Kirk Franklin

别名：柯克·瓦鲁姆

国籍：美国

生日：1958-07-11

职业：音乐家，作曲家

经纪公司：Rendezvous, Mosaic Contemporary, Warner Bros., Sony, Columbia

流派：Smooth jazz, Pop, R&B, Gospel

官方网站：www.KirkWhalum.com

出生在曼菲斯的萨克斯风手Iirk Whalum从父亲的教堂唱诗班中伴奏出身，由于曼菲斯地外多方音乐的交会区，所以Whalum也曾浓度过不同风格，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年钢琴手Bob James的开场同时开启他职业表演生涯，James不公邀他在专辑中伴奏，Whalum也寻得一纸合约，出版个人专辑，80年代的几张个人专辑都是请到Bob James担任制作人。进入90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“Joines At The Hip”才让Whalum知名度大开，这张专辑曾获葛莱美奖提名，同时Whalum转投Warner Brothers旗下，事业又是一番新气象。

从艺历程：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.