"Peanuts" Whalum featured in Jazz Times article

Another St. Louis musician is getting some national publicity this month, as our town's Hugh "Peanuts" Whalum is featured in the November 2006 issue of Jazz Times magazine, currently available wherever fine periodicals are sold. (FYI, the cover features Ornette Coleman.)

Whalum appears in the mag as part of an article in which current smooth jazz stars discuss the jazz musician who has had the most influence on them. His nephew, saxophonist Kirk Whalum, chose to write about "Peanuts," and here's what he had to say:

"Kirk Whalum on Peanuts Whalum

Trying so hard to emulate my heroes such as Hank Crawford, Arnett Cobb, Stanley Turrentine, Grover Washington Jr. and, in particular, my uncle, Hugh "Peanuts" Whalum, has finally yielded the more enviable fruit of having developed my own sound. I owe a great debt to my uncle Peanuts. The warm, passionate, almost gospel sound that carne through his horn as he ripped through jazz standard after jazz standard is still very fresh in my mind from the first time I heard him when I was a 12-year-old saxophonist.

If I were a fairy-tale writer instead of a saxophonist, I would probably write my fairy tale about an incredible saxophonist, vocalist and pianist who, with all the poise, dignity and charm of a Sir Lancelot, would defy the shallowness of a 21st-century entertainment industry and make his national debut at the tender age of 77! He would spryly but cautiously (betraying the wisdom of his years) take the stage of the Pageant Theatre in his beloved St. Louis, alongside youngsters like Jonathan Butler, Wayman Tisdale and his very proud nephew and proceed to rip us apart like so many paper dolls! The audience would explode into hysteria, wondering, "What have done happened?" They would gawk at the 5-foot 4-inch giant of a sultry-voiced charmer and say, "Did I miss you on American Idol, Peanuts?"

My uncle Peanuts Whalum indeed did just that! He wowed me almost 36 years ago. And he indeed wowed that crowd recently in St. Louis-the city where he had been neatly tucked away in piano bars for over 50 years. He wowed Dave Koz and the folks at Rendezvous Entertainment-so much so that they signed him! He wowed the cruisers on both the Dave Koz & Friends cruise and the Jazz Cruise 2006!

So tell me, do fairy tales come true? Stop by myspace.com/peanutswhalum and consult some of Peanuts' new fans! In the words of Jonathan Butler, "This guy has a future in this business!""

Another St. Louis jazz giant is also featured in the same piece, as Spyro Gyra saxophonist Jay Beckenstein chose to write about the late saxophonist and composer Oliver Nelson. Unfortunately, Jazz Times only puts excerpts from their current issue on the Web, so if you want to read the whole thing you'll have to shell out for the print edition.