Category : diary

San Ramon and Campbell, CA

San Ramon

A good way to get to San Ramon is to fly into the San Jose, CA airport. Wow, I’ve been in San Jose and around San Jose since the early 60s, and I just realized that I had never been to that airport. It’s beautiful. Modern and comfortable, progressive state of the art architecture, and UN-crowded! We spent the night at a nearby airport hotel, and traveled to San Ramon and to Campbell, CA by car.

It was about an hour and a half drive to San Ramon, directly opposite and inland of San Francisco in the East Bay. It’s so important to remember that there is an audience of people who individually decided years ago that the big city is too much for them, and they live in small communities outside the city. And so, as artists and performers, it’s a good thing to make a reach for them by going to them. And they appreciate that effort so very very much…. You can feel it in their response.

It turns out that the San Ramon city council has a heart that beats just like mine. And I told Mayor Abram Wilson from the stage to take credit for it, even if it didn’t happen on his watch, because it’s brilliant. The Windemere community and Dougherty Valley built a brand new performing arts facility into the local high school, so that it’s near the kids. The high school has music and arts and dance.

We did an intermission evening and I said, “I sure am glad because I have to go to the bathroom right now.” It was a wonderful first half, and they really got the report on the State of the Rainbow Address… All that music from the early We Got By and Look to the Rainbow period of my life.

In the second half, a married couple on my left very freely chimed in, “Al, we got married in 1981, and you couldn’t come to the wedding, but our first dance was to one of your songs.” They had seen me many times at the Greek in Berkeley. I’ve been especially touched here recently with Larry William’s unexpected excursion into some solo piano work, which reminds everybody that I’m not doing this alone. (“Al Jarreau Got People!”) And in moments, Larry begins playing the very recognizable opening bars to We Got By.

All in all, it was a great night, a great first meeting for me and the people of San Ramon/Dougherty Valley.

I met with the mayor and friends afterward, and they gave me a gift bag with a note from the city council, and a medal, and some goodies.

Thank you, San Ramon!
Love, Al

Campbell

I said “Campbell! MM, MM GOOD!”…. All night long. They got it. That was fun. San Ramon and Campbell are models for the country in how the city has made new facilities in high schools and used old facilities in high schools for performing arts. This has the effect of focusing attention on the local high school and the kids who attend.

I sang Fire and Rain from the far right side of the stage during soundcheck, as I normally never do. And then during the performance, I spotted a young girl 13 years old who sat in the front row on that same far right hand side of the stage, and I walked right back over there and sang to her 9 feet away. I sang a little three-note melody asking “What’s your name?” She replied right in tune—“Madison”—- I told her how happy I was to see her. Moments later I sang Fire and Rain directly to her. For me, this set the tone for the whole evening, warm and personal with the audience relaxed and responsive. They sang!

Joe played masterfully the Soprano sax. He sent Coltrane home early. It was really wonderful and again, John Calderon in his moments just sparkled like sunshine off the water, and even when we were powering along, unlike the really quiet moments, John really sparkled great.

Midge from The Blah Blah Café (1972-3) sent a note and came backstage with Michaela. We didn’t, but it felt like we were holding hands and jumping up and down with laughter.

What a great weekend in the East Bay area. Thank you, Louis, our promoter, and everyone who came that night.
Love
Al

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Cerritos and Pepperdine University

I call it home! Anyplace within 30 or 40 minutes of Los Angeles, I call home. In fact, Patrick and I drove there from my house.

“I’m refueling and recharging the batteries and all systems,” is what I told them. I’m here to report on the “State of Rainbow.” My State of the Rainbow Address. You guys were there before the beginning. My cousin Melanie said, “Yes, I’m here, Al.” She knew me from Milwaukee days. She lived in Buffalo then.

So just generally speaking, and specifically, too, these folks saw me in local restaurants and clubs before I signed my first record deal with WEA, Warner Electra Atlantic in Burbank, on Olive. They heard “We Got By” just moments after it was written. They encouraged me to go on out there and do it.

