UB Black Music Month Spotlight: The Impeccable Al Jarreau

Black Music Month is UB‘s favorite month of the year! We have some great features and interview pieces coming this month, so stay tuned!

Today we spotlight the impeccable Al Jarreau!

Al Jarreau’s unique vocal style is one of the world’s most precious treasures. His innovative musical expressions made him one of the most exciting and critically-acclaimed performers of our time with five Grammy Awards, scores of international music awards and popular accolades worldwide.

It’s not surprising that he has perfected his technique to such an art. After all, he was singing since the age of four, harmonizing with his brothers and performing solo at a variety of local events in his hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Music, however, was not always the major force in his life. He excelled in sports and was an above-average student throughout high school and college. Enrolling at the respected Ripon College in Wisconsin, Al Jarreau continued singing for fun, performing locally with a group called The Indigos during weekends and holidays, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology. After moving on to the University of Iowa to earn his Master’s Degree in Vocational Rehabilitation, Al subsequently relocated to San Francisco to begin a career in rehabilitation counseling.

In San Francisco his natural musical gifts began to shape his future. He found himself performing at a small jazz club with a trio headed by George Duke, and by the late 60s, he knew without a doubt that he would make singing his life. Relocating to Los Angeles, he began his apprenticeship in such famed nightspots as Dino’s, the Troubador and the Bitter End West. Shortly thereafter, he branched out to New York City as well, where he gained national network television exposure with Johnny Carson, Merv Griffin, David Frost and Mike Douglas. Al teamed with guitarist Julio Martinez to “spell” up-and-coming comics John Belushi, Bette Midler, Robert Klein, David Brenner, Jimmie Walker and others at the famed comedy venue, The Improv.

In 1975, following an extended stint at the Bla Bla Cafe in Los Angeles, Warner Bros. Records talent scouts spotted Al and signed him to a recording contract. His debut album for the label, “We Got By,” was released to unanimous acclaim. It was a reception that spread across the continent and over the Atlantic when he was awarded a German Grammy for Best New International Soloist that same year. A second German Grammy came his way with the release of his follow-up album, “Glow.”

In 1977, Al Jarreau embarked on his first world tour, from which the selections for “Look to the Rainbow,” his double live album, were culled. That same year, he won his first American Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Performance and was singled out for special honors in readers and critics polls in Performance, Cashbox, Downbeat, Stereo Review and other respected music publications.

His fourth album, “All Fly Home,” was released in 1978 to further accolades and a second Grammy for Best Jazz Vocalist. It was followed by a string of innovative and original offerings, including 1980’s “This Time”, and the million-selling “Breakin’ Away,” which brought him a broader audience and two more Grammy’s with awards for Best Male Pop Vocalist and Best Male Jazz Vocalist.

Al Jarreau released his classic single “We’re In This Love Together” in 1981.

The follow up to “Breakin’ Away,” 1983’s Al Jarreau, and High Crime the following year spawned a string of R&B and pop hits and further cemented him as an international superstar. “Al Jarreau Live In London”, recorded before a SRO crowd at Wembley Arena in 1985, continued to solidify Al Jarreau’s reputation as a world-class master of both studio and stage. Following the live album, Al teamed with top producer Nile Rodgers for “L is for Lover”, which brought some new styles and sounds to the singer’s repertoire. He continued to top the stateside charts in 1987 and became a weekly guest in America’s living rooms singing the Grammy-nominated theme song for the hit television series Moonlighting.

With hardly time to take a breath, he launched into the recording of the “Heart’s Horizon” album, which contained the #2 R&B smash “So Good” and earned him another Grammy nomination, this time for Best R&B Album. After touring the globe for nearly two years, he returned to the studio – this time with Narada Michael Walden – to fashion the sound that would launch him into his third decade of music-making. The result was 1992’s “Heaven and Earth” for which he received his fifth Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance. With this, he became one the rare artists to have won Grammy‘s in the three categories of jazz, pop, and R&B.

In 1994, “Tenderness” was released. On this Marcus Miller-produced gem, Al Jarreau is joined by an all-star cast (David Sanborn, Kathleen Battle, Joe Sample, Steve Gadd, to name a few) to bring us a host of wonderfully familiar contemporary compositions as well as revisit a few of his classics.

