Podcasts about whalum

Send us a textGrammy-winning saxophonist and composer Kirk Whalum joins Dara Starr Tucker on All Over the Place for a heartfelt conversation about faith, music, and the soul of Black artistry. From his iconic solo on “I Will Always Love You” to his groundbreaking Gospel According to Jazz series, Whalum shares insights on legacy, creativity, and why love remains the driving force behind his work. This episode is a rich exploration of sound, spirit, and the stories that shape us. Tune in for wisdom, warmth, and a reminder that music is more than entertainment—it's ministry, memory, and movement.Support the showStay up to date with all things Dara Starr Tucker here:Dara Starr Tucker LinkTreeDara Starr Tucker TikTokDara Starr Tucker InstagramDara Starr Tucker YouTubeDara Starr Tucker Facebook

Carl Brown welcomes the transcendent saxophonist Kirk Whalum, who shares his harmonious journey from the challenges faced during the pandemic to the creation of his latest studio album, "Epic Cool." Dive into the melodic stories behind the song "MF," written by Whalum's drummer Marcus Finney, and explore the album's genre-defying tracks scheduled for release this spring.Kirk opens up about his relationship with Whitney Houston, the influence she had on his music, and the powerful vision that led him to write a book about her funeral. As he reflects on turning 60, Kirk recounts his international aspirations and the experiences that shaped his unique sound—an intertwining of Memphis roots, gospel, and global influences.Soak up the wisdom of Kirk's marriage insights and enjoy tales of his global adventures in France and South America. This episode is not just a conversation; it's a heartfelt symphony of life experiences, encouraging us to find our voice and contribute our verse to the world's melody.Feel the rhythm of Kirk's life story and the sincerity weaving through each note played. Press play and be a part of this melodious conversation that resonates with grace, gratitude, and the undeniable groove of jazz.Episode Highlights:10:35 - It's all about the the the legacy of virtuosity that we wanna be on that page. So, we wanna always be chasing after that thing so that the day we check out of here, we will something as it were.21:13 - Do what you do, put your stuff out there and don't worry about whether or not they're gonna like it because they're either or they're not, but not gonna ever know if you don't put it out.39:26 - You wanna always be humble about this because, you know, it can be taken away in a minute.ContactFresh Coast Jazz FestivalKirk Whalum

Pastor Kenneth Whalum Jr. joined Wake Up Memphis to talk about how he's realistic and optimistic about Memphis and it's new leadership to combat the crime problem.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode we've got Kyle Whalum! Kyle's a proud father, an ultra runner, ambassador for Path Projects, and an accomplished professional musician. Follow him on IG @kylewhalum. Thanks for listening!

Rev. Kenneth T. Whalum joined the morning program to share his thoughts on the out of control crime and if the city should consider calling the national guard. 

For the first episode of our Backstage at the Belasco series, we sit down with My Band Y'all members Kyle Whalum and Jessi Collins! We talk all things “chemistry” from their favorite tracks, their experience playing on the album, and what went into preparing for the Belasco concert!

Bass guitar player for Kelly Clarkson & Katy Perry is so much more than just being a rockstar. Kyle Whalum explores the limits of pain and the art of suffering in his “hobby,” ultra-marathon running. His core strength is a product of him learning how to be comfortable existing outside of the lines. From prioritizing his own mental health in regards to an impostor syndrome, focusing on his music career, parenting two children (including his daughter who is moderately autistic), turning his ADHD impulsivity into creativity, running marathons in insane conditions, and being a husband to his supermom of a wife, Kyle is an outstanding individual. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You know what's great about podcasts? Everything is as open and honest as you can be and Kyle gives us the honest truth about his journey through life and managing anxiety. Reminding us that as difficult as it sometimes, you can push through anything. You can manage anything. It just takes strength to be stronger than your mind!Things we Touch On:-Why anxiety might be harder for men-Honestly, what can you do to manage it-Know that you are not alone!Check out how awesome Kyle  Whalum is @kylewhalum on insta to follow his running journey!Also check him out on Episode 78 giving us the run down to why running is important in his mental health routine!Stay in the Loop: 

This week on the podcast we welcome Kyle Whalum, bassist for Kelly Clarkson on the road and on The Kelly Clarkson Show! Kyle talks about his beginnings in music, how he got introduced to the KC family, the making of a Kellyoke cover, and much more!

Today, Kyle and I open up the discussion about how he managed having ADHD & GAD. Although running is a HUGE part of it, it's not always all of it so we discuss more than just running as a way to help with ADHD and GAD but open up to more daily practices such as meditation, grounding, and more!Stay in the Loop: 

Kyle Whalum is an ultramarathoner and professional musician. He currently plays bass in the house band for the Kelly Clarkson Show and for Katy Perry, but in his free time he logs many miles on California trails. Over the past decade, Kyle has completed 16 ultramarathons and five 100-milers. He is also an ambassador for Path Projects, Ultimate Direction, and Superfeet. In Kyle's most recent 100-miler, the Coldwater Rumble (in Arizona), he finished in under 24 hours which shattered his previous PR by over 3 hours. In this conversation, we candidly discuss mental health, spirituality, and the importance of movement in our daily lives. Kyle tells us about trail running while working as a touring musician and we take a moment to bond over some of our favorite music!   In this episode: Kelly Clarkson Show Katy Perry Tour Kirk Whalum (Kyle's Dad) - Professional Saxophonist who toured with Whitney Houston Synesthesia   Follow Kyle Whalum: Instagram:@kylewhalum Twitter: @kingkylewhalum   Follow Grounded Pod: Instagram: @groundedpod Twitter: @groundedpod Facebook: facebook.com/groundedpodwithdinee   Subscribe, Listen, & Review on: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Soundcloud | Stitcher Music by Jacob Shije (Santa Clara Pueblo, NM). This podcast was made possible through the Tracksmith Fellowship Program.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth Whalum Jr. is pastor of New Olivet Worship Center. He and his family have been well-known in the Memphis community for decades, and he joined us to talk about his personal history with the city he loves.

Rev. Dr. Kenneth Whalum Jr. is pastor of New Olivet Worship Center. He and his family have been well-known in the Memphis community for decades, and he joined us to talk about his personal history with the city he loves.

Even though year 7 of the podcast is coming to an end, that doesn't mean we are skipping out on an amazing guest! Stopping by for episode 433 is a talented Musician, Songwriter, singer, and Mini golfer, the one and only Kenneth Whalum! Kenneth has a new album coming out July 16th called "Broken Land 2" and a live concert in New York City on July 22nd!

This week on The Drop, Thomas, Robbe and Meaghan discuss a fan-favorite shoe, the HOKA ONE ONE Clifton 8 (15:25), before talking about their favorite running shorts heading into summer (24:12). Then, Thomas and Robbe are joined by Kyle Whalum, an ultrarunner and musician who plays bass in Kelly Clarkson and Katy Perry's bands. They talk about running around the world while touring, using running as a creative outlet, and Eliud Kipchoge's Kelly Clarkson fandom (34:07). Instagram: @kylewhalum

Who dat iz?That’s just my Baby Daddy! Question: Should men be responsible for a child that they did not give consent to having? Do some women view having a father on child support as a way to enhance their quality of living? Hell, should child support be taxable? Let’s Talk about it! Joining us on this episode is Kameron Whalum! You’ve seen him shut it down on multiple Grammy and SuperBowl performances! He has a new fire EP out entitled “All About You” available everywhere! You can also check out Kameron spinning the vibes on Primetime w/ Kameron Whalum on WYXR Memphis!Thanks for taking the time to listen! We appreciate you!

The Rev. Kirk Whalum believes that music is the language that communicates across borders. Music can break and enter into a person’s soul. The difference is a musician is not there to take; he’s there to give, to leave something. Whalum’s saxophone style blends his Memphis roots with Houston nightclubs and Parisian concert halls. When not on tour, he serves on the faculty of the Visible Music College in Memphis.

The Rev. Kirk Whalum believes that music is the language that communicates across borders. Music can break and enter into a person’s soul. The difference is a musician is not there to take; he’s there to give, to leave something. Whalum’s saxophone style blends his Memphis roots with Houston nightclubs and Parisian concert halls. When not on tour, he serves on the faculty of the Visible Music College in Memphis.

Kortland has a new song out, The Limit, along with a several more to be released during the pandemic. Kortland stems from a musical family but has always known music was his passion and calling. He often hears a melody in his head, and then writes the lyrics to fit within the rhythm and beat of the song.Beautiful aspect of music is that it amplifies the mood you are in and intensifies your current environment through an emotional experience. Listening to Kortland’s music will transport you through R/B Soul music, which enhances your emotions from the rhythm and vocals. To know if you are made for or cutout for this industry, Kortland eloquently mentions you need passion to see if you truly want to be a musical artist, or even an actor. Ask the right questions from a mentor to prepare you for your dreams and start networking to find the right connection to set you up for success. Simply put, immerse yourself in whatever you feel passionate about to see if you truly want to be there.Kortland touches on using your gifts wisely as you navigate through your career. This has helped Kortland land a role in the musical Cats, where he played Old Deuteronomy. Below are links to find Kortland and listen to his music and be on the lookout for his next song “One Of A Kind.”Contact info:https://soundcloud.com/kortlandwhalum?fbclid=IwAR0hiTdL0X-TpC1-8AKfbUuhxg-bISf-sZ_-QaCNAJsd5BSmhzseVenTLLghttps://www.facebook.com/kortlandwhalum/https://www.facebook.com/kortland https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-limit/1528881653?i=1528881654https://t.co/mQwSjlA9DV?amp=1https://twitter.com/KortlandWhalum?s=20

This episode focusses on how music and ministry are conduits of social justice in the beloved community. Our special guest is Stellar and Grammy award winning saxophonist Mr. Kirk Whalum. Mr. Whalum and I had a candid discussion about how he utilizes his platforms as an ordained minister and music artist to spread the social justice message. He also talks about his latest project, an album and documentary called Humanité. Original music written, produced, and performed by Jasmine N. Weathers (IG: Jasthanomad) Focal scripture: James 2:14-26 E-mail me or comment on any of my social media platforms for a free download of the LTWBSM Podcast Self-Work Booklet. LTWBSMPodcast@gmail.com https://www.facebook.com/RevBenitaWeathers/ http://godandmeonewon.com/ https://www.instagram.com/benita_weathers/ amazon.com/author/benitaweathers #livingthewordbeyondsundaymorning #LTWBSM Mr. Kirk Whalum www.kirkwhalum.com Articles Referenced in this episode https://hendricksonpublishers.blog/2018/04/04/the-beloved-community-the-quest-of-dietrich-bonhoeffer-and-martin-luther-king-jr-for-true-humanity/ https://www.r2hub.org/library/25-traits-of-the-beloved-community --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/benita-weathers/message

Kyle Whalum is a professional musician and the current bassist for Kelly Clarkson and Katy Perry. We discuss his life growing up in a musical family, his career as a professional musician, the current racial justice issues at the forefront of American discourse, and so much more...

