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Ellington (2-vinyl)

Al Jarreau & NDR Bigband

Ellington (2-vinyl)

Format: LP 12inch
Label: ACT music
UPC: 0614427906014
Catnr: ACTLP 90601
Release date: 01 November 2024
Buy at PlatoMania
2 LP 12inch
Buy at PlatoMania
 
Label
ACT music
UPC
0614427906014
Catalogue number
ACTLP 90601
Release date
01 November 2024
Album
Artist(s)
Composer(s)
EN

About the album

Al Jarreau always said he sang Al Jarreau music, and he truly was one of a kind: his six Grammy awards and nineteen nominations as ‘Best Vocalist’ cover no fewer than three categories – jazz, pop and R&B – in other words, musical genres didn’t really concern him. “Music may well fall into categories for other people, and I understand that,” he said, “but for me, if I like a song, I have to do it, and that’s that. If you come to my concerts, I sit on your shoulder and whisper in your ear. I open minds and walk through many doors.” This kind of rich, descriptive imagery evokes the flights of vocal fantasy which his singing was capable of at any moment. He could suddenly take a song in new and unexpected directions. He used to explain it thus: “If there is a backbone to what I do, it’s the jazz vernacular.”

Music, sounds and rhythm seemed to flow through him, and no wonder. Born in 1940 into a musical family, he was an above-average student, graduating with a Bachelor Of Science degree in Psychology and subsequently a Master’s Degree in Vocational Rehabilitation. And yet music was never far from him. Joining a trio led by pianist George Duke by the late 1960s, he was working towards making singing a full-time vocation in Los Angeles nightspots such as Dino’s and the Troubadour.

It was at this point that Siggi Loch, who back then was a high-flying executive at Warner Brothers Records (WEA), and who later went on to found ACT Records, first heard him. “I saw Al Jarreau for the first time in the Troubadour in Los Angeles in 1974 and was instantly hooked by his voice and his stage presence,” he recalls. “The next day I went to see Mo Ostin, President of WEA, to convince him to sign him.” After encountering initial resistance, Loch was given the go-ahead and Jarreau’s debut album for WEA, “We Got By”, was released in 1975. “I brought Al over to Germany before he had any success in the U.S.,” continues Loch. "Al performed for three nights in Hamburg and I managed to convince Michael Naura, the head of jazz at NDR to record the third night for live TV broadcast.” That show made Al famous in Germany overnight, and ever since that moment, he has always had a special place in the hearts of German audiences. “We Got By” won the German Record Critics’ Award and his first German tour sold out large concert halls.

It was followed by “Glow” (1976), which again was well-received in Europe, winning a second German Record Critics’ Award, but did not do so well in the United States, “That was aimed at ‘smooth jazz’ audiences,” said Loch. “It didn’t capture Al in front of a live audience. So I requested that his next release had to be a live album. Mo Ostin reluctantly agreed,” and “Look to the Rainbow” was a huge success in Europe, “When it was released in the US it became Al’s breakthrough album and won him his first Grammy, so it really is right to say that his career took off first of all in Germany!” says Loch.

Jarreau’s long association with NDR prompted Jörg Achim Keller, chief conductor of the NDR Bigband, to suggest a collaboration with the singer in 2016, “Doing a production with Al and Ellington’s music was something I had wanted to do since the early 2000´s,” he remembers. “Al’s reaction was very positive from the start.” Jörg prepared a list of some hundred Ellington titles and, as Jarreau later recalled, “We just went down the list, and it was a case of, ‘Oh, that one works for me,’ and ‘Let’s do this one as an old gut-bucket blues – what was important for me was to find myself inside the music and maybe make a different kind of statement about Ellington so people could hear the music in a different way from anything they had heard before.”

In writing the charts, Jörg was careful to respect Jarreau’s approach to the material by giving him space. Tracks such as ‘I’m Beginning to See the Light’ or ‘I Got It Bad (and that Ain’t Good)’ also give the band’s soloists headroom to give of their very best. “These are highly evolved, intelligent soloists who can play with anybody in the world,” said Jarreau. “They’re pushing me, and I love the push, and they’re making me sound like a real singer!”

Jarreau and the band toured the music during the latter part of 2016, “There was still some fine-tuning going on during the tour, from concert to concert,” Jörg added with a smile. “He loved doing those ballads – and each one had a different feel. ‘Come Sunday’ was very important to him, though. That chart was reworked twice before he was finally happy with it! On some songs, he went for a pure ballad style – ‘I Got It Bad (and that Ain’t Good),’ some tunes were put into a pop/R&B-bag (‘Lush Life,’ ‘Come Sunday’) and he loved that ‘old gutbucket blues’ feel of ‘I Ain’t Got Nothing but the Blues.’”

Looking back on those sessions and tour, Jörg says, “It was Al’s style and personality that held it all together. The whole thing was a true combination of Jarreau’s and Ellington’s musical mastery – it appealed to audiences all over Europe, they loved the programme.” This feeling is echoed by Siggi Loch, who caught Jarreau with the NDR Bigband in Paris, “It was obvious that he really enjoyed performing this music and he did it with so much energy and emotion, it was a joy to see and hear. Sadly, Al was to pass away only a few months later.”