So I’m back home 35 years later, and giving my report on The State of The Rainbow…. In short, my hundred meter times are not the same, but my marathon is kickin’. We got some of the best music performance reviews I’ve ever had in my life. Susan and I get on the phone and celebrate and rejoice and give thanks every night for this continuing rainbow ride. She was there before the WEA contract, too. And worked in those little clubs and restaurants where I sang on stage. Every day is Thanksgiving.

So maybe you can imagine how wonderful it felt to see my new agents Rick, Zach, and Michelle from ICM… My grin still hurts. At the Pepperdine performance, Jerry Levin, my first tour manager, and his wife Diana, came backstage surprising me after the show. No words can express what pictures flew through our minds as we hugged and said wow to each other. The audience stood and gave a serious standing ovation at least twice on each night during the performance… and at the end as well. During the performance is unusual… I like it.

Dear Cerritos Center—I love your house! Let’s do it again, soon.

Dear Pepperdine University—I love your Smothers Brothers Theater. In fact, I love the Smothers Brothers, too. I love the feeling of your campus and neighborhood. So open and refreshing. Can we do it again tomorrow?

Great back-to-back home games. Thank you!

Love,
Al

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Texas Weekend

Longview

Here we are in Texas again after only one short year. That’s wonderful to be able to return to any neighborhood and have the local promoter expecting a full house. And once again, we began the Texas run with a visit to the ever-fabulous laughing and fun Tom Joyner program in Dallas. At 7:45am. Well…. I was in the gym at 6am. I must be taking crazy pills.

The Red Velvet Cake Studio, Tom’s place, is like a trip to Disneyland for grown-ups—Everything but a roller coaster. Puffy stuffed multi-colored walls, and over-sized dolls and furniture, and toys that make you feel like a five-year-old. And there’s Tom on the other side of the console, smiling and laughing and bobbing his head to the music with this expression on his face that still says, “I can’t believe this is happening to me!” And all of his audience and listeners get that. We talked about everything and had a good time.

Then off we went to rehearse in Longview at LeTourneau University, where we would play the following night. I truly wish we were doing more colleges and universities. As we walk across the stage, right there center stage, commanding everybody’s attention was a baker’s dozen red roses in a beautiful vase. (Last time, she brought a dozen and reminded me that we laughed about the “Baker’s Dozen.”) Just to her right was a lady with a sign two feet tall and five feet long with wonderful gazette-type script with the title of a song. This set a wonderful tone for the entire evening… Warm and friendly with a Longview audience hanging out with me for the first time.

Once again, this new program that is a kind of ‘rainbow ride’ through the very first music that I recorded and sang for any audience anywhere was a big hit. We Got By, You Don’t See Me, Sweet Potato Pie, and Look to the Rainbow. Felt new again. The band just sparkles and flashes doing this music… Audible gasps when Larry plays flute and John solos on acoustic guitar, and Joe makes them forget about Sanborn and Coltrane when he plays soprano.

We signed a bunch of CDs afterwards in the lobby, and I kissed some hands and shook some babies. ☺

Richardson

Very unusual day in that we drove passenger vehicles from the last engagement. Very unusual! Normally when there is a drive, we make that drive on a touring bus. So there we all were in a passenger van, rolling along on the road by noon and having a fun time—the whole band. That was great, even though we lost our way for a few minutes.

I had never been to Richardson, Texas, and both I and the audience really enjoyed this first meeting and hand-shake, so to speak. I hope you don’t get bored with my continuously speaking about new situations and new audiences that we’re meeting for the first time. New faces, new venues, new situations equal new inspirations for me and the band. And if it’s new for us, it’ll be new for the audience.

We did an intermission evening that was casual and un-hurried and had that “long evening with Al Jarreau” effect. The audience was wonderful, and we all had a great night. We signed CDs in the lobby after the performance. There was a very helpful usher making sure everyone was in order (Thank you!) and someone even proposed, down on one knee with a ring and all, to his sweetheart—right there in front of me! NED and BJ PIERRON, classmates of mine from Rippon College, were there. We hugged and cried and hugged and cried, and did a lot of smiling, too. And dear sweet Valerie Strong was there, showing me pictures of her baby. We worked on the literacy program just a few years ago—Verizon—A million books to a million kids. And probably more in dollars to literacy programs around the country.

