Grammy-Award-winning saxophone player Kirk Whalum has mark through his own music, collaborations with others and his work on film soundtracks such as “Boyz n the Hood” and “The Bodyguard.” He was a featured soloist on Whitney Houston’s song “I Will Always Love You.” Over the years, he has also worked with Quincy Jones, Michael McDonald, Barbra Streisand, Al Jarreau and Luther Vandross.
Whalum will be performing in Tucson on Saturday, Jan. 17, as part of the Tucson Jazz Festival. He will be joined by Grammy-nominated vocalist Jazzmeia Horn and vocalist, pianist, composer and producer John Stoddart.
They will also be doing a show at the Chandler Center for the Arts on Friday, Jan. 16.
The concerts will be themed around “Songs of Change,” which includes gospel, jazz and R&B tunes that have promoted unity, resilience and justice.
They will be performing anthems such as “Love Is the Answer,” “Keep on Pushing,” “Let It Be” and “What’s Goin’ On.”
“What we’ll be doing is celebrating the songs of those eras in our history where there was positive change, where people rose up, stood up, grasped hands with each other as an American community and said, ‘We can’t allow our history to move forward with inequality, racism and all of things that are so counterintuitive to progress.’ With those courageous people, obviously Martin Luther King Jr. being the main one, there was always music. The music fueled those activities and those periods,” Whalum said.
With these concerts, they hope to educate people about these inspiring songs and leave audiences with a feeling that they are part of a larger, connected community.
During the concert, Stoddart, a producer, arranger and music director, will have a chance to be featured more. Whalum said they have worked together for 30 years, but Stoddart has always been more in the background during projects they have done together.
Whalum, who is based out of Memphis, has performed at the Tucson Jazz Festival in the past and generally gets out to Arizona about once every two years.
During his career, he performed at different types and sizes of venues.
His first solo album “Floppy Disk” came out in 1985. He has been traveling and working professionally as a solo artist since that time.
Whalum released his most recent album “Epic Cool” in 2024. The album showcases Whalum’s ability to cross different genres with his music.
Throughout the years, Whalum’s music has been released through labels such as Columbia Records and Warner Bros. Records. This includes the 1993 and 1998 hit albums “Cache” and “For You,” respectfully.
He is also known for his “Gospel According to Jazz” series. He has featured his brother, uncle, son, nephews and cousin in this series, along with artists such as George Duke, Jonathan Butler, Paul Jackson Jr., Táta Vega and Lalah Hathaway.
His son, a bassist, has worked with Kelly Clarkson and Katy Perry. His nephew, a trombonist, plays with Bruno Mars.
Whalum was a member of the soul/jazz group BWB, which included trumpet player Rick Braun and guitarist Norman Brown.
In 1986, he played at a concert called “Rendez-vous Houston,” which celebrated Houston’s 150th anniversary and NASA’s 25th anniversary. It drew a crowd of more than 1.3 million people.
Alongside his lifelong friend Jerry Peters, Whalum won a Grammy Award in 2011 for best gospel song for “It’s What I Do,” which featured Hathaway.
Whalum is an ordained minister with a master’s degree in religion. He hosts a daily podcast called “Bible In Your Ear.”
He grew up with a preacher father, and now two of his brothers are preachers.
He said that his ability connect with audiences comes from his father.
“My dad was that guy. He could walk into any room. He was just so magnetic and charismatic,” Whalum said.
While promoting “Epic Cool,” he has gotten to perform for more intimate audiences, in places such as wineries. He has had a chance to talk more, sharing jokes and narratives with viewers.
Whalum was raised in a musical family, with grandmas and uncles who were musicians or singers.
“One grandmother was classically-trained on the pipe organ and taught piano and voice. My other grandmother, my maternal grandmother, was a domestic… My grandmother was a maid, and it was hard for me to even say that because I was ashamed of it because I didn’t understand… But I loved her. When she would sing with the choir, Oh Lord, it was powerful. I think that’s true with Black music in particular is that it’s born out of suffering. It’s born out of oppression. It’s tried in a furnace, so it’s pure. It’s powerful… I had an uncle who was a music director at Morehouse College, where Martin Luther King went to school. Another uncle, my primary mentor, played the saxophone. I got to hear him as a 13-year-old. It set my course, to hear somebody up close and personal,” Whalum said.
Throughout his life, Whalum has drawn inspiration from different styles of music.
He grew up around gospel music in Memphis and came up performing in Houston’s nightclub scene.
In Houston, his band often got good crowds. He would engage with crowds, telling jokes and encouraging them to laugh at him and themselves.
He has also lived in Los Angeles, where he was an in-demand session player.
He said at first when he moved out there, he faced some challenges professionally.
“It was very hard at first. I wasn’t getting a lot of work. I had been a big fish in a very big little pond called ‘Houston.’ I wasn’t getting any traction. I played with a Tina Turner impersonator. I was doing anything I possibly could. Somehow, I always played music. God kept us. I speak of his faithfulness. There were times when it was really tight, but we always made it,” Whalum said.
Throughout his career, Whalum has gotten a chance to work with artists that he admires, including Houston.
He traveled all over Asia and Europe while working with her.
Even before meeting the artist, Whalum was inspired by the way that she could reach others with her music.
“She impacted me when I first heard her on ‘Saving All My Love for You.’ When I started playing with her, I told her that, and it cracked her up. She was like, ‘Really? Me?’ I took on a role almost immediately as a chaplain for her and for the band because she called me ‘Bishop,’” Whalum said.