Photo: Patricia Wagner @ Cherishthemoment · CC BY 2.0 · credits
Tier 3 · vertical & regionalfull biography
Kirk Whalum
Person · male · United States · Memphis · born 1958 · recording since 1988
American musician
official homepageofficial homepagestreamingstreamingstreamingsocialticketsdatabasedatabasedatabase
Listen on SpotifyYouTube Music
Also known as Kirk Walhum · Kirk Wendell Whalum · 寇克·华伦
Timeline
23 events▣ Album 21◦ Birth 1★ Debut release 1
1950s
1980s
· Debut release
Debut release: And You Know That!
First documented Album in the MusicBrainz discography.
source: musicbrainz
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s
Biography
English biography904 words · 9 sectionssource: wikipedia-en · licence CC BY-SA 4.0 · revision 1378530701
Biography
Kirk Whalum (born July 11, 1958) is an American R&B and smooth jazz saxophonist and songwriter. He has recorded a series of commercially successful and critically acclaimed solo studio albums, as well as several film soundtracks, with his music spanning a range of genres from pop to R&B to smooth jazz. Whalum has received one Grammy Award from a total of 12 nominations.
Whalum is a member, together with trumpeter Rick Braun and guitarist Norman Brown, of jazz group BWB, and has also worked with artists such as Whitney Houston, Bob James, Jonathan Butler and Quincy Jones. Among others with whom Whalum has collaborated are Michael McDonald, Chante Moore, Luther Vandross, Patrice Rushen, Will Downing and Brian Culbertson.
Biography
Kirk Whalum was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. He attended Melrose High School and Texas Southern University, where he was a member of the renowned Ocean of Soul Marching Band. 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. Whalum 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."
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 was to have performed but had died in the Challenger disaster.
In 1993, Whalum recorded a duet with R&B singer Jevetta Steele called "Love is a Losing Game".
Whalum has worked on a number of film scores, including for The Prince of Tides, Boyz n the Hood, The Bodyguard, Grand Canyon and Cousins. 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. He has also been featured on many Luther Vandross albums, most often playing on the singer's covers of older pop and R&B standards such as "Anyone Who Had a Heart", "I (Who Have Nothing)", and "Love Won't Let Me Wait".
Whalum has recorded a series of well received solo albums and film soundtracks, with music ranging from pop to R&B to smooth jazz. His musical accomplishments have brought him a total of 12 Grammy nominations. He won his first Grammy award in 2011 for Best Gospel Song ("It's What I Do", featuring Lalah Hathaway) alongside lifelong friend and writer Jerry Peters.
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 saxophone player Dave Koz, and guitarists Norman Brown and Chuck Loeb among others. That same year, he performed a cover "Any Love" on the album Forever, For Always, For Luther, which included other smooth jazz greats, such as the Dave Koz, bassist Marcus Miller, tenor saxophonist Richard Elliot and alto saxophonist Mindi Abair covering Vandross's well-known songs. Whalum also contributed to the 2008 documentary film Miss HIV.
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. In September 2018, he was honored with a "Brass Note" on historic Beale Street's Walk of Fame in his native Memphis.
Personal life
Whalum married his wife Rubystyne (Ruby) in 1980. They have four children, including musician and marathoner Kyle, as well as Courtney, Kori, and Evan. Whalum converted to Catholicism in 2022, after having served for years as a Protestant minister. He has also been a volunteer barber at a Catholic Worker house in Memphis. He is the uncle of saxophonist Kenneth Whalum.
Studio albums
Floppy Disk (1985)
And You Know That (1988)
The Promise (1989)
Caché (1993)
In This Life (1995)
Joined at the Hip with Bob James (1996)
Colors (1997)
For You (1998)
Unconditional (2000)
Hymns in the Garden (2001)
The Christmas Message (2001)
Groovin with BWB (Braun, Whalum, Brown) (2002)
Into My Soul (2003)
Kirk Whalum Performs the Babyface Songbook (2005)
Roundtrip (2007)
Promises Made: The Millennium Promise Jazz Project (2008)
Everything is Everything: The Music of Donny Hathaway (2010)
More of Everything is Everything – ep (2010)
Romance Language (2011)
Human Nature with BWB (Braun, Whalum, Brown) (2013)
bwb with BWB (Braun, Whalum, Brown) (2016)
#Lovecovers (2017)
Humanite (2019)
How Does Christmas Sound? (2021)
Epic Cool (2024)
The Gospel According to Jazz Series – Live
The Gospel According to Jazz: Chapter I (1998)
The Gospel According to Jazz: Chapter II (2002)
The Gospel According to Jazz Chapter III (2010)
The Gospel According to Jazz Chapter IV" (2014)
Live albums
Live from the Detroit Jazz Festival 2013 (2014) - Released by the 'Mack Avenue SuperBand 2013'.