This week on Beale Street Caravan we have the soulful sounds of Kortland Whalum in a special show, live from the Green Room at Crosstown Arts. Grammy nominated blues man, Guy Davis, will be with us to deliver an installment of the Blues Hall of Fame, an exploration of the lives of the pioneers and innovators enshrined in the Blues Hall of Fame, here in Memphis, TN, brought to you by the Blues Foundation.

When you're playing with TWO of the biggest names in pop, you must be doing something right. Kyle is one of the biggest names in bass and plays with both Katy Perry & Kelly Clarkson, he's a rad dude and I know you'll love our conversation . Also PLEASE consider donating to Juan's medical fund at https://thebassi.st/2UDkVwP

A gem from the vault, this episode of JAZZIZ Not What You Think features JAZZIZ Publisher Michael Fagien in conversation with world-class saxophonist Kirk Whalum. The interview took place in 2019 in advance of the release of Whalum's album Humanite, which would go on to become a "Critics' Pick" for Album of the Year in the Winter 2019-2020 issue of JAZZIZ. Faith, family and, of course, music are the topics of discussion. Enjoy this blast from the past. We'll see you next week with another fresh episode. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/brian-zimmerman/support

Sheila Whalum—model, author, business tycoon—shares how worship, God has set her, her husband of 38 years and three successful sons on a fabulous trajectory.

Longtime education advocate and former Memphis City School board member and senior pastor at New Olivet Worship Center, Dr. Kenneth Whalum, Jr discusses the importance of school choice. Dr. Whalum also invites the community to watch “Miss Virginia”, as part of their Popcorn with Pastor monthly movie event. The movie based on the life experience of Virginia Walden Ford, an impoverished single mother that was losing her 15-year-old son to the rough streets of Washington, D.C. Unwilling to see him drop out and deal drugs, she places him in a private school. But when she can't afford the tuition, she soon launches a movement to change the system.

Kameron Timothy Whalum—trombonist, singer, dancer & hype-man for Bruno Mars, Youth Director at The New Olivet Worship Center—talks on true worship and its greatest value of a consecrated mind.

Enjoy this bonus segment of '10 Questions With Pastor Whalum' as he reflects on worship.

In this very spirited episode of The Lowdown Society we get to meet my fellow Nashvillian-turned-Angeleno, Mr. Kyle Whalum. Kyle tells us about growing up in an exceptionally musical family where many family members have worked with or are currently working with music business royalty. We also get to hear about Kyle's passion for 100-mile Ultra Marathons with the training and lifestyle that goes with it. His journey to two of the biggest female-fronted gigs in the world is detailed, including nerdy gear talk and honest discourse about mental health as a musician. Lots to learn from this very busy guy who was able to talk to us on his first real break since starting his gig as the only bass player on a daytime national TV talk show.

