Record of the Day: Al Jarreau, “Jarreau”

Al Jarreau, “Jarreau” (Cd Ie music 5578472)

The recording debuts of the American singer Al Jarreau seemed to aim to direct his career towards the world of jazz; records like “We Got By” and the double “Look to the Rainbow” showed us an interpreter endowed with prodigious vocal qualities and excellent improvisation skills, grappling with classical standards but also with pieces inspired by Brazilian music and his own compositions definitely quality. Under the expert guidance of producer Tommy LiPuma, who brought together the best sessionmen available on the scene around Jarreau’s voice, the results did not shake the foundations of the world jazz scene but were more than willing to be listened to.

Subsequently, the pressures of the record company and management (admitted several times by Jarreau himself) slowly but inexorably pushed him towards the sticky world of chart-topping pop, calculated on the table with the most à la page producers of the moment and designed to aim straight at the dollars. The meeting with the producer and arranger Jay Graydon was the one that (despite this irreversible commercialization process) gave the best results, always maintaining a certain musical dignity. Subsequently, Jay Graydon will also be defenestrated because he is not marketable enough and Jarreau will fall into the quicksand of the Smooth genre, distributing molasses just sprinkled with some jazzy aftertaste, good for waiting rooms and for the background in elevators.

This beautiful album is undoubtedly the best of his 80s pop period.

Graydon brings in a team of studio aces; with champions such as David Foster, Steve Gadd, Abraham Laboriel, Michael Omartian, Victor Feldman it is impossible to produce anything less than perfect, and in fact the creation of arrangements and sounds sparkles from the initial “Mornin'” for the entire duration of the album. The songs are all of excellent quality, scented with funk and pop (jazz in these years was already a memory), perfect for the radio or for dancing and there is no shortage of vocal bravura with the ballad “Not Like This”, from fascinating harmonic ride. It never goes into depth, but to have fun it’s difficult to find a better packaged product than this.

Carlo Boccadoro, composer and conductor, was born in Macerata in 1963. He lives and works in Milan. He collaborates with soloists and orchestras in different parts of the world. He is the author of numerous books on musical topics.

This text is taken from “Lunario della musica: A record for every day of the year” published by Einaudi, courtesy of the author and the publisher.