I haven't been able to stop listening to this album for 2 weeks. I feel as though I have found someone's musical diary, revealing the innermost and profound confessions of the least-understood emotion in history -- love. The most surprising fact is that as I listen, and listen again and again, I felt as though when I finished the diary I looked, it was my name that was the one that was on it. Kirk Whalum has his finger on the very pulse of all our deepest thoughts and secrets and translates them into words and music that literally transcend definition in any other form but his soulful renditions. I have never experienced an album so vividly raw and emotional since I heard Eric Clapton's "Pilgrim". Whether drawn from his own experiences or those of others Kirk Whalum speaks to us all: men and women; husbands and wives; lovers and lost loves. We hear his rich, plaintive saxophone and wondrous vocals and somehow can't believe -- "how did he know? how could he understand what I felt?" From start to finish, "In This Life" is an instant classic for anyone who has ever loved and lost -- or loved and won -- or loved at all. I just ordered two more copies for people I care for who are experiencing transitional periods in their relationships -- just so they know there are words and notes and 60 minutes of musical enlightenment to ease their way -- over and over and over again. - by powermuffn, Amazon.com
Artist: Kirk Whalum
Album: In This Life
Year: 1995
Label: Sony/Columbia
Runtime: 59:30
Tracks:
1. In This Life (Mike Reid/Allen Shamblin) 3:36
2. 'Til I Get It Right (Larry Henley/Red Lane) 4:58
3. Drowning In The Sea Of Love (Kenneth Gamble/Leon Huff) 7:02
4. Peaceful Hideaway (A. Smith/Kirk Whalum) 4:33
5. I Wouldn't Be A Man (Rory Michael Bourke/Mike Reid) 5:05
6. Living For The City (Stevie Wonder) 4:33
7. My Father's Hope (R. Jackson) 4:27
8. When The Night Rolls In (Sally Dworsky/Brenda Russell/Rick Wayland) 4:35
9. I Turn To You (Mike Reid/Allen Shamblin) 5:27
10. Reck'n So (Kirk Whalum) 3:58
11. The Way I Need You Now (Barry Alfonso/Mike Reid) 4:56
12. Reprise: Dans Cette Vie ( In This Life) (Mike Reid/Allen Shamblin) 6:15
Personnel:
Kirk Whalum (Tenor Saxophone)
Matt Rollings (Piano, Keyboards) - 1,2,8,9,11,12
Mike Reid (Vocals) - 1,5,9,11
Brent Mason (Guitar) - 2,6,8,9,12
David Hungate (Bass Guitar) - 2,8,9,12
Terry McMillan (Percussion) - 3,6,8,9,11
Owen Hale (Drums) - 3,5,8,9
Cedric Lee (Bass Guitar) - 4,7,10,11
Bob Bailey (Backing Vocals) - 3,5,11
Chris Willis (Backing Vocals) - 3,5,11
Duawne Starling (Backing Vocals) - 3,5,11
Louis Nunley (Backing Vocals) - 3,5,11
Larry Carlton (Guitar) - 4,7,10
Rick Jackson (Keyboards) - 4,7,10
Ricky Lawson (Drums) - 4,7,11
Brian Kilgore (Percussion) - 4,7,10
Dwight Sills (Guitar) - 7,10,11
Vaneese Thomas (Vocals) - 2,12
Teresa James (Vocals) - 3,8
Reggie Young (Guitar) - 3,5
Barry Beckett (Piano and Organ) - 3,5
Willie Weeks (Bass Guitar) - 3,5
Paul Franklin (Pedabro, Steel Guitar) - 6,7
Don Potter (Guitar) - 7,11
Mark Summer (Cello) - 1
Farrell Morris (Vibes) - 2
Sonny Landreth (Guitar) - 3
Mark O'Connor (Fiddle) - 6
Ndugu Chancler (Drums) - 10
Ralph Penland (Drums) - 12
Eddie Bayers (Drums) - 12