Topics: Air Jordans, Whitney Houston, Sade, The Color Purple, Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey, Phylicia Rashad (Bonus Artist: Luck Pacheco)   1985 Notes   General Snapshots   1.    President: Ronald Reagan   2.    Jan – In Hollywood,  California, the charity single "We  Are the World" is recorded by USA for  Africa. The  single raises money to combat the  ongoing famine in Ethiopia. The  American act consists of high-profile  performers, including Michael  Jackson, Lionel Richie, Tina Turner,  Cyndi Lauper and Diana Ross.   3.    Jan – The newest music video channel, VH-1, begins broadcasting on American cable. It is aimed at an older demographic than its sister station, MTV. The first video played is Marvin Gaye's rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner".   4.    Mar – WrestleMania debuts at Madison Square Garden.  In the main event, Hulk Hogan and Mr. T defeated Paul Orndorff and Roddy Piper. The attendance for the event was 19,121. The event was seen by over one million viewers through closed-circuit television, making it the largest pay-per-view showing of a wrestling event on closed-circuit television in the United States at the time.   5.    Apr – Coca-Cola changes its recipe and releases New Coke. The response is overwhelmingly negative, and the original formula is back on the market in less than three months.   6.    Aug - Ryan White who was expelled from Western High School in Indiana is allowed to attend his first day of classes via telephone.   7.    Sep - The Farm Aid concert is held in Champaign, Illinois, USA.   8.    Oct  – The Nintendo Entertainment System is released in U.S. stores. By 1988, industry observers stated that the NES's popularity had grown so quickly that the market for Nintendo cartridges was larger than that for all home computer software.  The NES was released two years after the North American video game crash of 1983, when many retailers and adult consumers regarded electronic games as a passing fad. With the NES, Nintendo also changed the relationship between console manufacturers and third-party software developers by restricting developers from publishing and distributing software without licensed approval. This led to higher-quality games, which helped change the attitude of a public that had grown weary from poorly produced games for earlier systems.   9.    Nov - Microsoft Corporation releases the first version of Windows, Windows 1.0.   10.    Open Comments:   11.    Top 3 Pop Songs   12.    1    "Careless Whisper"    Wham!   13.    2    "Like a Virgin"    Madonna   14.    3    "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go"    Wham!   15.    Grammy Awards   16.    Record of the Year: Quincy Jones (producer) for "We Are the World"   17.    Album of the Year: Phil Collins (producer & artist) for No Jacket Required   18.    Song of the Year: Michael Jackson & Lionel Richie (songwriters) for "We Are the World"   19.    Best New Artist: Sade   20.    Top 3 Movies   21.    Back to the Future   22.    Rambo: First Blood Part II   23.    Rocky IV   24.    Other Notables:  The Color Purple / Out of Africa / Cocoon / The Jewel of the Nile / Witness / The Goonies / Spies Like Us / The Breakfast Club / Brewster's Millions / St. Elmo's Fire /  Krush Groove   25.    Top 3 TV Shows   26.    The Cosby Show   27.    Family Ties   28.    Murder, She Wrote       29.    TV Debuts   30.    Sep - What's Happening Now!! / Stir Crazy   31.    Black Snapshots   32.    Feb -  Whitney Houston releases her debut  album – Whitney Houston.   33.    Mar  – Mike Tyson makes his professional debut in Albany, New York, a match which he wins by a first-round knockout.   34.    May - Michael Jordan is named as the NBA's "Rookie of the Year."   35.    May – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Mayor Wilson Goode, the  first African American to hold that office,  orders police to storm the  headquarters of the black liberation/back-to-nature group MOVE to end a stand-off over serving arrest warrants. (Due process?!?!)  The police drop 2 explosive devices into the headquarters, killing 6 adults and 5 children, and destroyed an additional 61 residental homes in the resulting fire. The survivors filed a civil suit against the city and the police department, and were awarded $1.5 million in 1996.   36.    Jul - The final episode of The Jeffersons airs. (1975-) 10 yrs   37.    Aug - Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids  (1972-) 13 yrs   38.    Nov - Ebony Man: EM  Magazine launches   39.    Best Comedy Recording: Whoopi Goldberg - Original Broadway Show Recording   40.    Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female: Aretha Franklin for "Freeway of Love"   41.    Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male: Stevie Wonder for In Square Circle   42.    Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal: Commodores for "Nightshift"   43.    Economic Snapshot   44.    Avg. Income = $22,138   45.    House = $99,331   46.    New Car = $9,531   47.    Avg. Rent = $375   48.    Tuition at Harvard = $9,800   49.    Movie Ticket = $2.75   50.    Gas = $1.20   51.    Stamp = $0.22   52.    Socilal Scene: “Money, it's gotta be da shoes!” - Mars Blackmon   53.    The Air Jordan I was originally released in 1985 and is almost single-handedly responsible for modern-day sneaker culture. Michael Jordan originally wanted to sign with either Converse or Adidas. But Converse declined and according to a Wall Street Journal article published in 2015 so did Adidas. Still MJ was not convinced. Only when Nike, thinking they had nothing to loose, offered to give MJ his own shoe- and clothing line did he change his mind. This was unheard of at the time, no NBA player had an entire product line named after them. As the first basketball player with his own signature shoes Jordan would immediately become the king of basketball sneaker advertising. Just to be on the safe side Nike worked an out-clause into the contract: if Air Jordans didn’t earn Nike $3 million in the first 3 years, or if Jordan didn’t make the NBA All-Star Game in his first three years, Nike could dump him. Jordan was voted into the All-Star Game as a Rookie starter and the "Air Jordan 1" shoe made Nike $130 million in 1985 alone. The rest is history.   54.    Open Comments:   55.    The pushback and common critisisms   56.    Extremely superficial materialism is one of the only ways that many black Americans express a sense of self worth.    57.    When you live in a society where nobody has a savings account, or a college degree, or has traveled abroad, having a fresh pair of sneakers and a gold chain shouldn't be your version of keeping up with the Joneses.   58.    Liking shoes is as much of a "black thing" as liking chicken is a "black thing". Everyone likes both of these things.   59.    Open Comments:   60.    It became popular in the late 80s for people with moderate or low incomes to wear clothing adorned with the names and logos of luxury, high-end brands. Then all the luxury brands started making their own low-end, logo-covered versions. You wear your favorite sports team to affiliate yourself with them. It's the same thing with Tommy Hilfiger, Gucci, Jordache, Guess, Wrangler, Levi, Gitano, Bonjour, Sasson, etc., it's a way of signalling.   61.    Question: We went from tailored suits and dresses to baggy jeans and yoga pants. From afro's and braids to fashioned bandanas and bleached blondes. From the stylish Supremes and Tempations to tatooed  faces and pireced everytginhg. - What do you think is at the root of our decisions? Are we victims of advertising?   62.    Music Scene   63.    Black Songs from the Top 40 (No Lionel Richie showed up!)   64.    5    "I Feel for You"    Chaka Khan   65.    6    "Out of Touch"    Hall & Oates   66.    12    "Easy Lover"    Philip Bailey and Phil Collins   67.    17    "Cherish"    Kool & the Gang   68.    20    "We Are the World"    USA for Africa   69.    22    "Part-Time Lover"    Stevie Wonder   70.    23    "Saving All My Love For You"    Whitney Houston   71.    26    "Cool It Now"    New Edition   72.    28    "Loverboy"    Billy Ocean   73.    29    "Lovergirl"    Teena Marie   74.    31    "Oh Sheila"    Ready for the World   75.    32    "Rhythm of the Night"    DeBarge   76.    38    "Neutron Dance"    The Pointer Sisters   77.    40    "Nightshift"    Commodores   78.    Vote:   79.    Top RnB Singles   80.    Jan - "Operator"    Midnight Star   81.    Jan - "Gotta Get You Home Tonight"    Eugene Wilde   82.    Feb -  "Mr. Telephone Man"    New Edition   83.    Feb - "Missing You"    Diana Ross   84.    Mar - "Nightshift"    The Commodores   85.    Apr - "Back In Stride"    Maze featuring Frankie Beverly   86.    Apr - "Rhythm Of the Night"    DeBarge   87.    May - "We Are the World"    USA for Africa   88.    May - "Fresh"    Kool & the Gang   89.    May - "You Give Good Love"    Whitney Houston   90.    Jun - "Rock Me Tonight (For Old Times Sake)"    Freddie Jackson   91.    Jul - "Hangin' on a String (Contemplating)"    Loose Ends   92.    Jul - "Save Your Love (For #1)"    René & Angela   93.    Aug - "Freeway of Love"    Aretha Franklin   94.    Sep - "Saving All My Love for You"    Whitney Houston   95.    Sep - "Cherish"    Kool & the Gang   96.    Sep - "Oh Sheila"    Ready For the World   97.    Oct - "You Are My Lady"    Freddie Jackson   98.    Oct - "Part-Time Lover"    Stevie Wonder   99.    Nov - "Caravan of Love"    Isley-Jasper-Isley   100.    Dec - "Don't Say No Tonight"    Eugene Wilde   101.    Vote:   102.    Top RnB Albums   103.    Jan - New Edition    New Edition   104.    Feb - Solid    Ashford & Simpson   105.    Mar - Gap Band VI    The Gap Band   106.    Mar p- Private Dancer    Tina Turner   107.    Apr - Nightshift    The Commodores   108.    Apr - Can't Stop the Love    Frankie Beverly and Maze   109.    May - The Night I Fell in Love    Luther Vandross   110.    Jun - Whitney Houston    Whitney Houston   111.    Jun - Rock Me Tonight    Freddie Jackson   112.    Nov - In Square Circle    Stevie Wonder   113.    Vote   114.    Featured Artists: Whitney Houston and Sade   115.    Whitney Elizabeth Houston, @22 yrs old: Singer, actress, model, and producer, Whitney Houston is one of the world’s most successful female entertainers of all time.   116.    Born and raised in Newark NJ,  she is the daughter of Grammy-award-winning gospel singer, Emily “Cissy” Houston and John R. Houston, who managed his daughter’s production company.    117.    Childhood & Early Life   118.    She was no stranger to the entertainment industry, having come from a line of singers and actresses. Not only did her mother’s vocal group, the ‘Sweet Inspirations’, sing backup for Aretha Franklin, but her cousins Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick are also renowned singers, as well as her godmother, Darlene Love. She began performing in her church’s gospel choir as a soloist at the age of eleven and learned to play the piano. While attending Catholic school, she took voice lessons from her mother, with whom she would occasionally perform in nightclubs.   119.    Career   120.    In 1977 (@ 14 yrs old), she was a backup singer for Michael Zager Band’s single ‘Life’s a Party’ and the following year she sang on Chaka Khan’s single ‘I’m Every Woman’. She was offered an opportunity to sign with a recording company, but her mother declined so she would finish high school. In the early 1980s, (@17 yrs old), she worked as a model, appearing in several magazines including, ‘Seventeen’, where she became the first African American to be featured on the cover. She also took on acting gigs appearing in TV show episodes such as, ‘Gimme a Break’, while continuing to develop her vocal skills. In 1983,(@ 20yrs old) she was signed with ‘Arista Records’. President Clive Davis spent the next couple years assembling lyricists and producers to balance her gospel-like sound with contemporary melodies. In 1985, her debut album, ‘Whitney Houston’ gradually became the number one selling album of her career.  She went on to win two Emmy Awards, six Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards.   121.    Open Comments:   122.    A Hot Mess   123.    On February 11th, 2012, Whitney Houston (@ 48 yrs old) was found facedown in a bathtub.  Weeks later, an autopsy report would contribute Houston’s death to accidental drowning, heart disease and cocaine use. There were additional traces of a muscle relaxant, Xanax, marijuana and an allergy medication in the singer’s system.    124.    The sad, secret life of Whitney Houston: From a secret lesbian relationship to a decades-long struggle with drugs, five years after singer’s death, a new film ‘Whitney: Can I Be Me’ examines what caused her tragic downfall - Tara Brady [Jun 12, 2017] https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/the-sad-secret-life-of-whitney-houston-1.3105861   125.    Selected quotes from the article:   126.    What exactly killed Houston? Why did she drown? How did she drown? Was she simply overwhelmed by the controlling demands of her formidable mother, Cissy Houston, Svengali Clive Davis, and her record company, Arista? Did the aftermath of her toxic and co-dependent marriage to Bobby Brown send her spiralling? Or was it the dissolution of her decades-old lesbian relationship with her assistant Robyn Crawford? It’s complicated, as documentarian Nick Broomfield discovered.  “In the end I think the divide between who she was and what her public persona was became more and more difficult,” says  documentarian Nick Broomfield. “And she just went down,    127.    The imploding relations between Houston, Bobby Brown and Robyn Crawford. Brown told Us Weekly magazine that Houston was bisexual and that she once had an affair with Tupac Shakur. He went on to say that Houston kept her relationship with Crawford hidden because of Cissy. “I really feel that if Robyn was accepted into Whitney’s life, Whitney would still be alive today,” Brown told the magazine. “She didn’t have close friends with her anymore.”   128.    From Cissy’s notorious 2013 interview with Oprah Winfrey:  “Would it have bothered you if your daughter was gay?”  “Absolutely,” Cissy snapped back. “You wouldn’t have condoned it?” continued an incredulous Oprah. “Not at all.” ...“I didn’t particularly like [Crawford],” Cissy told the talk show queen. “She just spoke too much, disrespectful sometimes, like she had something over Nippy (Houston’s nickname), and I didn’t like that at all. She was all right, she turned out to be all right, I guess. That was her friend.”   129.    Houston and Crawford first bonded while they were teenagers working at a community centre in East Orange, New Jersey. When Houston’s modelling career began to take off, she’d face bullying in school, and Crawford, who was originally a friend of Houston’s older brothers Michael and Gary, would frequently come to the rescue. When Houston moved out of her family home, she shared her first apartment with Crawford. Deep into Houston and Brown’s 14-year marriage, Crawford remained a fixture in Houston’s domestic arrangements.   130.    Houston’s marriage to Brown, understandably, made for an uneasy romantic trinity. In Derrick Handspike’s unauthorised 2008 biography, Bobby Brown: The Truth, The Whole Truth and Nothing But . . ., the author quotes Brown as saying: “Now I realise Whitney had a different agenda than I did when we got married. I believe her agenda was to clean up her image while mine was to be loved and have children. “Whitney felt she had to make rumours of a lesbian affair go away. Since she was the American Sweetheart and all, that didn’t go too well with her image. In Whitney’s situation the only solution was to get married and have kids. That would kill all speculation whether it was true or not.”   131.    Supermarket tabloids did a brisk trade during the 1990s by peddling the idea that Houston’s life spiralled into addiction after she married Brown. She was the gospel-singing good girl – the church-going daughter of Cissy and a cousin of Dionne Warwick. He was a bad boy who, aged 20, when they first met, had already been shot and stabbed in the shoulder. Their tumultuous marriage (from 1992 to 2007), characterised by drug use, infidelity and a costly entourage, was seldom out of the headlines. But contrary to popular belief, Brown did not introduce his troubled wife to cocaine. Houston first dabbled with drugs with her brothers, Michael and Gary, as a teenager. The truth is that Houston was always as “street“ as her R&B star husband. But that part of her personal history didn’t fit with what Broomfield calls “the Whitney character”.  