Compilation albums
The Best of Kirk Whalum (2002)
Ultimate Kirk Whalum (2007)
As sideman
With Joey DeFrancesco
Where Were You? (Columbia, 1990)
With Faye Carol
Faye Sings The Blues (Getdown Records, 2026)
Singles
"Mad About the Wolf" from Simply Mad About the Mouse (1991)
Discography & profile
Normalised profile
Percentiles are computed over every artist in the database, so a tier-3 artist can still sit in the 95th percentile on a single axis.
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 11 | 61.8th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 28 | 89.8th |
| Studio albums | 21 | 96.7th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 23 | 95th |
| Recording span (years) | 36 | 75.4th |
| Genres | 8 | 94.5th |
Percentiles are computed at render time; missing values mean the artist has no data on that axis.
Discography (28 release groups · 21 studio albums)
Albums · 21
1988 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 7 tracks · 41:10
1Give Me Your Love7:172The Wave5:303Through the Fire6:024Seryna5:545Don't Look at Me5:216Where I Come From4:557Glow6:111989 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 9 tracks · 50:44
1I Receive Your Love6:072N.E. Wind5:063The Promise6:044Ma Foi5:295L.C.'s Back5:196Desperately6:347Out-A-Hand5:048Don't Even Look5:099For All We Know5:521993 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 10 tracks · 54:17
1X-Factor6:582Love Is A Losing Game4:293Livin' In The Streets5:154Fragile5:325Love Saw It5:446Always A Part Of Me5:127Caché5:128The Language Of Life6:099Fall In Love Again5:4710Over The Rainbow3:591995 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 12 tracks · 59:24
1In This Life3:362Til I Get It Right4:583Drowning in the Sea of Love7:024Peaceful Hideaway4:335I Wouldn't Be a Man5:056Living for the City4:337My Father's Hope4:278When the Night Rolls In4:359I Turn to You5:2610Reck'n So3:5811The Way I Need You Now4:5612Reprise: Dan Cette Vie6:151996 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 9 tracks · 1:03:08
1Soweto10:052Kickin’ Back6:013Out of the Cold5:194Deja Blue8:155Midnight at the Oasis5:476Tell Me Something Nice7:177Tour de Fourths6:368The Ghetto5:169The Prayer8:321997 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 10 tracks · 49:32
1Cannonnesque5:342All I Need4:533Daddy Loves You4:204Strength in You4:155If Only for One Night4:386Escolhido (Chosen)6:557Open My Eyes4:178After All This Time4:369Natchez6:2710The Back Porch3:371998 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 10 tracks · 46:53
1Anytime5:182Ascension5:143Same Ole Love4:244My All3:585That's The Way Love Goes4:416For You4:127All I Do5:038Lover For Live4:419I Want You4:2610Goin' In Circles4:562000 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 13 tracks · 1:03:07
1I Will Trust in the Lord4:272Jesus Paid It All4:183Christ Is All4:474Precious Lord Take My Hand5:035Just a Closer Walk With Thee3:396My Faith Looks Up to Thee5:197Jesus Is All the World to Me5:568Fairest Lord Jesus5:159Softly and Tenderly4:4710I Must Tell Jesus6:1711He's Sweet I Know-He Knows How Much You Can Bear4:0312I Want Jesus to Walk With Me5:2713In the Garden3:492000 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 10 tracks · 47:20
1Now 'til Forever4:362Groverworked & Underpaid7:153God Must Have Spent a Little More Time on You4:464Unconditional4:415Can't Stop the Rain4:506Song for Evan4:007I Try3:548Playing With Fire4:079Real Love4:2510Waltz for David4:462001 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 6 tracks · 34:29
1Rodeo6:022Kyle's Smiles5:123Afterthought5:484Floppy Disk7:205Playing House4:296Time I Learned5:382001 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 14 tracks · 1:04:50
1The First Noel5:492Do You Hear What I Hear?4:503Love From a Star5:084Cradle in Bethlehem5:285O Holy Night6:256The Little (Ghetto) Drummer Boy3:237Rise Up Shepherd and Follow2:068Sweet Little Jesus Boy3:049Amazing Grace5:0410We Three Kings5:0911The Christmas Message3:5112O Little Town of Bethlehem4:4013Hark! The Herald Angels Sing5:0214Blott En Dag4:512003 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 11 tracks · 56:30
1Do You Feel Me4:532Into My Soul4:573Hold on I’m Coming4:144Another Beautiful Day3:565Hoddamile4:346I Loved You in Memphis4:537That’s Alright4:018Memphis Reason5:069Club Paradise4:2210You Had Me at Hello4:2411Me, Me and You11:10Kirk Whalum Performs the Babyface Songbook
2005 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 12 tracks · 57:41
