Al Jarreau
Biography, albums, concert review, CD Tomorrow Today
Article added in May 2000

Biography of Al Jarreau - Al Jarreau sheet music.
 
Born in Milwaukee (WI) in 1940, Al Jarreau is the son of a preacher. He studied psychology and worked afterwards as a social worker in California from 1964 to 1968. Then, Al Jarreau moved to Los Angeles to become a musician. His first album came out in 1975 and, the following year, he made his first European tour with Hamburg, Germany, as the starting point. His album Look to the Rainbow won him a Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Performance (the first of five Grammys won in three different categories). Another Grammy followed a year later for All Fly Home. His vocal abilities put Al Jarreau in a category with Bobby McFerrin. But on April 14 in Lausanne, he clearly lost to Bobby McFerrin who had performed in Basel the night before. Of course, their program was completely different: Bobby McFerrin gave a solo performance relying totally on his voice (and the public) whereas Al Jarreau gave a pop concert accompanied by a band with seven men (Al Jarreau included) and a woman.
 

At the age of 60, Al Jarreau is trying to make a new start with a new label (Verve), a new band and a popular album (Tomorrow Today). His new CD leaves me with mixed feelings. There are a lot of cheap songs such as Just To Be Loved, Let Me Love You or God's Gift To The World, a duet with Vanessa Williams. But Tomorrow Today also includes some great titles: In My Music, the title song Tomorrow Today and Puddit (Put It Where You Want It). Get the CD Tomorrow Today, Grp, 2000, from Amazon.com, Amazon.de.
 

Added on September 20, 2002: Al Jarreau: All I Got. Grp, September 2002. Get the album from Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon.de.
 
Concert of Al Jarreau
 
One half of Al Jarreau's concert at the Théâtre de Beaulieu in Lausanne (April 14, 2000) was dedicated to his new album. He began the evening with the a cappella song Puddit from Tomorrow Today, leading his seven fellow musicians out on the stage and creating a summer or holiday feeling right from the beginning. Among the less convincing tunes performed were My Favorite Things and the too sweet Just To Be Loved from Tomorrow Today. With In My Music, also from the new album, he managed again to convince. His soul voice as well as the interplay with his band was great. The saxophonist was outstanding - that was a special achievement given the fact that it was only his second gig with the band. The backup singer Debbie got her chance to shine in a duet with Al Jarreau, Since I Fell For You.
 
At the rehearsal, the band gave a special attention to their interpretation of the bossa nova hit Agua de Beber. This paid of in the concert. The funky High Crime and the title song of the new album, Tomorrow Today, brought the crowd to his knees. Two encores, among them, Take Five, also well rehearsed in the afternoon, completed the evening and left an enchanted public. Although the amplifiers were tuned up too loud and the first half of the concert included some weak songs, Al Jarreau proved once more - with six or seven great tunes - that he is still one of the great old men in show business. Life begins at sixty!
 

Al Jarreau. Photography copyright Universal Music. Al Jarreau sheet music.

Al Jarreau. Photography copyright Universal Music. Al Jarreau sheet music.