Thank you, Richardson, TX—Let’s do this again!

Austin

We had another wonderful van drive, me and the band, with me enjoying my exercises/vocal warm-up program. I have always felt something missing in my touring with never having a date in Austin, TX. If you don’t know, boys and girls, let me tell you that this is a music center and music capital of the world that rivals Los Angeles, New York, Memphis, and MoTown in its very own special way. Flattering to be invited.

So a real big thank you to Hartt Stearns, our promoter, who did a short, classy introduction of me and the group. (I love that first name Hartt.) Riverbend Center is an amazing venue. It feels like the Berlin Philharmonic but instead of a pipe organ behind the performers, there were windows looking right outside.

The audience was warm and friendly and musically smart. They caught all the nuances spoken and played. Feeling loved and appreciated by this audience was truly thrilling for me. I told Hartt I’d like to come back tomorrow.

Marion Jones, the Olympic Track star, was there and hung out after the show for 15 minutes to offer me her own special hello… She said she’d been listening to me for a very long time… Hello! My old assistant Chris Floyd’s mom was there and brought 15 guests and bought CDs for all of them, and hugged me like I was her big brother. Thank you, Marilyn. Thank you, Hartt. Thank you, Austin.

What a wonderful weekend!
Love,
Al

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Beaver Creek

Rocky Mountain high Colorado! We went to Beaver Creek in the heart of the winter season, in the general community that’s called Vail, where every hundred feet there’s a two hundred room ski lodge. We hit the ground running with two interviews once we arrived. There are very few concert-goers who are residents in the area, so guests coming from afar don’t know until they get there who is entertaining. So, last minute media was important. Everybody was thrilled that we were sold out.

I think all of our gang was surprised to hear the lineup of artists who have just appeared and those expected to appear. You’d have thought the M.C. was referring to the Monterey Jazz Festival rather than snow-bound Beaver Creek. … Susan loved it. She cuddled up in bed, slept like crazy, and ordered room service.

The Vilar Center was a performing arts venue like you would find in downtown Denver or Boulder. And even though it was constantly snowing, with a couple feet already on the ground, the theater was filled, and there was an electric air of anticipation. Have a beer in your seat, too!

You’ve often heard me say how wonderful and special it is to be surprised by the enthusiastic response to one’s music from an audience that could so easily not know who you are and be into an entirely different type of music. Well, they fooled me again. They seemed like Monterey Jazz Festival listeners. And the promoter at the venue was over the moon, he and his staff and friends particularly pointing at the band and declaring how tight they were as a unit, and in their reactions to and with me as we played.

Well as you might guess, with everyone being so pleased, we were almost in unison saying, “Let’s do it again.” And we will. Thank you, Kris Sabel, thank you, Vilar, and all you guests from everywhere in the US.

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Happy New Year/Years In Review

From the Webmaster:
In a recent conversation with Al, he mentioned his surprise at the number of people who were directly asking him what he’s been up to. I’ve decided to provide a recap review of Al’s work since releasing his ‘Best Of’ collection cataloguing everything from the first record forward. The following will be a hopefully brief review since that release in 1996.

I realize that most of the people who visit his website regularly are up-to-date on what’s been going on, reading his blog and getting updates. But so that there is a more personal and detailed roundup all in one place beyond what’s in the bio, this update is being put together.

Over just the past 3 years, Al has released 3 albums, toured in hundreds of cities including those in over 30 countries, and in the process has shared his music with millions of fans. His multinational appeal and love for exploring different cultures has brought him to many new areas that he’d never visited, from small towns like Vauvert, France to huge countries like China. As his career has progressed, so has his interest in finding new listeners by bringing the music to them personally.