As Pattie Howard, Houston’s backing vocalist, notes: “People may not know it but Whitney was from the ‘hood’. They wanted to present her as the princess. And that’s what white America was presented with.” Kenneth Reynolds, who worked in marketing for Arista Records recalls that: “Anything that was too black sounding was sent back. We wanted Joni Mitchell. We wanted Barbra Streisand. ” “She was very carefully groomed for nearly two years before the first album came out,” explains Broomfield. “So every aspect of her was carefully considered. She was a major project. A lot of money was spent on her. Anything that was too R&B was out. They didn’t want a female James Brown. That was not part of their vision. Which, of course, was a very successful vision.”   132.    In 1989, just as Houston topped 25 million in album sales and surpassed the Beatles’s record with seven consecutive number one hits, she attended the Soul Train awards where, in response to her “white” music, she was roundly booed. Pre-Beyoncé and Mariah Carey, “crossover” was synonymous with cultural betrayal. People shouted “Oreo” – brown on the outside, white on the inside – as her nomination for Best Female Vocalist was announced. “It’s not a good feeling,” says Houston, in Can I Be Me. “It’s horrible and kind of funny. You think: ‘Are they booing me?’ And you have to sit there and be cordial and smiley. And you feel like: ‘Oh my God’.” Kirk Whalum, the saxophonist who toured with Houston for more than seven years recalls that night, which coincidentally, was the first time she met Brown. “It was devastating [for her],” says Whalum.   133.    By the end of the 90s, Houston found herself at the centre of a perfect storm of ongoing racial friction, marital troubles and drug abuse. Friends, unable to watch Houston’s decline, began to drift away. Her father, John, died in 2003, but not before his management company, John Houston Entertainment LLC, filed a $100 million lawsuit against his own daughter. Months before his death, he made a public appeal on the syndicated show, Celebrity Justice: “You get your act together, honey, and you pay me the money that you owe me.” Robyn Crawford’s departure in 2000, too, prompted a new, crippling dependency on crack-cocaine and other substances. - “Robyn was the one who was keeping her together,” says writer Allison Samuels. “That’s when drugs became so important to her.”   134.    Open Comments:   135.    The Smooth Operator -Helen Folasade Adu, professionally known as Sade (@26 yrs old)   136.    Sade is an internationally renowned, multi-Grammy award winning singer who is known for her smooth, melodic vocals and the seamless incorporation of different styles of music. She was born in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria on January 16, 1959. Her father Adebisi Adu, a Nigerian lecturer of economics, and her mother Anne Hayes, a district nurse, had met in London. Sade was the couple’s second child. Shortly after her birth, Sade’s parents separated and she and her brother followed their mother to Colchester, Essex, England. There, the children were raised by their mother as well as their maternal grandfather. Upon finishing her education at Clacton County High School in Colchester, she enrolled at Central St. Martin’s College of Art and Design in London to pursue fashion and design. After completion of her program, she worked as a model and menswear designer.    137.    Sade entered the music scene around 1980 when she started singing harmony for Arriva, a Latin funk band. She joined another funk band called Pride and was a background singer for the group. Pride garnered much attention from record companies due to their performances around London. Eventually Sade and fellow bandmates, Stuart Matthewman, Paul Denma, and Andrew Hale signed a deal with the U.K. division of Epic Records and formed the band Sade. In 1984 the band’s debut album, Diamond Life, was released to much critical success and was bolstered by singles such as “Hang On to Your Love” and “Smooth Operator.” The band followed up their debut with their next album, Promise, which was released the following year. “The Sweetest Taboo,” a single from Promise, was on the U.S. Hot 100 for six months. She was awarded the Grammy for best new artist of 1985.    138.    Open Comments:   139.    Selected quote about her sound   140.    Let's get this into context. With Sade it's unlikely there will ever be a full, naked baring of the soul. In terms of contemporary icons, it's better to listen to Mary J for stories of drama and shattered devotion. But Sade, today, is all about the acknowledged presence of absence. What's missing in her music is as important as what's present. - The Fader   141.    A small, yet important, fact: When Sade signed her first record deal with Epic in the early '80s, she accepted a small advance, worth ~$70,000 in exchange for an unusually high cut of sales for a new artist—15 percent. It was a deal that ended up proving immensely lucrative, and it has freed her from many of the commercial demands that often encumber artists. Put simply, she only works when and how she wants to. As one executive at her label, Epic, put it to me: "Who's going to argue with a woman who's sold 50 million albums? She's more powerful than anyone working at the label, including the [President]." - The Fader   142.    Question: Does the Sade sound ever wear out?   143.    The Movie Scene   144.    The Color Purple/Film synopsis   145.    An epic tale spanning forty years in the life of Celie (Whoopi Goldberg), an African-American woman living in the South who survives incredible abuse and bigotry. After Celie's abusive father marries her off to the equally debasing "Mister" Albert Johnson (Danny Glover), things go from bad to worse, leaving Celie to find companionship anywhere she can. She perseveres, holding on to her dream of one day being reunited with her sister in Africa. Based on the novel by Alice Walker.   146.    Review by Roger Ebert   147.    Returning to "The Color Purple" after almost 20 years, I can see its flaws more easily than when I named it the best film of 1985, but I can also understand why it moved me so deeply, and why the greatness of some films depends not on their perfection or logic, but on their heart. The movie may have inconsistencies, confusions and improbabilities, but there is one perfect thing at its center, and that is the character of Celie, as played by Whoopi Goldberg. "Here is this year's winner for best actress," I wrote in my original review, and that should have been true, but although "The Color Purple" had 11 nominations, it won not a single Oscar. When a movie character is really working, we become that character. That's what the movies offer: Escapism into lives other than our own. I am not female, I am not black, I am not Celie, but for a time during "The Color Purple," my mind deceives me that I am all of those things, and as I empathize with her struggle and victory I learn something about what it must have been like to be her.  - Roger Ebert   148.    Selected Quotes   149.    In Honor of Its 33rd Anniversary, Here Are 10 Life Lessons I Learned From the Color Purple - By Melissa Kimble Dec 18, 2018 [https://www.oprahmag.com/entertainment/tv-movies/a25616715/the-color-purple-quotes-anniversary/]   150.    I was born a few years after the film was released. However, I can credit much of my self discovery to the many times I’ve watched it. My favorite quotes from the movie taught me valuable lessons about Black womanhood, faith, and self love. And these 10 are the ones I’ll never forget.   151.    “Girl, you oughta bash Mister’s head open and think about heaven later.” By Oprah Winfrey - In a film where women are treated like inferiors, Sofia breaks the mold by refusing to be her husband's punching bag. This scene-stealing monologue, with its rage filled entrance by the O of O, is an act of defiance—especially one committed in early 20th century Georgia. It was powerful and necessary to see a Black woman go against the grain on screen. And to me, it was a call to action to be fearless.   152.    "I'm poor, Black, I may even be ugly, but dear God, I’m here! I’m here!" By Whoopi Goldberg - What a victorious statement this was by Celie, who, up until this point, had spent most of her life feeling unworthy and invisible. It reminded me that even with our flaws and imperfections, we still deserve to show up in our own lives.   153.    "Until you do right by me, everything you think about is going to crumble." By - Whoopi Goldberg - With these words, Celie breaks a cycle of abuse from Mister and sticks up for herself. I interpreted this line as a sign that I don’t have to carry the weight of people who have caused my pain; life will take care of everything.   154.    “Miss Celie, why you always covering up your smile?” By Desreta Jackson - Growing up, I was very insecure about my smile. And when Shug Avery posed this question to Miss Celie, it also made me turn to myself. When Shug encourages Celie to smile, I learned that there’s no need to cover up my own   155.    Open Comments:   156.    Featured Artist   157.    Caryn Elaine Johnson, a.k.a. Whoopi Goldberg (@ 30 yrs old): an American comedian, actress, singer-songwriter, Broadway star, political activist, author and talk show host, she is one of the most successful and established African American actresses of her time.    158.    Born and raised in Manhattan, she is one of 14 entertainers ever to have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. What differentiates Goldberg from her contemporaries is the excellence that she portrayed in all the mediums of entertainment, be it television, theatre, films or radio.    159.    Childhood & Early Life   160.    Her mother was a nurse and a teacher while her father served as a clergyman. She was raised in the Chelsea-Elliot Houses by her mother alone after her father disbanded the family when she was young. She studied until her teen years and later dropped out of school. Her started acting started at a young age. It was during her stage performance that people complimented her by saying that she looked like whoopee cushion. It was from there that she took the stage name Whoopi and adopted Goldberg as her surname to sound more Jewish.    161.    Career   162.    In 1974, (@ age 19) she moved to California and thereafter lived in various cities such as Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco. It was during this time that she honed her acting skills and developed her talent as a stand-up comedian.  However, soon thereafter, she returned to New York and started receiving training under acting coach Uta Hagen. Her first ever appearance on screen was for William Farley’s feature, ‘Citizen: I'm Not Losing My Mind, I'm Giving It Away’ in 1982 (@ 27). In 1983, she created, starred and directed a ‘The Spook Show’, a one-woman show that addressed the issue of race in American but in a unique and innovative style. Next, she created other off-Broadway productions such as ‘Little Girl’ an African-American child obsessed with having blond hair and ‘Fontaine’ a junkie who also happens to hold a doctorate in literature. The innovative presentation and sense of wit and style in her shows impressed director Mike Nicholas who offered to take ‘The Spook Show’ to the Broadway. The show which ran for 156 performances, met with much acclaim both commercially and critically. It went on to earn her a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album. The eye-catching performance and amazing positive reception of the show earned her attention of the Hollywood bigwigs. It helped her bag a role in the Steven Spielberg film, ‘The Color Purple’, released in 1985. The movie met with resounding success, clutching 11 Academy Awards nominations and she won her first Golden Globe award.   163.    Open Comments:   164.    Oprah Gail Winfrey , a.k.a. Oprah Winfrey (@ 31 yrs old): Talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist.   165.    Childhood & Early Life   166.    Born in Kosciusko, Mississippi, on a small family farm, to an unwed mother who had a short relationship with a soldier stationed nearby, Oprah grew up in dire poverty, and was primarily raised by her grandmother. Sexually abused and mistreated as a child, Winfrey rose above adversity to focus on her primary and high school education.    167.    Career   168.    When she was still a teenager, the local CBS television station in Nashville, Tennessee offered her a job as a co-anchor. She turned it down three times. At age 19, Oprah Winfrey said yes after the fourth offer. She failed the interview, but instead was offered a job as a full-time reporter for a Baltimore television news channel. She did poorly as a reporter, and by age 22 she was fired from the news division. The director of the station gave Winfrey a boost by selecting her to anchor a morning talk show entitled ‘People are Talking’. For the next seven years, her talk show enjoyed excellent ratings. In 1981, (@ 27) she moved to Chicago to host a talk show entitled ‘A.M. Chicago’. Four years later, (1985) after a tremendous boost in the ratings, the producers changed the name to ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’. She caught the attention of Quincy Jones, a Chicago native, and he cast her as Sofia for the first movie he produced, 'The Color Purple'. The following year ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ was broadcast nationally.    169.    Open Comments:   170.    TV Scene:   171.    Featured Actor: Phylician Ayers Allen, a.k.a Phylicia Rashad is an Emmy-nominated American actress, singer, and director.   172.    Her multi-faceted career began with Broadway before she branched into television and films. She is best remembered for her character as Claire Huxtable in the NBC sitcom ‘The Cosby Show’, which ran for eight years. The series brought Phylicia much deserved recognition, also earning her two Emmy nominations. Phylicia, however, is immortalized for her rich performances on the stage as an artist. She starred in several lavish musicals and dramas, all praised highly by critics. She became the first African American actress to walk away with a Tony Award for her performance in Lorraine Hansberry’s ‘Raisin in The Sun’.  Subsequently, she was venerated within the African American acting community at the NAACP Awards, where she was called ‘The Mother’ of the Black Community. Her other popular plays include ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’, ‘August: Osage Country’, and ‘Gem of the Ocean’. She has tried her hand at stage direction and has successfully directed hit plays at prominent stages. Over the course of her career, Rashad has starred in several television series and voiced many characters. Her prolific output continues to be on the rise as she is still an active part of the entertainment industry.   173.    Childhood & Early Life:   174.    Phylicia Rashad was born Phylician Ayers Allen on June 19, 1948, in Houston, Texas to Vivian Ayers and Andrew Arthur Allen. Her mother was a prize-winning poet and artist, while her father was a reputed orthodontist. She has three siblings: Andrew Arthur Allen Jr., Debbie Allen, and Hugh Allen. Phylicia was raised in the United States and Mexico. She studied at Howard University, Washington D.C. and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in theatre in 1970. During her university days, she was inculcated into the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.   175.    Career   176.    After graduating with a degree in theatre, Phylicia immediately joined the Negro Ensemble Company in New York. She toured the city and was seen in several plays under this troupe. Her Broadway debut occurred in 1972 and she was seen in several minor roles for hit musicals, including ‘The Wiz’ (1975) and ‘Dreamgirls’ (1981). In 1978, Rashad tried her hand at something new by releasing the concept album ‘Josephine Superstar’, an album that was based on Josephine Baker’s life. She decided to embark on an alternative career in television owing to the scarcity of good roles given to her. In 1982, after moving to television, Rashad landed a recurring role in the series ‘One Life to Live’ as Courtney Wright, a publicist. In 1984, Phylicia Rashad was roped in to play the role of Clair Huxtable, an attorney, in the hit comedy ‘The Cosby Show’. The show starred Bill Cosby in the lead role and Phylicia played his wife. The series ran for over eight years and was a critical and commercial success. Phylicia’s role as Clair proved to be the highest point in her career, earning her two Emmy Award nominations.   177.    Open Comments   178.    Question: Is she a good actor? Do you buy her in other roles?   179.    Vote: Best Pop Culture item/event for 1985

Topics: Air Jordans, Whitney Houston, Sade, The Color Purple, Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey, Phylicia Rashad (Bonus Artist: Luck Pacheco)   1985 Notes   General Snapshots   1.    President: Ronald Reagan   2.    Jan – In Hollywood,  California, the charity single "We  Are the World" is recorded by USA for  Africa. The  single raises money to combat the  ongoing famine in Ethiopia. The  American act consists of high-profile  performers, including Michael  Jackson, Lionel Richie, Tina Turner,  Cyndi Lauper and Diana Ross.   3.    Jan – The newest music video channel, VH-1, begins broadcasting on American cable. It is aimed at an older demographic than its sister station, MTV. The first video played is Marvin Gaye's rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner".   4.    Mar – WrestleMania debuts at Madison Square Garden.  In the main event, Hulk Hogan and Mr. T defeated Paul Orndorff and Roddy Piper. The attendance for the event was 19,121. The event was seen by over one million viewers through closed-circuit television, making it the largest pay-per-view showing of a wrestling event on closed-circuit television in the United States at the time.   5.    Apr – Coca-Cola changes its recipe and releases New Coke. The response is overwhelmingly negative, and the original formula is back on the market in less than three months.   6.    Aug - Ryan White who was expelled from Western High School in Indiana is allowed to attend his first day of classes via telephone.   7.    Sep - The Farm Aid concert is held in Champaign, Illinois, USA.   8.    Oct  – The Nintendo Entertainment System is released in U.S. stores. By 1988, industry observers stated that the NES's popularity had grown so quickly that the market for Nintendo cartridges was larger than that for all home computer software.  The NES was released two years after the North American video game crash of 1983, when many retailers and adult consumers regarded electronic games as a passing fad. With the NES, Nintendo also changed the relationship between console manufacturers and third-party software developers by restricting developers from publishing and distributing software without licensed approval. This led to higher-quality games, which helped change the attitude of a public that had grown weary from poorly produced games for earlier systems.   9.    Nov - Microsoft Corporation releases the first version of Windows, Windows 1.0.   10.    Open Comments:   11.    Top 3 Pop Songs   12.    1    "Careless Whisper"    Wham!   13.    2    "Like a Virgin"    Madonna   14.    3    "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go"    Wham!   15.    Grammy Awards   16.    Record of the Year: Quincy Jones (producer) for "We Are the World"   17.    Album of the Year: Phil Collins (producer & artist) for No Jacket Required   18.    Song of the Year: Michael Jackson & Lionel Richie (songwriters) for "We Are the World"   19.    Best New Artist: Sade   20.    Top 3 Movies   21.    Back to the Future   22.    Rambo: First Blood Part II   23.    Rocky IV   24.    Other Notables:  The Color Purple / Out of Africa / Cocoon / The Jewel of the Nile / Witness / The Goonies / Spies Like Us / The Breakfast Club / Brewster's Millions / St. Elmo's Fire /  Krush Groove   25.    Top 3 TV Shows   26.    The Cosby Show   27.    Family Ties   28.    Murder, She Wrote       29.    TV Debuts   30.    Sep - What's Happening Now!! / Stir Crazy   31.    Black Snapshots   32.    Feb -  Whitney Houston releases her debut  album – Whitney Houston.   33.    Mar  – Mike Tyson makes his professional debut in Albany, New York, a match which he wins by a first-round knockout.   34.    May - Michael Jordan is named as the NBA's "Rookie of the Year."   35.    May – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Mayor Wilson Goode, the  first African American to hold that office,  orders police to storm the  headquarters of the black liberation/back-to-nature group MOVE to end a stand-off over serving arrest warrants. (Due process?!?!)  The police drop 2 explosive devices into the headquarters, killing 6 adults and 5 children, and destroyed an additional 61 residental homes in the resulting fire. The survivors filed a civil suit against the city and the police department, and were awarded $1.5 million in 1996.   36.    Jul - The final episode of The Jeffersons airs. (1975-) 10 yrs   37.    Aug - Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids  (1972-) 13 yrs   38.    Nov - Ebony Man: EM  Magazine launches   39.    Best Comedy Recording: Whoopi Goldberg - Original Broadway Show Recording   40.    Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female: Aretha Franklin for "Freeway of Love"   41.    Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male: Stevie Wonder for In Square Circle   42.    Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal: Commodores for "Nightshift"   43.    Economic Snapshot   44.    Avg. Income = $22,138   45.    House = $99,331   46.    New Car = $9,531   47.    Avg. Rent = $375   48.    Tuition at Harvard = $9,800   49.    Movie Ticket = $2.75   50.    Gas = $1.20   51.    Stamp = $0.22   52.    Socilal Scene: “Money, it's gotta be da shoes!” - Mars Blackmon   53.    The Air Jordan I was originally released in 1985 and is almost single-handedly responsible for modern-day sneaker culture. Michael Jordan originally wanted to sign with either Converse or Adidas. But Converse declined and according to a Wall Street Journal article published in 2015 so did Adidas. Still MJ was not convinced. Only when Nike, thinking they had nothing to loose, offered to give MJ his own shoe- and clothing line did he change his mind. This was unheard of at the time, no NBA player had an entire product line named after them. As the first basketball player with his own signature shoes Jordan would immediately become the king of basketball sneaker advertising. Just to be on the safe side Nike worked an out-clause into the contract: if Air Jordans didn’t earn Nike $3 million in the first 3 years, or if Jordan didn’t make the NBA All-Star Game in his first three years, Nike could dump him. Jordan was voted into the All-Star Game as a Rookie starter and the "Air Jordan 1" shoe made Nike $130 million in 1985 alone. The rest is history.   54.    Open Comments:   55.    The pushback and common critisisms   56.    Extremely superficial materialism is one of the only ways that many black Americans express a sense of self worth.    57.    When you live in a society where nobody has a savings account, or a college degree, or has traveled abroad, having a fresh pair of sneakers and a gold chain shouldn't be your version of keeping up with the Joneses.   58.    Liking shoes is as much of a "black thing" as liking chicken is a "black thing". Everyone likes both of these things.   59.    Open Comments:   60.    It became popular in the late 80s for people with moderate or low incomes to wear clothing adorned with the names and logos of luxury, high-end brands. Then all the luxury brands started making their own low-end, logo-covered versions. You wear your favorite sports team to affiliate yourself with them. It's the same thing with Tommy Hilfiger, Gucci, Jordache, Guess, Wrangler, Levi, Gitano, Bonjour, Sasson, etc., it's a way of signalling.   61.    Question: We went from tailored suits and dresses to baggy jeans and yoga pants. From afro's and braids to fashioned bandanas and bleached blondes. From the stylish Supremes and Tempations to tatooed  faces and pireced everytginhg. - What do you think is at the root of our decisions? Are we victims of advertising?   62.    Music Scene   63.    Black Songs from the Top 40 (No Lionel Richie showed up!)   64.    5    "I Feel for You"    Chaka Khan   65.    6    "Out of Touch"    Hall & Oates   66.    12    "Easy Lover"    Philip Bailey and Phil Collins   67.    17    "Cherish"    Kool & the Gang   68.    20    "We Are the World"    USA for Africa   69.    22    "Part-Time Lover"    Stevie Wonder   70.    23    "Saving All My Love For You"    Whitney Houston   71.    26    "Cool It Now"    New Edition   72.    28    "Loverboy"    Billy Ocean   73.    29    "Lovergirl"    Teena Marie   74.    31    "Oh Sheila"    Ready for the World   75.    32    "Rhythm of the Night"    DeBarge   76.    38    "Neutron Dance"    The Pointer Sisters   77.    40    "Nightshift"    Commodores   78.    Vote:   79.    Top RnB Singles   80.    Jan - "Operator"    Midnight Star   81.    Jan - "Gotta Get You Home Tonight"    Eugene Wilde   82.    Feb -  "Mr. Telephone Man"    New Edition   83.    Feb - "Missing You"    Diana Ross   84.    Mar - "Nightshift"    The Commodores   85.    Apr - "Back In Stride"    Maze featuring Frankie Beverly   86.    Apr - "Rhythm Of the Night"    DeBarge   87.    May - "We Are the World"    USA for Africa   88.    May - "Fresh"    Kool & the Gang   89.    May - "You Give Good Love"    Whitney Houston   90.    Jun - "Rock Me Tonight (For Old Times Sake)"    Freddie Jackson   91.    Jul - "Hangin' on a String (Contemplating)"    Loose Ends   92.    Jul - "Save Your Love (For #1)"    René & Angela   93.    Aug - "Freeway of Love"    Aretha Franklin   94.    Sep - "Saving All My Love for You"    Whitney Houston   95.    Sep - "Cherish"    Kool & the Gang   96.    Sep - "Oh Sheila"    Ready For the World   97.    Oct - "You Are My Lady"    Freddie Jackson   98.    Oct - "Part-Time Lover"    Stevie Wonder   99.    Nov - "Caravan of Love"    Isley-Jasper-Isley   100.    Dec - "Don't Say No Tonight"    Eugene Wilde   101.    Vote:   102.    Top RnB Albums   103.    Jan - New Edition    New Edition   104.    Feb - Solid    Ashford & Simpson   105.    Mar - Gap Band VI    The Gap Band   106.    Mar p- Private Dancer    Tina Turner   107.    Apr - Nightshift    The Commodores   108.    Apr - Can't Stop the Love    Frankie Beverly and Maze   109.    May - The Night I Fell in Love    Luther Vandross   110.    Jun - Whitney Houston    Whitney Houston   111.    Jun - Rock Me Tonight    Freddie Jackson   112.    Nov - In Square Circle    Stevie Wonder   113.    Vote   114.    Featured Artists: Whitney Houston and Sade   115.    Whitney Elizabeth Houston, @22 yrs old: Singer, actress, model, and producer, Whitney Houston is one of the world’s most successful female entertainers of all time.   116.    Born and raised in Newark NJ,  she is the daughter of Grammy-award-winning gospel singer, Emily “Cissy” Houston and John R. Houston, who managed his daughter’s production company.    117.    Childhood & Early Life   118.    She was no stranger to the entertainment industry, having come from a line of singers and actresses. Not only did her mother’s vocal group, the ‘Sweet Inspirations’, sing backup for Aretha Franklin, but her cousins Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick are also renowned singers, as well as her godmother, Darlene Love. She began performing in her church’s gospel choir as a soloist at the age of eleven and learned to play the piano. While attending Catholic school, she took voice lessons from her mother, with whom she would occasionally perform in nightclubs.   119.    Career   120.    In 1977 (@ 14 yrs old), she was a backup singer for Michael Zager Band’s single ‘Life’s a Party’ and the following year she sang on Chaka Khan’s single ‘I’m Every Woman’. She was offered an opportunity to sign with a recording company, but her mother declined so she would finish high school. In the early 1980s, (@17 yrs old), she worked as a model, appearing in several magazines including, ‘Seventeen’, where she became the first African American to be featured on the cover. She also took on acting gigs appearing in TV show episodes such as, ‘Gimme a Break’, while continuing to develop her vocal skills. In 1983,(@ 20yrs old) she was signed with ‘Arista Records’. President Clive Davis spent the next couple years assembling lyricists and producers to balance her gospel-like sound with contemporary melodies. In 1985, her debut album, ‘Whitney Houston’ gradually became the number one selling album of her career.  She went on to win two Emmy Awards, six Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards.   121.    Open Comments:   122.    A Hot Mess   123.    On February 11th, 2012, Whitney Houston (@ 48 yrs old) was found facedown in a bathtub.  Weeks later, an autopsy report would contribute Houston’s death to accidental drowning, heart disease and cocaine use. There were additional traces of a muscle relaxant, Xanax, marijuana and an allergy medication in the singer’s system.    124.    The sad, secret life of Whitney Houston: From a secret lesbian relationship to a decades-long struggle with drugs, five years after singer’s death, a new film ‘Whitney: Can I Be Me’ examines what caused her tragic downfall - Tara Brady [Jun 12, 2017] https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/the-sad-secret-life-of-whitney-houston-1.3105861   125.    Selected quotes from the article:   126.    What exactly killed Houston? Why did she drown? How did she drown? Was she simply overwhelmed by the controlling demands of her formidable mother, Cissy Houston, Svengali Clive Davis, and her record company, Arista? Did the aftermath of her toxic and co-dependent marriage to Bobby Brown send her spiralling? Or was it the dissolution of her decades-old lesbian relationship with her assistant Robyn Crawford? It’s complicated, as documentarian Nick Broomfield discovered.  “In the end I think the divide between who she was and what her public persona was became more and more difficult,” says  documentarian Nick Broomfield. “And she just went down,    127.    The imploding relations between Houston, Bobby Brown and Robyn Crawford. Brown told Us Weekly magazine that Houston was bisexual and that she once had an affair with Tupac Shakur. He went on to say that Houston kept her relationship with Crawford hidden because of Cissy. “I really feel that if Robyn was accepted into Whitney’s life, Whitney would still be alive today,” Brown told the magazine. “She didn’t have close friends with her anymore.”   128.    From Cissy’s notorious 2013 interview with Oprah Winfrey:  “Would it have bothered you if your daughter was gay?”  “Absolutely,” Cissy snapped back. “You wouldn’t have condoned it?” continued an incredulous Oprah. “Not at all.” ...“I didn’t particularly like [Crawford],” Cissy told the talk show queen. “She just spoke too much, disrespectful sometimes, like she had something over Nippy (Houston’s nickname), and I didn’t like that at all. She was all right, she turned out to be all right, I guess. That was her friend.”   129.    Houston and Crawford first bonded while they were teenagers working at a community centre in East Orange, New Jersey. When Houston’s modelling career began to take off, she’d face bullying in school, and Crawford, who was originally a friend of Houston’s older brothers Michael and Gary, would frequently come to the rescue. When Houston moved out of her family home, she shared her first apartment with Crawford. Deep into Houston and Brown’s 14-year marriage, Crawford remained a fixture in Houston’s domestic arrangements.   130.    Houston’s marriage to Brown, understandably, made for an uneasy romantic trinity. In Derrick Handspike’s unauthorised 2008 biography, Bobby Brown: The Truth, The Whole Truth and Nothing But . . ., the author quotes Brown as saying: “Now I realise Whitney had a different agenda than I did when we got married. I believe her agenda was to clean up her image while mine was to be loved and have children. “Whitney felt she had to make rumours of a lesbian affair go away. Since she was the American Sweetheart and all, that didn’t go too well with her image. In Whitney’s situation the only solution was to get married and have kids. That would kill all speculation whether it was true or not.”   131.    Supermarket tabloids did a brisk trade during the 1990s by peddling the idea that Houston’s life spiralled into addiction after she married Brown. She was the gospel-singing good girl – the church-going daughter of Cissy and a cousin of Dionne Warwick. He was a bad boy who, aged 20, when they first met, had already been shot and stabbed in the shoulder. Their tumultuous marriage (from 1992 to 2007), characterised by drug use, infidelity and a costly entourage, was seldom out of the headlines. But contrary to popular belief, Brown did not introduce his troubled wife to cocaine. Houston first dabbled with drugs with her brothers, Michael and Gary, as a teenager. The truth is that Houston was always as “street“ as her R&B star husband. But that part of her personal history didn’t fit with what Broomfield calls “the Whitney character”.  As Pattie Howard, Houston’s backing vocalist, notes: “People may not know it but Whitney was from the ‘hood’. They wanted to present her as the princess. And that’s what white America was presented with.” Kenneth Reynolds, who worked in marketing for Arista Records recalls that: “Anything that was too black sounding was sent back. We wanted Joni Mitchell. We wanted Barbra Streisand. ” “She was very carefully groomed for nearly two years before the first album came out,” explains Broomfield. “So every aspect of her was carefully considered. She was a major project. A lot of money was spent on her. Anything that was too R&B was out. They didn’t want a female James Brown. That was not part of their vision. Which, of course, was a very successful vision.”   132.    In 1989, just as Houston topped 25 million in album sales and surpassed the Beatles’s record with seven consecutive number one hits, she attended the Soul Train awards where, in response to her “white” music, she was roundly booed. Pre-Beyoncé and Mariah Carey, “crossover” was synonymous with cultural betrayal. People shouted “Oreo” – brown on the outside, white on the inside – as her nomination for Best Female Vocalist was announced. “It’s not a good feeling,” says Houston, in Can I Be Me. “It’s horrible and kind of funny. You think: ‘Are they booing me?’ And you have to sit there and be cordial and smiley. And you feel like: ‘Oh my God’.” Kirk Whalum, the saxophonist who toured with Houston for more than seven years recalls that night, which coincidentally, was the first time she met Brown. “It was devastating [for her],” says Whalum.   133.    By the end of the 90s, Houston found herself at the centre of a perfect storm of ongoing racial friction, marital troubles and drug abuse. Friends, unable to watch Houston’s decline, began to drift away. Her father, John, died in 2003, but not before his management company, John Houston Entertainment LLC, filed a $100 million lawsuit against his own daughter. Months before his death, he made a public appeal on the syndicated show, Celebrity Justice: “You get your act together, honey, and you pay me the money that you owe me.” Robyn Crawford’s departure in 2000, too, prompted a new, crippling dependency on crack-cocaine and other substances. - “Robyn was the one who was keeping her together,” says writer Allison Samuels. “That’s when drugs became so important to her.”   134.    Open Comments:   135.    The Smooth Operator -Helen Folasade Adu, professionally known as Sade (@26 yrs old)   136.    Sade is an internationally renowned, multi-Grammy award winning singer who is known for her smooth, melodic vocals and the seamless incorporation of different styles of music. She was born in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria on January 16, 1959. Her father Adebisi Adu, a Nigerian lecturer of economics, and her mother Anne Hayes, a district nurse, had met in London. Sade was the couple’s second child. Shortly after her birth, Sade’s parents separated and she and her brother followed their mother to Colchester, Essex, England. There, the children were raised by their mother as well as their maternal grandfather. Upon finishing her education at Clacton County High School in Colchester, she enrolled at Central St. Martin’s College of Art and Design in London to pursue fashion and design. After completion of her program, she worked as a model and menswear designer.    137.    Sade entered the music scene around 1980 when she started singing harmony for Arriva, a Latin funk band. She joined another funk band called Pride and was a background singer for the group. Pride garnered much attention from record companies due to their performances around London. Eventually Sade and fellow bandmates, Stuart Matthewman, Paul Denma, and Andrew Hale signed a deal with the U.K. division of Epic Records and formed the band Sade. In 1984 the band’s debut album, Diamond Life, was released to much critical success and was bolstered by singles such as “Hang On to Your Love” and “Smooth Operator.” The band followed up their debut with their next album, Promise, which was released the following year. “The Sweetest Taboo,” a single from Promise, was on the U.S. Hot 100 for six months. She was awarded the Grammy for best new artist of 1985.    138.    Open Comments:   139.    Selected quote about her sound   140.    Let's get this into context. With Sade it's unlikely there will ever be a full, naked baring of the soul. In terms of contemporary icons, it's better to listen to Mary J for stories of drama and shattered devotion. But Sade, today, is all about the acknowledged presence of absence. What's missing in her music is as important as what's present. - The Fader   141.    A small, yet important, fact: When Sade signed her first record deal with Epic in the early '80s, she accepted a small advance, worth ~$70,000 in exchange for an unusually high cut of sales for a new artist—15 percent. It was a deal that ended up proving immensely lucrative, and it has freed her from many of the commercial demands that often encumber artists. Put simply, she only works when and how she wants to. As one executive at her label, Epic, put it to me: "Who's going to argue with a woman who's sold 50 million albums? She's more powerful than anyone working at the label, including the [President]." - The Fader   142.    Question: Does the Sade sound ever wear out?   143.    The Movie Scene   144.    The Color Purple/Film synopsis   145.    An epic tale spanning forty years in the life of Celie (Whoopi Goldberg), an African-American woman living in the South who survives incredible abuse and bigotry. After Celie's abusive father marries her off to the equally debasing "Mister" Albert Johnson (Danny Glover), things go from bad to worse, leaving Celie to find companionship anywhere she can. She perseveres, holding on to her dream of one day being reunited with her sister in Africa. Based on the novel by Alice Walker.   146.    Review by Roger Ebert   147.    Returning to "The Color Purple" after almost 20 years, I can see its flaws more easily than when I named it the best film of 1985, but I can also understand why it moved me so deeply, and why the greatness of some films depends not on their perfection or logic, but on their heart. The movie may have inconsistencies, confusions and improbabilities, but there is one perfect thing at its center, and that is the character of Celie, as played by Whoopi Goldberg. "Here is this year's winner for best actress," I wrote in my original review, and that should have been true, but although "The Color Purple" had 11 nominations, it won not a single Oscar. When a movie character is really working, we become that character. That's what the movies offer: Escapism into lives other than our own. I am not female, I am not black, I am not Celie, but for a time during "The Color Purple," my mind deceives me that I am all of those things, and as I empathize with her struggle and victory I learn something about what it must have been like to be her.  - Roger Ebert   148.    Selected Quotes   149.    In Honor of Its 33rd Anniversary, Here Are 10 Life Lessons I Learned From the Color Purple - By Melissa Kimble Dec 18, 2018 [https://www.oprahmag.com/entertainment/tv-movies/a25616715/the-color-purple-quotes-anniversary/]   150.    I was born a few years after the film was released. However, I can credit much of my self discovery to the many times I’ve watched it. My favorite quotes from the movie taught me valuable lessons about Black womanhood, faith, and self love. And these 10 are the ones I’ll never forget.   151.    “Girl, you oughta bash Mister’s head open and think about heaven later.” By Oprah Winfrey - In a film where women are treated like inferiors, Sofia breaks the mold by refusing to be her husband's punching bag. This scene-stealing monologue, with its rage filled entrance by the O of O, is an act of defiance—especially one committed in early 20th century Georgia. It was powerful and necessary to see a Black woman go against the grain on screen. And to me, it was a call to action to be fearless.   152.    "I'm poor, Black, I may even be ugly, but dear God, I’m here! I’m here!" By Whoopi Goldberg - What a victorious statement this was by Celie, who, up until this point, had spent most of her life feeling unworthy and invisible. It reminded me that even with our flaws and imperfections, we still deserve to show up in our own lives.   153.    "Until you do right by me, everything you think about is going to crumble." By - Whoopi Goldberg - With these words, Celie breaks a cycle of abuse from Mister and sticks up for herself. I interpreted this line as a sign that I don’t have to carry the weight of people who have caused my pain; life will take care of everything.   154.    “Miss Celie, why you always covering up your smile?” By Desreta Jackson - Growing up, I was very insecure about my smile. And when Shug Avery posed this question to Miss Celie, it also made me turn to myself. When Shug encourages Celie to smile, I learned that there’s no need to cover up my own   155.    Open Comments:   156.    Featured Artist   157.    Caryn Elaine Johnson, a.k.a. Whoopi Goldberg (@ 30 yrs old): an American comedian, actress, singer-songwriter, Broadway star, political activist, author and talk show host, she is one of the most successful and established African American actresses of her time.    158.    Born and raised in Manhattan, she is one of 14 entertainers ever to have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. What differentiates Goldberg from her contemporaries is the excellence that she portrayed in all the mediums of entertainment, be it television, theatre, films or radio.    159.    Childhood & Early Life   160.    Her mother was a nurse and a teacher while her father served as a clergyman. She was raised in the Chelsea-Elliot Houses by her mother alone after her father disbanded the family when she was young. She studied until her teen years and later dropped out of school. Her started acting started at a young age. It was during her stage performance that people complimented her by saying that she looked like whoopee cushion. It was from there that she took the stage name Whoopi and adopted Goldberg as her surname to sound more Jewish.    161.    Career   162.    In 1974, (@ age 19) she moved to California and thereafter lived in various cities such as Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco. It was during this time that she honed her acting skills and developed her talent as a stand-up comedian.  However, soon thereafter, she returned to New York and started receiving training under acting coach Uta Hagen. Her first ever appearance on screen was for William Farley’s feature, ‘Citizen: I'm Not Losing My Mind, I'm Giving It Away’ in 1982 (@ 27). In 1983, she created, starred and directed a ‘The Spook Show’, a one-woman show that addressed the issue of race in American but in a unique and innovative style. Next, she created other off-Broadway productions such as ‘Little Girl’ an African-American child obsessed with having blond hair and ‘Fontaine’ a junkie who also happens to hold a doctorate in literature. The innovative presentation and sense of wit and style in her shows impressed director Mike Nicholas who offered to take ‘The Spook Show’ to the Broadway. The show which ran for 156 performances, met with much acclaim both commercially and critically. It went on to earn her a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album. The eye-catching performance and amazing positive reception of the show earned her attention of the Hollywood bigwigs. It helped her bag a role in the Steven Spielberg film, ‘The Color Purple’, released in 1985. The movie met with resounding success, clutching 11 Academy Awards nominations and she won her first Golden Globe award.   163.    Open Comments:   164.    Oprah Gail Winfrey , a.k.a. Oprah Winfrey (@ 31 yrs old): Talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist.   165.    Childhood & Early Life   166.    Born in Kosciusko, Mississippi, on a small family farm, to an unwed mother who had a short relationship with a soldier stationed nearby, Oprah grew up in dire poverty, and was primarily raised by her grandmother. Sexually abused and mistreated as a child, Winfrey rose above adversity to focus on her primary and high school education.    167.    Career   168.    When she was still a teenager, the local CBS television station in Nashville, Tennessee offered her a job as a co-anchor. She turned it down three times. At age 19, Oprah Winfrey said yes after the fourth offer. She failed the interview, but instead was offered a job as a full-time reporter for a Baltimore television news channel. She did poorly as a reporter, and by age 22 she was fired from the news division. The director of the station gave Winfrey a boost by selecting her to anchor a morning talk show entitled ‘People are Talking’. For the next seven years, her talk show enjoyed excellent ratings. In 1981, (@ 27) she moved to Chicago to host a talk show entitled ‘A.M. Chicago’. Four years later, (1985) after a tremendous boost in the ratings, the producers changed the name to ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’. She caught the attention of Quincy Jones, a Chicago native, and he cast her as Sofia for the first movie he produced, 'The Color Purple'. The following year ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ was broadcast nationally.    169.    Open Comments:   170.    TV Scene:   171.    Featured Actor: Phylician Ayers Allen, a.k.a Phylicia Rashad is an Emmy-nominated American actress, singer, and director.   172.    Her multi-faceted career began with Broadway before she branched into television and films. She is best remembered for her character as Claire Huxtable in the NBC sitcom ‘The Cosby Show’, which ran for eight years. The series brought Phylicia much deserved recognition, also earning her two Emmy nominations. Phylicia, however, is immortalized for her rich performances on the stage as an artist. She starred in several lavish musicals and dramas, all praised highly by critics. She became the first African American actress to walk away with a Tony Award for her performance in Lorraine Hansberry’s ‘Raisin in The Sun’.  Subsequently, she was venerated within the African American acting community at the NAACP Awards, where she was called ‘The Mother’ of the Black Community. Her other popular plays include ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’, ‘August: Osage Country’, and ‘Gem of the Ocean’. She has tried her hand at stage direction and has successfully directed hit plays at prominent stages. Over the course of her career, Rashad has starred in several television series and voiced many characters. Her prolific output continues to be on the rise as she is still an active part of the entertainment industry.   173.    Childhood & Early Life:   174.    Phylicia Rashad was born Phylician Ayers Allen on June 19, 1948, in Houston, Texas to Vivian Ayers and Andrew Arthur Allen. Her mother was a prize-winning poet and artist, while her father was a reputed orthodontist. She has three siblings: Andrew Arthur Allen Jr., Debbie Allen, and Hugh Allen. Phylicia was raised in the United States and Mexico. She studied at Howard University, Washington D.C. and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in theatre in 1970. During her university days, she was inculcated into the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.   175.    Career   176.    After graduating with a degree in theatre, Phylicia immediately joined the Negro Ensemble Company in New York. She toured the city and was seen in several plays under this troupe. Her Broadway debut occurred in 1972 and she was seen in several minor roles for hit musicals, including ‘The Wiz’ (1975) and ‘Dreamgirls’ (1981). In 1978, Rashad tried her hand at something new by releasing the concept album ‘Josephine Superstar’, an album that was based on Josephine Baker’s life. She decided to embark on an alternative career in television owing to the scarcity of good roles given to her. In 1982, after moving to television, Rashad landed a recurring role in the series ‘One Life to Live’ as Courtney Wright, a publicist. In 1984, Phylicia Rashad was roped in to play the role of Clair Huxtable, an attorney, in the hit comedy ‘The Cosby Show’. The show starred Bill Cosby in the lead role and Phylicia played his wife. The series ran for over eight years and was a critical and commercial success. Phylicia’s role as Clair proved to be the highest point in her career, earning her two Emmy Award nominations.   177.    Open Comments   178.    Question: Is she a good actor? Do you buy her in other roles?   179.    Vote: Best Pop Culture item/event for 1985

