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Country Club Hills, IL

Yo Country Club Hills… You were fabulous and amazing! Thank you so very much! My band says the same.

Country Club Hills is a pretty big suburb just south of Chicago, and I’d never been there or even known about it til now. I’ve really missed the boat.

There’s a beautiful 2 thousand seat outdoor amphitheatre, every seat a winner. It had rained just before our arrival at the venue, and we all wondered…

By showtime it was sold out and packed… with mostly first timers. You know how much I love that. They greeted me and the band with loud applause and audible cheers like a football game. And they showed their readiness for some early songs from the first recordings—shouted and sang along on “Sweet Potato Pie,” and really got the significance of the universal lesson we learn when people from the ‘other side of the tracks’ push beyond adversity and achieve; “We Got By.” Willie Luster and Sam Moore, from Milwaukee, were in the front row, quick to agree on that.

The band was on fire—They felt the audience, too. They boosted my ratings… Again!

I had fun with a couple of ladies in the front who had to go pee. Play the music good’n’plenty serious, AND have fun.

On Sunday morning, we did a Jazz Brunch on the radio with Rick O’dell of WLFM. We talked about my past and future, and sent a Hello out to Rev. Jesse Jackson, and congrats to the Chicago Blackhawks.

Now that’s a great weekend, folks! I could do that again next week!

Thanks, everybody.

Love, ALJ

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Morocco

We took a 5 hour flight from Los Angeles to NYC and hung out for 4 hours, then took an 8 hour flight to Casablanca, and drove for an hour to Rabat, the capital. Sound romantic? It is! Still, it is a long way for a gig. This is the Northwestern coast of Africa, a city on the coastline of the Atlantic, with Spain and the Mediterranean a stone’s throw to the North. Rabat is the capital of Morocco and is so modern and beautiful and contemporary as to make a Chicagoan feel at home.

The call to prayer happens 5 times a day and almost everyone responds. In the meantime, all the regular activities of the day precede and flow along with fewer church entanglements than Bloomington, Indiana. And I wish the 405 in LA (the main artery) was as smooth and well maintained. I was impressed, totally!
Everybody here looks like Joe Sample and Felicia Rashad, New Orleans Creole, beautiful people.

We opened the festival, but take a look at the coming attractions; Elton John, Sting, Julio Englesias, Carlos Santana, and two dozen other local and international artists. In its 9th year, this is brilliance of planning and organization par excellence! This makes a truly universal music festival for the local people, and most importantly sends the artists home with interactions and interconnections that will always recall where it happened.

We had a lively press conference the day before stage, with 35 or 40 people. Most questions were posed in French, with a translator… Smart, thoughtful questions that demonstrated not only their understanding of me as an artist, but of music and its hows and whys. We had fun, and Rim, our escort, was great and gracious. Thanks, Edgy!

Our performance was fun, but could have had more connection with the crowd. I think we were all caught off guard by the distance from the stage to the audience. Maybe it was real normal for them. In the end, they were well pleased and happy. And at the reception with Aziz, we all talked about returning next year. I would love that.

My sincerest compliments again to the City of Rabat and to the Festival Staff on a fabulous and well-organized festival of international and world rhythms.

Love,
Al and Band

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Spokane, WA

We went to Spokane Washington to The Northern Quest Resort and Casino. It was great! I could do it again tonight.

It was my first time in the Northeast area of the state. So when I asked how many first-timers were here, almost everybody raised their hands and they were all smiles and anticipation, and took in every note and nuance, and got it.

Their response was so enthusiastic and strong that I’m feeling refreshed and buoyed up just thinking about it.

The music market has sagged and lagged right along with other stuff. So it’s great when audiences show up and laugh and smile and clap and sing and share and spread joy.

They could have stopped and stayed at the blackjack tables but they walked into the concert room and joined the party. Thank you thank you thank you!

The band played ‘inspired.’ The eyes in the audience were like saucers, and their mouths flew open when Larry took his hands off the keys and played the flute… For the band, the new program of old thumb print material was a hit. I could feel the audience respond to the variety of the evening.

My gang is shouting out a great big thank you to all the casino staff and Kalispel tribe. You took real good care of us. I can’t wait to come back.

Thank you, Spokane, for a great time… “You start me up!”

Love,
Al

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Earl Klugh Weekend of Jazz at the Broadmoor

In Colorado Springs, with Earl Klugh as host, what an eye-popping breath-taking surprise setting! 6500 feet in the Rockies, with snow-capped Pike’s Peak in the background, sits this “Old Europe” style palatial manor estate.

