Al Jarreau

  
   

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What makes a great musical artist? A Bing Crosby, Paul Robeson, Frank Sinatra,
or Nat King Cole? The answer can be experienced today whenever Al Jarreau
stands in front of a microphone, smiles, and lets the music flow. Jarreau has a
golden musical touch. Hearing him perform over the years has been one of my
great pleasures as a music journalist. Whatever the performance, from a brilliantly
improvisational “Take Five” at the Monterey Jazz Festival to a tender reading of
Paul McCartney’s “She’s Leaving Home" at Walt Disney Hall in L.A., he has always
made each song his own.

He also mesmerizes and embraces his audience, and provides the vital element
of believability, the feeling that the singer is sharing something alive with his.
listeners. All of these qualities are in addition to his extraordinary voice. He can
sing with Sinatra’s baritone, Cole’s articulation, Crosby’s balladry, and Robeson'’s
bravura. He can pop out percussion sounds that rival a full drum kit, simulate
horns, and sing scat through complex chord changes and rhythmic meters.
Raised by deeply spiritual parents, Jarreau’s roots lie in gospel. He was drawn to
jazz, with its combination of creative freedom, blues and gospel structures, and
the propulsive drive of swing. During his five-decade-plus career, he has become
one of our most unique, eclectic voices; one of the globe's most popular artists;
and only the second person to win Grammy Awards in the jazz, pop, and

R&B categories.

—Don Heckman