Kirk Whalum’s saxophone playing has been described as “soulful, passionate, and stirring.” His Memphis roots blend with the sounds of the Houston nightclub scene to create his unique take on the tenor sax. Whalum is also an ordained minister who produces a daily podcast, Bible in Your Ear. When not on tour, he serves on the faculty of the Visible Music College in Memphis.

Malvin and Howard visit with World Renowned Jazz Saxophonist, Kirk Whalum in the studio.  They have a ball walking through Kirk's illustrious career and listening to some his great stories of life as a world class musician. 

Kyle is a touring and session bassist who also is an ultra marathon runner. Kyle and I had a great chat about touring do's and don't's, some lessons he's learned along the way, addiction and choosing the right path, finding your way to a healthier lifestyle in an industry built for over indulgence, and his running escapades which are prolific and full of life lessons within themselves. You can find him at https://www.instagram.com/kylewhalum

You've probably seen my guest for episode 53 performing alongside Bruno Mars on the Grammy's, Super Bowl, Victoria Secret Fashion Show, etc. Kameron T. Whalum comes from a musical family learning bass guitar at age nine and trombone at ten. Growing up as a preacher's son, Kameron is deeply rooted in his faith. Like many of us, upon graduating from high school, he had to learn the art of balance as a student at Morehouse College and later joining the Bruno Mars family. As a member of the Hooligans, Kameron discusses the brotherhood he shares with his band mates of eight years. Now that he's home, Kameron has a new responsibility with Stax Music Academy in addition to Youth Director at his father's church. We even touched on his favorite world travels, his love for Memphis and relationships. While the tour is now over, Kameron is focusing on his new endeavors and of course MUSIC. He is dropping a new project with Project Pat very soon.

