“I play what I like to call ‘feeling’ music,” says Kameron Whalum, a successful trombonist from Memphis. “Basically, it’s a mixture of soul, hip-hop, jazz, gospel, and funk.”
Whalum, who’s due to go back on tour with Bruno Mars and the Hooligans in September, has been keeping busy during his time off, sitting in on his uncle’s Kafé Kirk series with brother Kortland, writing and recording solo music, and conducting artist talks at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music.
“I credit being a student at Stax Music Academy for my love of the soul music that has come out of there,” he says. “That’s why I keep coming back to work with them because I remember what it did for me, and it helped me take a little more pride in that kind of music.”
Kevin Evans
Kameron Whalum
This month, Whalum leads and covers various discussion topics at the museum’s Funky Fridays series. During this Friday’s session, entitled “Take This for A Sample: Memphis Music = It’s A Vibe,” he and producer C Major will discuss the history of sampling music and how the technique is used in hip-hop music. The pair will go over sampling basics and make a beat together for the audience.
“Somebody referred to it as a TED Talk,” he jokes.
Last week, dancers from L.Y.E. Academy joined him in a seminar about Stax’s impact on dance, and next week, he will get together with special guests, including Boo Mitchell and James Alexander, to discuss the difference between music then and now.
Funky Fridays with Kameron Whalum, Stax Museum of American Soul Music, Friday, July 19th, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., Free with museum admission.