1Exhale (Shoop Shoop)4:432Can We Talk?4:383I'll Make Love to You4:254For the Cool in You4:465Breathe Again4:306When Can I See You4:477Betcha Never5:028Someone to Love5:199Not Gon' Cry4:5510Whip Appeal5:2911I Said I Love You4:1012Wey U4:572007 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 11 tracks · 56:37
1Courtney4:422Desperately4:353Ruby, Ruby, Ruby4:554Glow6:515The Wave4:526Big Ol' Shoes4:277Inside4:438In A Whisper4:489Round Trip3:4910Back In The Day6:1311Afterthought6:42Promises Made: The Millennium Promise Jazz Project
2008 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 12 tracks · 1:03:14
1Stand by Me4:122Bridge Over Troubled Water6:473I Wish I Knew (How It Feels to Be Free)4:504Day in the Life6:115Fool on the Hill4:016People Get Ready6:107Eleanor Rigby3:408I’ll Take You There8:429A Change Is Gonna Come4:3710War5:4111What’s Going On6:2012Outro2:03Everything Is Everything: The Music of Donny Hathaway
2010 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 11 tracks · 59:41
1Giving Up5:152Someday We'll All Be Free6:043We're Still Friends5:134Love, Love, Love3:555A Song for You6:146Valdez in the Country3:597Je vous aime (I Love You)4:428You Had to Know5:129Tryin' Times7:3210We Need You Right Now5:5611Voices Inside (Everything Is Everything)5:392012 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 10 tracks · 55:06
1They Say It’s Wonderful5:322Dedicated to You5:103My One and Only Love5:354Lush Life6:165You Are Too Beautiful8:326Autumn Serenade5:047Almost Doesn’t Count4:108I Wish I Wasn’t4:489I Wanna Know5:1310Spend My Life With You4:462017 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 13 tracks · 1:02:19
1Love On Top5:162Have A Talk With God4:353You Brought The Sunshine6:084God Is Love5:505Holy Is The Lamb4:196Speak To My Heart4:477Wonderful, Merciful Savior4:378Alabaster Box5:279Tomorrow4:4610I Will Always Love You4:2311What Is This?5:0512Use Me4:5813God Is Love (Remix)2:082019 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 14 tracks · 1:08:01
1Move on Up3:582Everybody Oughta Be Free5:063Don't Get Me Wrong (I’m Grateful)4:434Wake Up Everybody4:575Wildflower5:036Get Your Wings Up5:307Now I Know4:088SJL5:089Korogocho5:5810Blow 4U4:4111Kwetu5:3412Peace4:4713We Shall Overcome You3:5614From the East to the West4:322021 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 12 tracks · 49:39
1How Does Christmas Sound?4:092All I Want For Christmas Is You4:143What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?5:134God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen4:225Mary, Did You Know?4:466Thorns In The Straw5:347Seven4:098Angels We Have Heard On High4:319Es Ist Ein Ros Entsprungen1:5410A Babe Is Born3:5411In The Bleak Midwinter5:0012Lift Every Voice And Sing1:532024 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 11 tracks · 49:00
1Bah de Yah!4:192Crusaderation4:483Pillow Talk4:334Epic Cool4:505Through the Storm4:316Kori4:277Love & Healing4:078MF4:029Film Noir4:3210Well Alright4:2511You & Sunday Morning4:26
Album · 6
| Cover | Year | Title | Notes | First release |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | The Gospel According to Jazz, Chapter ISearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 9 tracks · 1:08:511What the Lord Means to Me5:31 2In All the Earth7:33 3Blessed Assurance8:18 4The Name5:28 5Wade in the Water12:55 6All My Might7:09 7Where He Leads Me9:10 8Lord I Want to Be a Christian10:20 9Where He Leads Me (reprise)2:27 | Live | 1998 | |
| 2002 | The Best of Kirk WhalumSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 14 tracks · 1:16:531Desperately6:33 2Glow6:12 3Rodeo6:01 4The Promise6:04 5Afterthought4:23 6I Receive Your Love6:07 7The Wave5:27 8Kyle's Smiles5:11 9Peaceful Hideaway4:33 10Through the Fire6:02 11Where I Come From4:54 12Love Is a Losing Game4:29 13X-Factor6:58 14Over the Rainbow3:59 | Compilation | 2002 | |
| 2002 | The Gospel According to Jazz, Chapter IISearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 11 tracks · 1:11:261John 1:17:13 2So Far, Soo Good!6:57 3Introductions2:44 4Thy Kingdom Come5:56 5Falling in Love With Jesus8:30 6El Todopoderoso10:14 7Ta Ta You Jesus6:04 8Spirit Medley: Spirit of the Living God / Sweet, Sweet Spirit / Is Your All on the Altar?7:39 9Seasons6:11 10No‐Word Praise4:46 11The Moment I Prayed5:12 | Live | 2002 | |