In 2008, he released as a Valentine’s gift to his wife the appropriately titled Love Songs album, featuring several of his favorite love songs with a uniquely Jarreau twist. Later that same year, he recorded a long-requested Christmas Album, that with arrangements from some of his closest friends and musicians, captivates and blends brilliantly the spirit of both musical intricacy and festive playfulness that embodies Al as a person and as a singer. The following year, hearing regular requests for hard-to-find songs from out-of-print albums, Al put together a compilation of some of his favorites to date, and even snatched the opportunity to share some new music he’d been working on. A bonus track, Excellent Adventure became to the title song for the new collection, Excellent Adventure: The Very Best of Al Jarreau. Even when Al’s on the road and not focusing the bulk of his effort on an upcoming album release, he is always finding time to practice his passion for songwriting, as evidenced by his collaboration in late summer 2010 with Brazilian Italian keyboardist Eumir Deodato. In the middle of his 6 week European tour, Al was approached to collaborate on a song. Upon hearing it, he immediately set out to write a lyric, and a few short weeks later in Germany, he recorded the song Double Face, which reached top ten in several countries’ Jazz charts. He is currently in the studio working on an entirely new album to be released in 2011.

The release of a new album always brings about new touring opportunities, and that is exactly what happened after the release of the Jarreau/Benson project Givin’ It Up. In 2008, Al and George continued a tour they had started a year earlier, and this time extended deeper into Southeast Asia. Very surprisingly, in all Al’s years of touring, he first stepped foot into China on this tour. Other untouched shores were reached in 2008, including Guyana, Guadeloupe, and Latvia. He had begun a concerted effort to visit new people and look them in the eye and thank them for listening to his music for so many years. This effort continued into the following two years, with tours planned specifically to visit small out-of-the-way towns in Germany, Austria, and France, in addition to those larger cities that Al has always enjoyed visiting since his early career.

With so many concerts, and Al’s passion for performing, it is hard to pick out just a few highlights over the past few years. (But I will.) In 2008, Al performed in tributes to Aretha Franklin and Quincy Jones, both of whose tremendous impact on the music industry Al appreciates, and wanted to acknowledge in the best way he knows how. That same year, he headlined the Playboy Jazz Fest at the Hollywood Bowl with Herbie Hancock. A year later, he shared The Greek Theater with long-time friend Brian McKnight, who years earlier when he was a kid was listening to and making music in Al’s living room. And in 2010, Al performed for the first time in Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. More than just one concert, he brought his career to somewhat of a full circle in 2010 in performing on several occasions with the George Duke Trio. He and George first performed together in the 1960s as young aspiring musicians in San Francisco. This mini-tour of dates is a precursor to a planned larger tour accompanied by the release of vintage live recordings from their early days together. It will give perspective on where they have come from and their early influences on each other.

Outside of performance, Al is very often invited to act as a judge or special guest in various formats, and over the past few years, has judged for the Montreux Jazz Festival and the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, appeared on Nouvelle Star (Star Academy) in France, and very proudly gave a fundraiser concert at homecomings at his alma mater Ripon College. He continues to spread his music and spirit wherever he goes.

Incidentally, it’s New Year’s Eve, and I’m glad to be doing this type of review at this time of year to celebrate the past and open the door to the future. Happy New Year!

2000 –TOMORROW TODAY RELEASED

2001
-Concert with longtime friend and Hungarian native Les Czimber in Budapest
-Michael Jackson 30th Anniversary Concert in NYC

2002 –ALL I GOT RELEASED

2003
-First performances in Korea, Tahiti, Fiji, Noumea
-Established Tom Cheeks Memorial Scholarship Fund at UWM
-Tom Joyner Fantastic Voyage Cruise

2004-AL’S JAZZ ALBUM ACCENTUATE THE POSITIVE RELEASED
-Verizon’s “Champion of Literacy” campaign
-First performance in Nigeria
-Appearance on Tavis Smiley Show

2005
-First performance at Kremlin, with Larissa Dolina and George Duke
-First performance in St Thomas
-First performance on Grand Cayman and Trinidad