1996 brought some exciting career challenges. While on a break from touring, he accepted a three-month stint on Broadway playing the role of the Teen Angel in the hit musical Grease! Other recent acting credits include guest star appearances on Fox’s New York Undercover, NBC’s Touched by an Angel and a national McDonald’s commercial with the late R&B vocalist, Vesta Williams.

Then, to commemorate 20 years of success, Al Jarreau released his first compilation album, “Best of Al Jarreau.” The collection highlights 14 of Al Jarreau’s best-known songs alongside two new tracks produced by his long-time friend, jazz giant George Duke.

Other hit albums and songs included 1976’s Glow (“Agua De Beber”), 1977’s Look to the Rainbow (“Take Five”), 1980’s This Time (“Spain”, “Never Givin’ Up”), 1981’s Breakin’ Away (“Roof Garden” and “We’re In This Love Together”), 1983’s Jarreau (“Mornin’,” “Boogie Down”), 1984’s High Crime (“After All”), 1988’s Heart’s Horizon (“So Good”) and Heaven and Earth (“Heaven And Earth”).

Also included are Al Jarreau gemstones from other releases, including “Since I Fell For You,” from the award-winning Double Vision album by Bob James and David Sanborn; and “Like a Lover,” the Dori Caymmi/Alan & Marilyn Bergman tune first issued on the 1994 classical release, “Symphonic Bossa,” featuring the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

The two newly recorded tracks include the classic Les McCann and Eddie Harris cut, “Compared To What,” as well as a new Jarreau/Duke collaboration, “Goodhands Tonight.”

In 1999, for the first time, Al Jarreau teamed up with symphony orchestras throughout the U.S. and Europe performing his most popular hits as never heard before as well as some favorites from Broadway and the Classics, which received outstanding reviews.

Called “the voice of versatility” by the Chicago Tribune and “one of the world’s greatest natural resources” by the Detroit News, Al Jarreau added a new chapter to his twenty-five-year recording career with “Tomorrow Today,” his 2001 GRP Records debut.

In March 2001 Al Jarreau received his own Star on the “Hollywood Walk of Fame“, commemorating his status as one of the best singers of his generation.

He spent the remainder of the year touring the United States, Europe and South Africa and working on his next album, “All I Got” in 2002, and then the Grammy nominated “Accentuate The Positive” in 2004, then came “Givin’ It Up” in 2006, a collaborative album with George Benson. In 2008, he released the holiday album “Christmas.”

In 2014 Al Jarreau paid a loving tribute to one of his longtime kindred spirits – the legendary keyboardist, composer and producer George Duke, who unexpectedly passed away the previous year. With “My Old Friend: Celebrating George Duke,” by gathering an impressive list of special guests that include bassists Marcus Miller and Stanley Clarke; saxophonists Gerald Albright and Boney James; and singers Dianne Reeves, Kelly Price, Lalah Hathaway and Jeffrey Osborne; among others, the new music gave a delightful snapshot of Duke’s expansive musical range that includes post-bop, jazz-fusion, R&B and Brazilian jazz.

“I wanted to show part of the range of George’s music and the brilliance of his work, which accounts for the impact he had on various musicians in the last half century,” Al Jarreau stated.

Al Jarreau first met Duke in 1965 when he moved to San Francisco after a stint with the U.S. Army Reserves. Al was working as a social worker and a rehabilitation counselor while also pounding the San Francisco streets for jazz gigs. A young Duke was already making a name for himself in the city by playing weekends at the Half Note. One Sunday night jam session, Al Jarreau came upon stage and tore it up. The club owner immediately asked Al if he would be willing to join George Duke’s trio on a regular basis. Al Jarreau leaped at the opportunity and worked with the George Duke Trio for three years, even recording a live LP. “We played together three years at that club; it closed in 1968 and George and I moved on. But that was a very important period for me,” Al Jarreau recalled.

Al Jarreau passed away of respiratory failure, at the age of 76 on February 12th 2017, just two days after announcing his retirement, and one month before his 77th birthday.

Take A Trip Down Memory Lane, With the Classic Sounds of Al Jarreau!