Crosstown Arts presents KAFé KIRK: TEXAS JAZZ JAM
at Crosstown theater
Sunday, July 27th 2025
Doors open at 5:30 pm | Show begins at 6:00 pm
Tickets: $59 in advance (plus fees) | $70 at the door |
Join Grammy-winning saxophonist Kirk Whalum for Kafé Kirk, an ongoing jazz series in Crosstown Theater featuring musical and spiritual collaborations with special guest artists. This concert will feature legendary musicians Tom Braxton and Bobby Lyle.
Jazz saxophonist Tom Braxton has garnered critical acclaim while thrilling audiences of all ages from coast to coast and abroad for over two decades. From Africa to Japan, from New York to L.A., Braxton’s distinct, melodic sound leaves audiences astounded, clapping, and on their feet screaming for more!
Legendary pianist/organist Bobby Lyle was deemed a musical wonder when he released his first album, The Genie, which exploded onto the Billboard charts and blew the minds of jazz enthusiasts everywhere. Since that debut, Lyle has kept a high standard for 30-plus years, and has successfully maintained a flourishing, always-evolving career. Lyle’s unrivaled high standard of excellence entitles him to a place on the throne alongside other musical royalty, making him a permanent fixture in the prodigious society of jazz.
KIRK WHALUM
Soulful, passionate, stirring…these are the words most often used to describe Kirk’s music. Forged from his Memphis, Tennessee, gospel roots and his 1980s initiation into the thriving Houston, TX nightclub scene, Kirk’s big, rich tenor sound is unmistakably his. The ’80s were highlighted by Kirk’s stepping out of his blossoming sideman role and forming his own band. It was there that Kirk ultimately developed both his “voice” and songwriting in the crucible of the local club scene—especially at a rooftop club called Cody’s. It was also in Houston where jazz pianist Bob James “discovered” him and brought him on tour, which led to five successful albums with Columbia Records, including Cache, Kirk’s first #1 album.
