Al Jarreau’s Diary from Europe April 2009

As we fly out of Moscow, it’s Easter Sunday and we’re closing out the 3rd week of a 6 week Spring Tour in Europe and it’s time for some halftime thank-yous and acknowledgments.

We started the tour with 9 dates in Germany: Tuttlingen, Munich, Mainz, Bochum, Hannover, Wiesloch, Bremerhaven, Bielefeld, and Nordhorn. What? You don’t know these cities? Not to worry–I was first-timing in many of them myself! I wish I could tour America so thoroughly and completely. Danke Deutschland yet again. Danke Hennning

We went on to France, and played Marseille, Lyon, Nancy, Lille, Paris, and Nice, keeping a long-time promise to tour more thoroughly in France. The reaction was strong everywhere, with Lille on their feet most of the night. Paris was over-the-moon fabulous… I wept long into the morning and called home. (Merci Bernard!)

The band is brilliant, solos sparkling, with ensemble interplay tight and catapulting. We’ve developed this segment where I get out of the way and they just let it rip. It’s a thrill for our whole company to watch our new guitarist John Calderon and new bass player Stanley Sargeant step in and claim those roles, and then go on to redefine them. The “process” is confirmed and reaffirmed….

We followed Elton John, Andrea Bocelli, and Buenavista Social Club into a brand new venue in Moscow called the Barvikha Luxury Village, with about 700 seats. Thanks, Alex. You keep coming up with new situations and occasions.

Vienna was about as magical as any dancer in “the dream” could hope for; hot and attentive and responsive–And they rushed the stage.

There are some real, true fine arts Meccas in the world. Vienna is one of them… Literature, theatre, dance, painting, sculpture, music, and science, etc. for hundreds of years. To be repeatedly invited back says it all. Thank you, Erich Zawinul, promoter. Yeah you know that last name, Joe’s son.

Nine more dates in this refreshing Spring season. Linz, Budapest, Imst, Lucerne, Tallinn Estonia, Copenhagen, Espoo Finland, Oslo, and Stockholm.

Stay Tuned, Al