One distinctive member of The Stax Music Academy staff is a world famous musician who has pledged to share his or her knowledge and care with the children of Soulsville by becoming the Artist in Residence. As the first Stax Music Academy Artist in Residence, the internationally renowned native Memphian Kirk Whalum says, “It's about getting out of the way. The closer you get to the original voice God gave you, the more impact it can have on people.”

Raised in Memphis, Whalum's first instrument was drums and then the bass guitar. It was in junior high at the age of twelve that he was introduced to band instruments and fell in love with the saxophone “both for the way it sounded and the way it looked.” He would go on to have a successful recording career in both the jazz and gospel genres, and he would also bring his sound to the music of many superstars, including Barbra Streisand, Al Jarreau, Quincy Jones, Luther Vandross and Whitney Houston, with whom he toured for seven years, playing, among other parts, his solo at the heart of her mega-hit, “I Will Always Love You.”

Kirk always knew he wanted to be a professional musician, though his mother told him he needed something to fall back on. “But Mom,” he told her, “I’m not gonna fall back.” And he never did. In college at Houston’s Texas Southern, he composed his first music and organized his first band. From there, his critically acclaimed original albums and tributes to the music of others have made him one of the world’s most beloved musicians.

“Having been raised in Memphis,” Whalum says, “I really cut my teeth on gospel and real R&B, with emphasis on the B, which is blues. And then I was seriously bit by the jazz bug. These days I try to do it all.” He’ll teach it all to the students of the Stax Music Academy as their Artist in Residence.