Penrose Spencer from Pennsylvania struck it rich at Cripple Creek gold mine nearby, then traveled throughout Europe where I’m sure he must have seen the great castles and mansions which would be the prototype for the The Broadmoor. He bought the small Broadmoor Hotel and Casino, originally built it 1891, and in 1918 work began on the resort, now sprawling and expansive with 1900 employees.

The real unique thing is this collaboration between the resort hotel and the Jazz for a 3 day weekend with the guests getting 6 concerts of headliner artists and lots of smaller walk-in venues with duos, trios, and quartets. Each afternoon, there’s a Q&A session with the artists and fans, followed by a meet and greet hors d’oeuvres and champagne. It makes for a real intimate and personal contact between Jazz lovers and Jazz makers. Rare! My manager described it as “Kind of like a Jazz Cruise without the boat”—And I hope it catches on and expands.

God Bless Earl Klugh. The Klugh touch, as host, is so warm and personal and unpretentious that it feels like a family picnic with music. And so what happens is this opportunity for collaborations on stage between the weekend artist without Earl, and then with Earl. What an eye opening treat for the listeners! I saw it happen and was part of it on my night! Earl opened the evening with his special brand of intimate romantic acoustic guitar fire. His band was a counterpuntal flower garden and the audience screamed for more and got it.

We began with “Look to the Rainbow” from my 2nd album, whose message is to “Follow the fellow who follows a dream.” As an opener, it’s a cool bubbling middle groove burn as opposed to a hot hard-hitting socko buffo! But it pulls ya in onto the edge of your seat and at the end when I asked them to “follow me” and sing some jazzy little call and response lines, they were on it loud and enthusiastic. So off we jolly well went.

But the highlight was when Earl joined me to do his composition “This Time”—What a moment to behold! Hushed, silent church. And when Earl came back out to do the encore, the clapped and squealed like kids. “Agua de Beber.” They still weren’t through, so I asked Earl to please stay and find some “Sit in,” something to play on the double encore. In a flash, Joe Turano (keys and saxes) had found the sheet music and put it on Earl’s music stand. “After All.” He had never played this before, and they knew it. Earl was flawless, and they GOT IT! THEY GOT IT!

Volumes, in just a few short minutes.

Etc. etc. … We vowed to do it again. Thank you Earl, and thank you Broadmoor Jazz Weekenders!

Love,
Al

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New York, New York!

Manhattan, Brooklyn, Harlem, Long Island, Queens, Bronx, People from New Jersey, Upstate New York—What a rush!

We played the Nokia Theatre in Times Square with Christian Scott, a young prodigy trumpet player from New Orleans.

I arrived a day early and did some radio and TV to promote the concert. It’s a rare opportunity and I jumped all over it—Long day, but refreshing to find a continuing interest from media.

I’m sure God’s prayer log is overflowing into the universe with “Dear God, it’s Paris tonight… Lemme get it right; It’s LA, It’s London, It’s New York tonight… let me get it right” Soooo it was wonderful to be back in my hotel room sitting on the side of the bed at midnight blubbering and mumbling over and over again, “Thank you, Father, we got it right.”

This was only the second performance of the new program with the new approach and presentation (see last entry about Disney Hall in LA). We did some fixes at sound check, and did our cool new slow burn intro into Look to the Rainbow. Nokia was sold out.

NYC has been a home base, old friend core for me since the beginning, and they welcomed me back home. So satisfying! The band got it, too. We could feel the surprise and delighted reactions to Sweet Potato Pie, We Got By, and You Don’t See Me, all home base tunes.

It was warm and friendly all night long; Fire and Rain with John Calderon’s classical guitar intro was a big hit.

On stage, I mentioned the real big security guard at KISS FM who shook my hand with such sincerity that it melted my heart.

And I watched one of the most precious things ever happen right before my eyes… The beginning and growth of a new friendship—I know it was the first Al Jarreau concert for this lady in the first row. Tentative at first, then starting to smile and get the little nuances and humors in the music, and the different feelings and emotions to share. She took the ride and we blew kisses to each other at the end of the evening, acknowledging things—her husband, too.

Then there was one more mystical magical moment; Mark Simmons (drums) and I went back out, head to head, on one mic, for some two man vocal percussion. We do this all the time and it always dissolves into laughter because of some funny lick that we came to—Not tonight! Somehow we came up with the perfect tempo for Boogie Down, the encore closer. The band heard it and slammed right into the opening vamp. I was blown away!

Thanks for the magic, New York! We got it right!

Love, Al

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