Kirk Whalum

Kirk Whalum开始在哥伦比亚唱片公司发行了三张非常畅销的专辑，随后转投华纳再次和Bob James合作发行唱片，并获得格莱美的提名。而在前年，他和同在华纳旗下的小号手Rick Braun以及吉他手Norman Brown一起合作组成的团体B.W.B的首张专辑《Groovin'》就获得巨大成功，而Kirk自己由于受到大量黑人灵歌以及R&B根源音乐的影响，在他自己的音乐当中无时无刻的都有Memphis以及Motown的影子。而他也不断得和一些黑人R&B女歌手有着长期的合作，其中包括Whitney Houston，Macy Gray，这也使得在他自己的音乐中，黑人灵歌以及R&B的元素不断根源化。 专辑《Unconditional》是2000年由华纳唱片公司发行，这张专辑和他目前所发行的所有专辑都有一个相同的主题——赞美上帝。不过这些商业化的灵歌专辑对于听众来说已经不是那么回事了。专辑开场曲“Now 'Til Forever”里所具有的一切和音乐相关的内容，仿佛在偷偷的告诉人们，21世纪的Smooth Jazz是应该这样玩的。的确在整张专辑里都洋溢着现代流行音乐的风格，而且和其他大牌乐手一样，他们的音乐总是要one step ahead其他人。而单曲“I Try”则是当时最为走红的女歌手Macy Gray的作品。而在专辑中肯定也少不了其他音乐家的鼎立相帮，Gregg Karukas， Paul Jackson Jr.以及Peter White, 现代爵士领域的这种现象已经让人感觉到了“托拉斯”的气息，那些新人真的没有办法再出头了。不过对于唱片购买者是非常乐意看到的，尤其是这张唱片里的单曲“Play with Fire”，Peter White的吉他再次出现在SAX为主角的音乐中，而他的acoustic guitar也再次演绎出在他和Richard Elliot合作的那经典瞬间。 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.