2006-GIVIN’ IT UP RECORD WITH GEORGE BENSON RELEASED
-American Idol finals performing with Paris Bennett
-Ripon College Homecoming concert
-First performances in Mexico City, Tunisia, & Morocco
-Concert to launch “Freedom of the Seas” cruise ship
-Judged Montreux Vocals Competition

2007-WON 2 GRAMMY AWARDS WITH GEORGE BENSON FOR GIVIN’ IT UP ALBUM
-World Tour with George Benson
-Judged Montreux Vocals Competition

2008-LOVE SONGS COMPILATION & AL’S FIRST AND ONLY CHRISTMAS ALBUM
-Southeast Asia tour, including first performances in China
-First performances in Guyana, Guadeloupe, Latvia, Armenia, Slovakia
-Headlined Playboy Jazz Festival
-Appeared at Quincy Jones tributes at Montreux Jazz Festival & NYC
-First concerts with Holland’s Orkestra Metropole
-Judged Star Academy for France Television
-Appearance on Tavis Smiley Show

2009- AN EXCELLENT ADVENTURE: THE VERY BEST OF AL JARREAU RELEASED
-First performance in Estonia
-First Performance in Disney Hall in Los Angeles
-Performance at Greek Theater w/ Brian McKnight

2010
-First performances in Malta, Croatia
-First Concerts with George Duke Trio since 1960s
-Collaboration with Deodato on “Double Face”
-Judged Thelonious Monk Jazz Vocals Competition
-First performance with USAF Airmen of Note big Band

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Chicago Urban League Gala

Last Saturday we capped off a wonderful week on the road with a visit to Chicago to perform at the Chicago Urban League’s Annual Gala. It was a huge room decorated with the most beautiful golds and deep reds and softly shifting mood lighting—and just filled with people dressed to the nines, all there to celebrate and support the work of the Urban League. The event was hosted by Angela Bassett, whom I’d met only once before, while we were both sitting on the aluminum bench outside of LAX waiting for rides years ago. We saw each other again on Saturday and exchanged friendly hellos and again that memory—What a sweetheart, it was great to see her again.

I told the Urban League’s CEO and President Angela Zopp before the show something that I was moved to share several times with the audience from the stage: “Urban League—I know you. And I owe you.” And that’s the truth. I grew up in Milwaukee, a short paddle up the coast of Lake Michigan from Chicago, and the Milwaukee Urban League played a great part in my childhood. I used to play in Lapham Park, which was right there on ninth street by Vine, surrounded by a group of public buildings, including the library, which had a great basketball court, and the junior high school where all of my older brothers and sisters attended. On the other corner was Ninth Street Elementary School. Just behind the library 50 yards away is Roosevelt Junior High School. Right in the middle of all those public buildings, so important to the community, was the Milwaukee Urban League—Yeah. I know you, and I owe you. I passed that building every time I went to my church, which was several times a week.

A great big parenthesis: If this gets said, it’s not often enough. There was a time when each city’s community of African Americans/Black People shared a neighborhood that was smallish and centralized. The laborer in the steel mill lived around the corner from the attorney, and down the street from a surgeon, and the husband and wife renting the flat upstairs were both teachers: One at the university, and one at the high school. What a powerful impact on the neighborhood. Amazingly, the growth of suburbia, urban development, and CIVIL RIGHTS may have had an unexpected side effect in the dismantling of an amazing institution called the Hood. And in that respect, any ‘Hood,’ Irish, Italian, German, et cetera et cetera, is a truly wonderful place that may be lost and gone forever as we assimilate into the general culture, so that now the general culture, the broader ‘Hood,’ must take us under its wings and provide us those broader familial teachings and learnings, encouragements and examples that we desperately need. I’ll stop here.

I very much enjoyed seeing the crowd in Chicago. Singing songs like We Got By and We’re In This Love Together, songs they’d heard me sing a Bajillion times, but THIS TIME, I was standing there in front of them, and they were singing right along. That’s magic. I got to be a part of their community for that night. Thank you, Urban League, for inviting me to be a part of your special evening. I’m flattered and honored.

Love, Al

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