Malvin and Howard visit with World Renowned Jazz Saxophonist, Kirk Whalum in the studio.  They have a ball walking through Kirk's illustrious career and listening to some his great stories of life as a world class musician. 

Howard and Malvin introduce you to Religious Jazz and some of the artists who made a mark in this subset of the Jazz music genre.  Check out the music of: Kirk Whalum Alan Clayton Patrice Jégou Merlon Devine Joey Alexander Hubert Powell Grace Kelly Winston Stewart

Howard and Malvin take the listener on a journey through Jazz Funk Music.  On this episode, you will experience the music of: Grover Washington Jr. George Duke Miles Davis The Manhattan Transfer Chick Corea Elektric Band Kirk Whalum Gerald Albright  and more... Enjoy!

Howard and Malvin take the listener on a journey through some of their favorite jazz saxophonists.  On this episode of Riffin on Jazz you will experience the music of: David Sanborn Harry Allen Charles Lloyd Kirk Whalum Gerald Albright Bob Minzter and others... Enjoy!!!

On this edition of the Tiger Basketball Podcast, beat writer Mark Giannotto welcomes musician and Memphis sports fan Kameron Whalum of Bruno Mars's Hooligans band as a special guest host.  Among the topics discussed are the positives and negatives of the Tigers' recent losing skid, the state of the program overall and whether Bruno Mars is a University of Memphis fan because of Whalum. Stick around for the end of the podcast when Mark talks to Kameron about what it's like to be on the road with Bruno Mars and how that often relates to basketball.

Grammy Award-winning and legendary saxophonist Kirk Whalum stopped to share the gospel...with a jazz-inflused twist once upon a time. Enjoy it all over again with me.

True to its title, the Cleveland based performer’s independent debut album Road Trip chronicles his multi-faceted journey – starting with playing the sax in church and, over the past decade, founding and leading The Cavor Project, an 11 piece ensemble renowned as one of the most diverse bands in the city. Andre Cavor found the perfect producer to take his artistry to the next level in Darren Rahn, a saxophonist and artist who has worked his studio magic for Whalum and Butler in addition to genre greats Dave Koz, Wayman Tisdale, Najee, Eric Darius, Jeffrey Osborne and Jeff Lorber. The collection includes three original tracks penned by Darren Rahn (“Road Trip,” “Say Something” and “Without A Doubt”), powerhouse covers of Adele’s “Hello” and After 7’s late 80’s smash “Ready or Not,” and five of Andre’s favorite all time gospel tunes – “More Than Anything,” “For Your Glory” (featuring background vocals), “Total Praise,” The Clark Sisters classic “You Brought the Sunshine” and “Heaven,” originally recorded by BeBe and CeCe Winans.   “Mixing contemporary jazz and gospel songs on Road Trip felt like a natural extension of my many live performances over the years,” says Andre, who first began playing the sax at 16 but let it go during his eight year stint in the army before rediscovering it in the early 2000s. Follow Andre on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.  

Jennifer Biggs and Chris Herrington discuss the 15th anniversary of Cooper-Young restaurant The Beauty Shop and the return of "Game of Thrones." Then, John Beifuss joins to talk about going to the movies with the Queen of Memphis Soul, Carla Thomas. And music writer Bob Mehr tells us what Memphis musician Kenneth Whalum III is up to.  

Jennifer Biggs and Chris Herrington discuss the 15th anniversary of Cooper-Young restaurant The Beauty Shop and the return of "Game of Thrones." Then, John Beifuss joins to talk about going to the movies with the Queen of Memphis Soul, Carla Thomas. And music writer Bob Mehr tells us what Memphis musician Kenneth Whalum III is up to.  

Guests are Kirk Whalum and Married to Medicine's Dr. Simone Whitmore. Mr. Whalum has a great new inspiring jazz music project, Gospel According to Jazz IV with top A-list guest performers and Dr. Simone Whitmore is one of the cast members of the hot reality show MARRIED TO MEDICINE. 

BHL: Conversations -- In this episode Black Hollywood Live host Jesse Janedy interviews The Kirk Whalum! Kirk Whalum (born July 11, 1958) is an American smooth jazz saxophonist and songwriter. 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. Whalum has recorded a series of well received solo albums and film soundtracks, with music ranging from pop to R&B to smooth jazz. Kirk’s 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 gifted writer, Jerry Peters.

This multi-faceted force of vocal nature brings to her first true JAZZ album an extensive history as a session and touring vocalist and stellar reputation as a vocal and artist development coach and author of “17 Points To Longevity in Show Business.” Like her expansive career, Spruill engages many different influences – including R&B, CONTEMPORARY URBAN JAZZ, TRAD JAZZ and BRAZILIAN – to create a musical journey that allows her to tap into her full vocal range. Her splendid mix of originals and classics includes a sassy, brass-infused “Fever,” an intimate “Round Midnight” and the moody, poetic title track, featuring Brenda Russell and Patrice Rushen, which cleverly weaves decades of jazz legends into a celebration of the art form. When you've got “A Metheny morning and a Whalum afternoon…Tea with Thelonious and a Yellowjacket Moon,” you know IT'S A JAZZ DAY! ~JONATHAN WIDRAN This amazing cd has covered a spectrum of sounds from seductive Jazz, the classics, to exhilarating soul, with an all-star cast of A list players. Jeff   Lorber   and Stephanie wrote hits---that are featured on this album---"Nothing Last Forever” and “Sweet Control” for Jon Lucien. Stephanie had major success with “I'll Be Good to You” for   Najee   on his Tokyo Blue album. “It's a Jazz Day”  featuring pianists Patrice Rushen and Brenda Russell wrote and sang background on It's a Jazz Day.  Stephanie's band has a keen sense of musical brilliance as well as an undeniable knack for accompanying her jazz compositions  Here is an CD that rocks the soul, uplifts the spirit and makes you feel like you are listening to a live concert. 

This week bass player, ultra marathoner, and all around interesting guy Kyle Whalum chats with us.  Tyler and I met Kyle when we were all Freshman in college.  We tell stories spanning our younger days of drunken buffoonery to Kyle's recent engagement.  He talks about performing with Steven Tyler, growing up on Green Day albums, and we share examples of how Kanye West has life figured out.  Tyler and Kyle even delve into  "strange game," their own theory of how to approach women in a way you won't hear anywhere else.    

Agradece a este podcast tantas horas de entretenimiento y disfruta de episodios exclusivos como éste. ¡Apóyale en iVoox! Música protagonizada por hermanos, unidos por lazos de sangre y por la música: los hermanos Mann, Johnson, Brecker, Duffie, Brown, East, Doky, Braxton, Grainger, Peterson y Whalum.Escucha este episodio completo y accede a todo el contenido exclusivo de Cloud Jazz Smooth Jazz. Descubre antes que nadie los nuevos episodios, y participa en la comunidad exclusiva de oyentes en https://go.ivoox.com/sq/27170

Hear Grammy winner and legendary jazz saxophonist, Kirk Whalum, chat with journalist, author, and speaker Dr. mOe Anderson about jazz, Austin, TX, his faith and One World Theater. Read the article that was published by Soulciti.com  Follow Dr. moe on Twitter/@drmoeanderson and visit her website at www.drmoeanderson.com today!

2013 Spring Performance at The Ray Charles Performance Arts Center

Agradece a este podcast tantas horas de entretenimiento y disfruta de episodios exclusivos como éste. ¡Apóyale en iVoox! En este edición te presentamos el nuevo disco del guitarrista Garry Goin, en el que está acompañado por otros dos artistas, como él, de Memphis: los hermanos Whalum, el saxofonista Kirk y el vocalista Kevyn. Y seguimos escuchando otras novedades destacadas del mejor Smooth Jazz: Max Groove, Andy Snitzer, Brian McKnight, Boney James y Brian Simpson. Y en los minutos centrales, como siempre, echamos la vista atrás para rescatar música de décadas pasadas.Escucha este episodio completo y accede a todo el contenido exclusivo de Cloud Jazz Smooth Jazz. Descubre antes que nadie los nuevos episodios, y participa en la comunidad exclusiva de oyentes en https://go.ivoox.com/sq/27170

You know Kirk Whalum for his musicianship, 11 Grammy nominations, and his sax playing on Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You." You know him because he is successful, but you don't know why he is successful. At this year's Berklee City Music Conference, held in Memphis, Mr. Whalum's hometown, we were fortunate to have him speak about the key to breaking free and being successful.

Description: You know Kirk Whalum for his musicianship, 11 Grammy nominations, and his sax playing on Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You." You know him because he is successful, but you don't know why he is successful. At this year's Berklee City Music Conference, held in Memphis, Mr. Whalum's hometown, we were fortunate to have him speak about the key to breaking free and being successful.

You know Kirk Whalum for his musicianship, 11 Grammy nominations, and his sax playing on Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You." You know him because he is successful, but you don't know why he is successful. At this year's Berklee City Music Conference, held in Memphis, Mr. Whalum's hometown, we were fortunate to have him speak about the key to breaking free and being successful.

2012 Spring Performance at The Ray Charles Performance Arts Center

For a young boy growing up in Memphis,Tennessee, exposure to Gospel, soul, jazz, and R&B music was inevitable. The difference for Kirk Whalum was that his baptismal into this music happened at the church where his father pastored. Surrounded by a family that was comprised of several professional musicians, Kirk didn’t have to find music…music found him. But, it was the sparkle and shine that first attracted him to his first saxophone. It was jazz great Bob James that first discovered Kirk playing at a gig in Houston, Texas where shortly thereafter, hired him to play one of his solo albums entitled ‘12.’ Today, Whalum humbly tells how divine intervention had a definite hand in his past success and stands on a faith that is clearly contageous. He celebrated his 25 years in the business with the release of his 2007 album ‘Roundtrip’, and engaged producer Phillippe Saisse, who worked on his first solo album, along with an amazingly great lineup of musicians that included Earl Klugh and many guest musicians who are….ready for this? Family members! Inside MusiCast is happy to welcome a sax virtuoso, Kirk Whalum.