| 2007 | Ultimate Kirk WhalumSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 12 tracks · 58:401The Wave5:29 2I Receive Your Love6:04 3Desperately6:32 4Love Is a Losing Game4:28 5All I Need4:52 6My All3:59 7Ascension5:14 8Now 'til Forever4:36 9Playing With Fire4:05 10Into My Soul4:58 11Exhale (Shoop Shoop)4:44 12Just a Closer Walk With Thee3:39 | Compilation | 14 August 2007 | |
| 2010 | The Gospel According to Jazz, Chapter IIISearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 17 tracks · 2:10:10Disc 1 1Call to Worship4:47 2Fit to Battle9:36 3Ananias and Sapphira13:52 4Introduction to Rev3:52 5Rev7:45 6Because You Loved Me9:03 7Make Me a Believer6:24 8He’s Been Just That Good4:26 9If You Ever Need Me11:43 Disc 21Africa Jesus Africa7:38 2You Are Everything8:50 3Smile Medley, Part 1: Smile4:42 4Smile Medley, Part 2: God Has Smiled on Me4:43 5It’s What I Do6:51 6The Thrill Is Gone5:49 7Running Away12:48 8You Are Everything7:21 | Live | 16 March 2010 | |
| 2015 | The Gospel According to Jazz, Chapter IVSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 28 tracks · 2:09:09Disc 1 1Just as I Am2:55 2Let ’Em In6:19 3Keep On Pushing5:57 4My Hero7:00 5Intro to This Is the Day0:36 6This Is the Day6:11 7Intro to There2:38 8There6:01 9Intro to Beauty in Strength, Strength in Weakness0:23 10Beauty in Strength, Strength in Weakness3:53 11Wait for the Sunshine4:45 12Intro to Un amor supremo1:15 13Un amor supremo12:13 14Intro to Triage0:29 15Triage9:40 Disc 21Ave Maria2:06 2Intro to Sunday’s Best0:38 3Sunday’s Best6:47 4Cain’t Stay Blue8:24 5Intro to I See You2:09 6I See You6:25 7Intro to Madiba1:03 8Madiba10:37 9Intro to Nannette1:28 10Nannette5:04 11Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child4:09 12Kirk’s Improv2:27 13Love Is the Answer7:37 | Live | 23 March 2015 |
Single · 1
| Cover | Year | Title | Notes | First release |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Go HomeSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 2 tracks1Go Home 2Go Home (radio version) | 11 August 2017 |
Stats & PK
Percentile within all 23,672 published artists.Put Kirk Whalum head-to-head →
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 11 | 61.8th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 28 | 89.8th |
| Studio albums | 21 | 96.7th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 23 | 95th |
| Recording span (years) | 36 | 75.4th |
| Genres | 8 | 94.5th |
Awards & honours
Line-up
| Name | From | To | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| BWB(band) | — | present |
Where this record comes from
portrait—Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0 · retrieved 11 October 2026
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kirk_Whalum.jpgaliases/urls—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/adb405f2-f5c3-442b-b12d-01ebc488f688discography—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/adb405f2-f5c3-442b-b12d-01ebc488f688core—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1493594genre—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 11 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1493594seed-list—wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirk_Whalumbiography—wikipedia-en · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirk_Whalum
Why this artist is in the database
- List of gospel musicians
Tier rule: curated genre/region list
Image: Patricia Wagner @ Cherishthemoment · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Wikidata: Q1493594 · MusicBrainz: adb405f2-f5c3-442b-b12d-01ebc488f688
Similar artists
Browse every Tier 3 artist →Ranked from this record's own data: shared genre tags (rarer tags weigh more), era, home country and comparable fame. Every card lists the signals that placed it — no editorial picks.
Andy Narell
United States · Person
post-bop · jazz
2 shared genre tags · debut 1985, 3 years apart · from United States
9 wikis
Dave Samuels
United States · Person
post-bop · jazz
2 shared genre tags · debut 1988, same year · from United States
8 wikis
Milcho Leviev
Bulgaria · Person
post-bop · jazz
2 shared genre tags · debut 1987, 1 year apart
12 wikis
Michael Brecker
United States · Person
post-bop · jazz
2 shared genre tags · debut 1982 · from United States
26 wikis
Holly Cole
Canada · Person
post-bop · jazz
2 shared genre tags · debut 1992
14 wikis
Pat Metheny
United States · Person
post-bop · jazz
2 shared genre tags · from United States
40 wikis
Dave Liebman
United States · Person
post-bop · jazz
2 shared genre tags · from United States
15 wikis
Jerome Richardson
United States · Person
post-bop · jazz
2 shared genre tags · from United States
15 wikis