Hugh "Peanuts" Whalum 1928 - 2019

Hugh "Peanuts" Whalum, a pianist, singer, and tenor saxophonist who was part of the St. Louis music scene from the late 1940s into the 21st century, has died. He was 91 years old.

News of Whalum's passing on Christmas day spread on social media via Facebook posts from Jeff Anderson, who played bass with Whalum for the last 20 years of his career, and Jay Brandt, former owner of Brandt's in University City, where Whalum played many gigs during the same period.

Although Whalum (pictured) had been a mainstay of the St. Louis scene for many years, he actually was born in Wilberforce, OH and raised mostly in Memphis, TN. He first played violin, cornet, and then trumpet as a child, performing with the YMCA band and with his brothers and father in a family group.

Whalum eventually made tenor sax his primary instrument while attending Central State University in Ohio, where he played with the Central State Collegians band, a group that performed at Carnegie Hall, sharing the stage with Woody Herman, Billy Eckstine, Peggy Lee, and Ella Fitzgerald, and later was hired to back Eckstine.

After graduating from Central State with a degree in chemistry, Whalum toured with vibraphonist Lionel Hampton and relocated to St. Louis in September, 1949. During the 1950s, he formed his own trio here and also worked as a freelance saxophonist, gigging with touring musicians including Miles Davis and Ed Thigpen, and as part of the Jeeter-Pillars band, once playing behind Nat "King" Cole and his trio.

To be able to work as a solo performer, Whalum also began singing and playing piano, in the process finding the niche that would sustain his career for decades, as he played nightclubs, restaurants, hotel lounges, private parties, and more. A Riverfront Times article marking his selection as "Best Lounge Act" in the paper's 2006 "Best of of St. Louis" issue described him this way:

"As cool and smooth as the perfect martini, Hugh "Peanuts" Whalum has provided sophisticated musical entertainment for several generations of St. Louisans, starting in Gaslight Square and continuing into the present day. A fine tenor saxophonist as well as a pianist and singer, Whalum somehow manages to be both suave and down-home, charming audiences even as he educates them in the finer points of jazz and the Great American Songbook."

Despite being a popular and prolific live performer, Whalum didn't record as a headliner until 2006, when his nephew, saxophonist Kirk Whalum, helped him get a deal for an eponymous album released on Rendezvous Records and distributed internationally by Mack Avenue Records.

Around that same time, Whalum also was featured on some of his nephew's "Gospel According to Jazz" shows, and he continued to play around St. Louis until age-related health issues led him to wind down his performing career in the early 2010s.

Update, 7:30 a.m., 1/1/20: A wake for Hugh "Peanuts" Whalum will be held from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Friday, January 3, at Archway Memorial Chapel, 111 Taylor Road in Hazelwood. A funeral Mass will take place at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, January 4, at St. Elizabeth Mother of John, 4330 Shreve Ave in St. Louis, MO, followed immediately by a repast at the church. Burial will be at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, January 6 at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, 2900 Sheridan Road in St. Louis.