Kirk Whalum at Yoshi's Oakland

For nearly four decades, Grammy® Award-winning saxophonist Kirk Whalum has helped to define “cool,” whether blazing trails in contemporary jazz or infusing hits by Luther Vandross or Whitney Houston with an extra jolt of soul. 
Few have ascended to such heights in the jazz or R&B worlds, but Whalum is not one to simply relax and enjoy his lofty perch. On his latest album, Epic Cool, he raises the bar once again, scaling up the hipness, vitality, soulfulness and vibes to a monumental new level.
“I'm still on this path trying to do something important,” Whalum insists. “At 65, I still feel very young. I feel like I have a mandate to be the very best version of myself and to push down some more doors.”...

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For nearly four decades, Grammy® Award-winning saxophonist Kirk Whalum has helped to define “cool,” whether blazing trails in contemporary jazz or infusing hits by Luther Vandross or Whitney Houston with an extra jolt of soul. 
Few have ascended to such heights in the jazz or R&B worlds, but Whalum is not one to simply relax and enjoy his lofty perch. On his latest album, Epic Cool, he raises the bar once again, scaling up the hipness, vitality, soulfulness and vibes to a monumental new level.
“I'm still on this path trying to do something important,” Whalum insists. “At 65, I still feel very young. I feel like I have a mandate to be the very best version of myself and to push down some more doors.”
That life encompasses more than 25 albums under Whalum’s own name, including a Grammy-nominated collaboration with pianist Bob James; his faith-and-soul melding Gospel According to Jazz series; and a trio of albums with the supergroup BWB, alongside guitarist Norman Brown and trumpeter Rick Braun. That’s in addition to his work alongside everyone from the late Joey DeFrancesco to such legends as Barbra Streisand, Quincy Jones, Al Jarreau, and Larry Carlton.
To achieve that goal Whalum partnered with Swiss-Nigerian producer/songwriter Greg Manning, whom he first encountered as a keyboardist with guitarist Jonathan Butler. “He’s European and yet he has an African soul,” Whalum says. “I wanted him to bring his classical training together with his understanding of traditional jazz for this project. Plus, he’s an incredible melody-smith.”
That’s evident from the outset of Epic Cool with the instantly memorable hook Manning composed for opening track “Bah-De-Yah!” As the chanted title suggests, there’s a thrilling dose of Earth, Wind & Fire funk gracing the track, which spurs Whalum to some of his most melodic soloing. 
That voice was what attracted Vandross so strongly to Whalum’s playing, despite the fact that the singer once admitted that he didn’t particularly care for the saxophone. “I said, ‘Man, that’s cold,’” Whalum recalls with a laugh. “But then Luther said, ‘But I like you because you play like a singer.’ And he went further – he said, ‘You play like I sing.’ Greg was all about highlighting that gift and giving people a melody that they can wrap their hearts around.”

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