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With five Grammy awards in three different
vocal categories on his mantle and more than 25 years of touring under his belt,
singer Al Jarreau is still fueled by what can best be described as restless versatility.
He's as much at home headlining a
jazz festival as he is on a pop tour or performing to an R&B crowd.
And the nature of his universal, somewhat
commercial appeal matches the music that bubbles inside him.
"It is not so much a challenge
for me as a need for certain voices in me to take flight and be heard," says
Jarreau. "It is genes and chromosomes for me. I almost don't have a choice in
wanting to do -- at one moment -- a lyric for (Chick Corea's composition) 'Spain'
and (Dave Brubeck's) 'Blue Rondo A La
Turk.' And then in the next moment,
wanting to do my own pop song called 'Breakin' Away.' And in the next moment, being
excited about coming up with funky little tunes."
Jarreau, 59, began his recording career
in obscurity in 1965 as a jazz singer but captured the public's fancy 10 years later
with the first in a long string of albums for Reprise and Warner Bros. records.
Along the way he netted five Grammy
awards, becoming the only vocalist in history to garner those honors in jazz, pop
and R&B categories.
His debut this week on the GRP label
with a new recording called "Tomorrow Today," is his first studio session
in five years. And it is just as versatile in style and approach as the man who made
it.
There's funk, there's the feel of
a Latin dance party, some creative jazz material of his own design and others, and
some contemporary jazz collaboration from saxophonist Boney James and trumpeter Rick
Braun.
One highlight with tremendous crossover
possibilities is his duo collaboration with singer-actress Vanessa Williams on "God's
Gift to the World," a tune that might get under your skin much like the "We
Are The World" humanitarian music project did a decade ago.
The tracks with the most jazz appeal
include his own poppish "Flame" and a hybrid piece called "Something
You Said."
On the latter tune, Jarreau wrote
lyrics for the classic Weather Report ballad "A Remark You Made."
He also did a humorous a capella version
of The Crusaders' "Put It Where You Want It," which is retitled here as
"Puddit."
"'Something That You Said' is
real high on my list of personal favorites," says Jarreau, "because it
is such a marvelous tune. It was a challenge finding a lyric that would be acceptable
for a listener who would be familiar with the original music.
"Weather Report just turned everybody
inside-out with their approach to music," Jarreau says. "It was neo-classic
jazz music written by contemporary fusion groups, dipping into past funk, that was
initiated by beboppers and all."
The title track, "Tomorrow Today,"
is a sneaky tune. Its infectious Samba beat makes you want to get up and dance, yet
threaded through it and beneath all the energy is a sombering, repetitive message.
It's a reminder that we need to think now about tomorrow -- about homelessness, joblessness,
child
neglect and even the environment.
"I didn't want to do a party
song salsa, but a message song salsa that would stick out as a sore thumb,"
Jarreau said. "I think the lyric will get more discovered by people who buy
the album, listen over and over, and look at the wording on the printed page. I like
the boomerang approach to the writing. It
invites people in, allows them to
get comfortable, and then there is a message if they care to listen to it."
Jarreau says "God's Gift to the
World" is a tune by Mike Himmelstein and Terry Sampson that his wife, Susan,
had been bugging him to record since they first heard it 12 years ago. He and Williams
sang it with a backing choir of innocent children's voices -- some in tune, some
out of tune.
"The duet is really the way to
bring the powerful message home. Vanessa is just a stroke of God in this. She heard
the song, made herself available and just sang so very well in this production of
it. It takes a special insight to see that this might be a good thing for her to
do," he said.
In addition to his big voice, Jarreau
has "big ears" as a listener. He is disturbed by the commercialism of "superpop"
but finds glimmers of promise everywhere, including rap and hip-hop.
"Somewhere in that new tradition
of rappers is a Langston Hughes, a Spike Lee, a James Baldwin waiting to burst forth.
There are university literature classes that are studying the 'poetry' of these guys.
If nothing else, it is a social commentary on the culture of our times. It is a description
of what
is going on in center city these days,
so there is some value there. But the amount of negative message is disturbing to
me."
He is an ardent fan of today's younger
jazz singers, including Diana Krall, Kevyn Lettau, Diane Schuur, Kevin Mahogany and
Kurt Elling.
"But commercially, their music
is not very exciting to the record executives and labels who want to cash in."
He might want to revise that list
that given Krall's multiple Grammy nominations this year in pop and jazz categories.
Big labels are reaching out to cool jazz singers again, which won't hurt Jarreau's
career either.
So he is on the road promoting his
album this spring. He's also looking ahead to future projects, which he says may
include a big band jazz album, a trio session and perhaps even a duet project with
a string of instrumentalists and singers he admires.
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