| Kirk
Whalum was born on July 11,
1958 in Memphis, TN. Kirk's first
interest was on the drums then switched
to saxophone in Jr. High. Whalum
attended the Texas Southern University
under a music scholarship. In 1980
Whalum started his own band and
played clubs around Houston. It
was there he caught the ear of Jazz
pianist Bob
James and was asked to play
on James' album 'Bob James 12.'
Kirk's first release was in 1985
with 'Floppy Disk' but it was the
1995 release of 'Cache' that put
him on the charts. The album went
#1 and stayed there for five weeks.
In 1998 the album 'For You' was
Kirk's best CD to date with 4 Top
10 hits and stayed on top Billboard
Contemporary Charts for 65 weeks.
Kirk has received seven Grammy Nominations
and one Stellar Award (Best Gospel
Instrumental Album). |
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Chuck
Loeb was born on July 12, 1955
in Nyack, New York. Loeb started
playing guitar at the age of eleven
and was self-taught until he was
sixteen. After graduating from high
school, Loeb attended Berkley School
of Music in Boston. In 1979 he received
a call from Stan
Getz to try out for his band.
He spent ten years with Getz. After
leaving he played on hundreds of
recording sessions for film scores,
commercials and television show
themes. Chuck recorded his first
solo CD in 1988. Loeb has three
#1 singles including 'The Music
Inside' that topped the charts for
eight weeks. He is one of the top
producers in Smooth Jazz music.
Read
our interview with former 'Artist
of the month Chuck Loeb. |
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| Pete
Escovedo was born on July 13, 1935
in Pittsburg, California. Escovedo
started playing saxophone in high
school and soon switched to vibes.
Pete and his brothers the late Coke
Escovedo and Phil Escovedo formed
the band Escovedo Brothers a Latin
Jazz Sextet, one of the most popular
Latin Jazz groups of its day. In
the 60's Carlos
Santana hired Pete and Coke
to play in his popular group. They
toured with Santana for three years
and played on three albums 'Moonflower,'
'Oneness' and 'Inner Secrets.' In
1970 Pete and Coke formed the band
Azteca and released two albums,
a self-titled album and 'Pyramid
of the Moon.' |
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Stanley Clarke was born on July
21, 1951 in Philadelphia, PA. Clarke
started playing accordion as a youth
then switching to violin and cello
before settling for bass. Playing
in R&B and rock bands in high
school and then moving to New York
he worked with Pharoah Sanders in
the early 70's. Stanley has played
with Gil Evans, Mel Lewis, Horace
Silver and Stan Getz. He hit the
big time when he teamed up with
Chick Corea in 'Return to Forever.'
Clarke played mostly electric bass
and became an influential force
preceding Jaco Pastorius. In 1976
he released the 'School Days' album
and continued with his funk group
with George Duke as The Clarke/Duke
Project. His 1995 collaboration
with Jean Luc Ponty and Al DiMeola
are just two of his few recordings
in the past ten years.. |
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David
Sanborn was born on July 30,
1945 in Tampa, Florida and was raised
in St Louis, Missouri. Having polio
as a child Sanborn was forced to
spend time in an iron lung and was
told to pick up a wind instrument
as therapy - he chose saxophone.
David studied at the Northwestern
University and then the University
of Iowa between 1967 and 1971. Sanborn
later joined the Paul Butterfield
Band and played Woodstock with the
band. In 1975 David released his
first solo album 'Taking Off' but
his breakthrough was in 1980 'Hideaway.'
In 1981 Sanborn received a Grammy
for 'Voyeur' and a Grammy in 1986
for 'Double Vision' with Bob
James. He has played with The
Rolling Stones, Stevie
Wonder, David Bowie and Gil
Evans. |
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