A saxophonist nicknamed “the bishop” by Whitney Houston has converted to Catholicism.
Kirk Whalum played what is dubbed “the most listened-to sax solo in history” to accompany Houston singing I will always love you in the 1992 film The Bodyguard.
In an interview with The Black Catholic Messenger, Whalum said he had became a sort of “ad hoc chaplain” to Houston while on tour with her band: she would occasionally attend his Bible study gatherings.
Nominated 12 times for a Grammy, he won the award for his album, The Gospel According to Jazz. He said: “The work that I love and aspired to all along was to be a manifestation of Christ in this area of jazz”.
Last November, he received the Sacrament of Confirmation in the Catholic Church.
The son of a Baptist pastor, Whalum values the tranquillity of the Catholic liturgy: “For the most part, Catholic Mass is calm. And there's always some silence there. That's something that you do not find in many of the evangelical churches that I was raised in.”
Prior to his conversion, Whalum began to volunteer as a barber at a Catholic Worker house in Memphis. “I cut hair for guys who have been made poor,” he said.
To his surprise, Whalum discovered one of his fellow volunteers at Manna House, Memphis “happened to be a Catholic priest.”
With Ruby, his wife, Whalum began to attend Mass at St Patrick’s Church in Memphis. His fellow volunteer, Mgr Val Handwerker, was the parish priest. Whalum said: “After almost a year of going to Mass, I felt very fulfilled and I felt very much in place.”
He later discovered he was a cousin of the Servant of God, Thea Bowman, the only African-American member of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration.
Vatican II encouraged Sister Thea to explore her Afro-American heritage. She was recorded singing spirituals before her death.
“I consider her my muse as she was also a musician. She inspires me profoundly,” said Whalum.
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