝试过不同风格,福音、节奏与蓝调到三角洲蓝调,最后终于选择爵士。德州南方大学求学时代,Whalum开始组团并在当地夜总会表演。1984年为钢琴手Bob James的开场同时开启他职业表演生涯,James不仅邀他在专辑中伴奏,Whalum也寻得一纸合约,出版个人专辑,八○年代的几张个人专辑都是请到Bob James担任制作人。

进入九十年代,Whalum继续为Columbia唱片效力,另一方面也担任录音室乐手,参与过艺人包括惠妮.休斯顿、娃娃脸、芭芭拉.史翠珊…的专辑录制,直到与Bob James对弹的《Joined At The Hip》才让Whalum知名度大开. 事业又是另一番新气象。

编辑此维基

不想看到广告?马上升级

相似艺术家

API Calls

从 Spotify 记录音乐?

将您的 Spotify 帐户连接到您的 Last.fm 帐户,通过任何设备或平台上的任何 Spotify 应用记录您所听的一切内容。

连接到 Spotify

关闭