Jazz / Vocal, Adult Contemporary, Jazz-Pop, Contemporary Jazz, Quiet Storm, Vocal Jazz, Smooth Jazz, Adult Contemporary R&B
Al Jarreau - Arranger, Rhythm Arrangements, Liner Notes
Adam Blackstone Bass
Al Schmitt Producer, Original Recording Producer
Beatriz Pace Project Assistant
Bernie Grundman Remastering
Charles Benson Project Assistant
Chris Farr Saxophone
Daniel Sadownick Percussion
Don Heckman Liner Notes
Freddie Ravel Arranger
George Duke Producer, Original Recording Producer
Greg Mathieson Rhythm Arrangements
James Poyser Producer, Keyboards
Jeremy Lubbock Arranger, String Arrangements
Jerry Hey Horn Arrangements
Jon Smeltz Mixing, Engineer
Larry Andrew Williams Arranger
Liuba Shapiro Project Assistant
Mason Williams A&R, Project Supervisor
Matt Cappy Trumpet
Mercedes Martinez Vocals (Background)
Michael Omartian Rhythm Arrangements
Nick DeCaro Vocal Arrangement
Nile Rodgers Original Recording Producer, Producer
Paul Rayner Brown Producer, Arranger, Original Recording Producer
Randy Bowland Guitar
Randy Watson Experience Producer, Arranger
Richard Nichols Executive Producer
Robbie Buchanan Arranger
Rocky Schenck Photography
Steve Woolard Project Assistant
Tom Canning Rhythm Arrangements, Arranger
Tommy LiPuma Original Recording Producer, Producer
Considered by many to be the greatest living jazz singer, Al Jarreau is an artist of stunning range. He's spent decades bending genres with his lithe voice, earning him the rare distinction of being the only artist to have won Grammy Awards in three different categories: pop, jazz and RB. Rhino honors the superlative vocalist's musical achievements with a collection that spans his entire career titled AL JARREAU THE VERY BEST OF: AN EXCELLENT ADVENTURE.
Album Description
2009 career-spanning collection from the veteran vocalist. Considered by many to be the greatest living Jazz singer, Al Jarreau is an artist of stunning range. He's spent decades bending genres with his lithe voice, earning him the rare distinction of beingthe only artist to have won Grammyr Awards in three different categories: Pop, Jazz and RB. This compilation bridges the past and the present, bringing together Jarreau's greatest recordings with his latest 'Excellent Adventure,' recorded especially for this release.
Vocalist Al Jarreau is one of the most successful singers in history. He has scored hits on Billboard's Jazz, R&B, Adult Contemporary, and Contemporary Jazz charts. He's won multiple Grammys and sold millions of records. Rhino has assembled 15 tracks that represent his long career with Warner Brothers and even cross-licensed a couple from Universal's GRP and Verve imprints. In addition to the 15 career-spanning cuts ranging roughly from 1975 to 1988 with a couple of tunes thrown in from the current decade, there is a new song entitled "Excellent Adventure," produced by the team of Amhir "?uestlove" Thompson and James Poyser, the same pair that produced Al Green's successful Lay It Down. Fiona Frawley assembled this compilation and did a stellar job, including not only all the chart hits, but those that truly represent Jarreau's range as a singer and composer. There is an edited version of Dave Brubeck's "Take Five" here from his successful 1977 album Look to the Rainbow LP, as well as "We Got By," from his self-titled debut album. There are three cuts from 1981's multi-platinum Breaking Away, and his monster theme from the television series Moonlighting. But it's the inclusion of several tracks such as Chick Corea's "Spain," from 1980's This Time album, and Eddie Harris's "Cold Duck," from his 2004 set Accentuate the Positive that make this a special compilation -- neither cut made the charts, but both are nonetheless representative, even signature performances in Jarreau's recording career. Fans who already have comps can ditch them for this, and those who are curious would do well to actually begin their education with The Very Best Of: An Excellent Adventure. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
Al Jarreau
Active Decades: '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s and '00s
Born: Mar 12, 1940 in Milwaukee, WI
Genre: Vocal
Styles: AM Pop, Contemporary Jazz, Crossover Jazz, Pop, Pop/Rock, Smooth Jazz, Soft Rock, Vocal Jazz
The only vocalist in history to net Grammy Awards in three different categories (jazz, pop, and R&B, respectively), Al Jarreau was born in Milwaukee, WI, on March 12, 1940. The son of a vicar, he earned his first performing experience singing in the church choir. After receiving his master's degree in psychology, Jarreau pursued a career as a social worker, but eventually he decided to relocate to Los Angeles and try his hand in show business, playing small clubs throughout the West Coast.
He recorded an LP in the mid-'60s, but largely remained an unknown, not reentering the studio for another decade. Upon signing to Reprise, Jarreau resurfaced in 1975 with We Got By, earning acclaim for his sophisticated brand of vocalese and winning positive comparison to the likes of Billy Eckstine and Johnny Mathis. After 1976's Glow, Jarreau issued the following year's Look to the Rainbow, a two-disc live set that reached the Top 50 on the U.S. album charts. With 1981's Breakin' Away, he entered the Top Ten, scoring a pair of hits with "We're in This Love Together" and the title track. After recording 1986's L Is for Lover with producer Nile Rodgers, Jarreau scored a hit with the theme to the popular television program Moonlighting, but his mainstream pop success was on the wane, and subsequent efforts like 1992's Heaven and Earth and 1994's Tenderness found greater success with adult contemporary audiences.
A string of budget compilations and original albums hit the shelves at the end of the decade, but into the turn of the century his original output slowed down. That was until he signed with the VerveGRP label in 1998 and reunited with producer Tommy LiPuma. LiPuma had produced Jarreau's ostensible 1975 debut, We Got By, and the pairing seemed to reinvigorate Jarreau, who went on to release three stellar albums under LiPuma's guidance, including 2000's Tomorrow Today, 2002's All I Got, and 2004's Accentuate the Positive. Givin' It Up, recorded with George Benson and released in 2006, was nominated for three Grammy Awards -- each one for a different song. Jarreau returned with his first ever full-length holiday-themed album, Christmas, in 2008.
---Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide |
