The world lost a singular jazz vocal stylist when Al Jarreau died last February. The Milwaukee native’s ascent can be heard on Live... 1976. The German date on the singer’s first European tour, originally broadcast on Radio Bremen, finds him assaying self-penned material from his first three albums as well as lending his accessibly elastic phrasing and penchant for rigorous scat singing to remakes of numbers by Sly & The Family Stone, Dave Brubeck and Elton John (with a little Otis Redding on the side).
Hitting the stage hard with effusive energy, Jarreau also modulates into slower rhythms recalling pop/rock singer/songwriters of the times. Between all that and a rousing encore, he allows the piano trio backing him to get in plenty of engaging fills. Jarreau also has a bit of fun with the language barrier between him and the audience and wonders aloud as to his future as a major label artist since his first couple of long-players weren’t million-sellers. He need not have worried, as platinum-level urban contemporary and pop success beckoned not many years later.
Though Jarreau’s talent remained undimmed until his demise, Live finds him in hungry, artistically varied form, with all the elements of his future crossover notoriety already fully in play.