In many ways, “Ellington” closes a circle: it feels very right that Jarreau’s final album should be released on ACT, the label founded by Siggi Loch whose strong and unwavering advocacy for the singer originally set him on the road to superstardom. And the fact that it was recorded by broadcaster NDR and their in-house big band is a fitting reminder that this was the very broadcaster whose TV programme had once made Jarreau famous in Germany overnight. Furthermore, just like “Look to the Rainbow” which was Jarreau’s international breakthrough album, “Ellington” was also recorded live. Sometimes there are threads of connection between events which at first appear to be unrelated, and the result turns out to be not just special and magical, but also meaningful and deeply affecting. It certainly has done here.

Artist(s)

Al Jarreau (vocals)

Al Jarreau’s unique vocal style is one of the world’s most precious treasures. His innovative musical expressions have made him one of the most exciting and critically-acclaimed performers of our time with seven Grammy® Awards, scores of international music awards and popular accolades worldwide.   It’s not surprising that he has perfected his technique to such an art. After all, he has been singing since the age of four, harmonizing with his brothers and performing solo at a variety of local events in his hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Music, however, was not always the major force in his life. He excelled in sports and was an above-average student throughout high school and college.   Enrolling at the respected Ripon College in Wisconsin, Jarreau continued...
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Al Jarreau’s unique vocal style is one of the world’s most precious treasures. His innovative musical expressions have made him one of the most exciting and critically-acclaimed performers of our time with seven Grammy® Awards, scores of international music awards and popular accolades worldwide.
It’s not surprising that he has perfected his technique to such an art. After all, he has been singing since the age of four, harmonizing with his brothers and performing solo at a variety of local events in his hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Music, however, was not always the major force in his life. He excelled in sports and was an above-average student throughout high school and college.
Enrolling at the respected Ripon College in Wisconsin, Jarreau continued singing for fun, performing locally with a group called The Indigos during weekends and holidays, and graduated with a Bachelor Of Science degree in Psychology. After moving on to the University of Iowa to earn his Master’s Degree in Vocational Rehabilitation, Jarreau subsequently relocated to San Francisco to begin a career in rehabilitation counseling.
In San Francisco, Al’s natural musical gifts began to shape his future. He found himself performing at a small jazz club with a trio headed by George Duke, and by the late 60s, he knew without a doubt that he would make singing his life. Relocating to Los Angeles, he began his apprenticeship in such famed nightspots as Dino’s, the Troubadour and the Bitter End West. Shortly thereafter, he branched out to New York City as well, where he gained national network television exposure with Johnny Carson, Merv Griffin, David Frost and Mike Douglas. Al teamed with guitarist Julio Martinez to “spell” up-and-coming comics John Belushi, Bette Midler, Robert Klein, David Brenner, Jimmie Walker and others at the famed comedy venue, The Improv.
In 1975, following an extended stint at the Bla Bla Cafe in Los Angeles, he was spotted by Warner Bros. Records talent scouts and was signed to a recording contract. His debut album for the label, We Got By, was released to unanimous acclaim. It was a reception that spread across the continent and over the Atlantic when Jarreau was awarded a German Grammy for Best New International Soloist that same year. A second German Grammy came his way with the release of his follow-up album, Glow.
Al’s career breakthrough came in 1977 when Warner Brothers Records released Look to the Rainbow , his live double album, which was culled from his first world tour from that same year, and earned the vocalist his first Grammy® for Best Jazz Vocal Performance.
His fourth album, All Fly Home, was released in 1978 to further accolades and a second Grammy for Best Jazz Vocalist. It was followed by a string of innovative and original offerings, including 1980’s This Time, and the million-selling Breakin’ Away, which brought him a broader audience and two more Grammy’s with awards for Best Male Pop Vocalist and Best Male Jazz Vocalist.
In 1983 Jarreau was released, followed closely the following year by High Crime. Both albums spawned a string of R&B and pop hits, and further cemented him as an internatio nal superstar. Al Jarreau- Live in London, recorded before a SRO crowd at Wembley Arena in 1985, continued to solidify Jarreau’s reputation as a world-class master of both studio and stage. Following the live album, Jarreau teamed with top producer Nile Rodgers for L Is For Lover, which brought some new styles and sounds to the singer’s repertoire.
He continued to top the stateside charts in 1987 and became a weekly guest in America’s living rooms singing the Grammy® nominated theme song for the hit television series Moonlighting.
With hardly time to take a breath, he launched into the recording of the Heart’s Horizon album, which contained the #2 R&B smash “So Good” and earned him another GRAMMY® nomination, this time for Best R&B Album. After touring the globe for nearly two years, he returned to the studio – this time with Narada Michael Walden – to fashion the sound that would launch him into his third decade of music-making. The result was 1992’s Heaven and Earth for which he received his fifth GRAMMY® for Best R&B Vocal Performance. With this, he became one the rare artists to have won GRAMMY’S® in the three categories of jazz, pop, and R&B.
In 1994, Tenderness was released. On this Marcus Miller-produced gem, Jarreau is joined by an all-star cast (David Sanborn, Kathleen Battle, Joe Sample, Steve Gadd, to name a few) to bring us a host of familiar contemporary compositions and to revisit a few Jarreau classics.
1996 brought some exciting career challenges. While on a break from touring, Jarreau accepted a three-month stint on Broadway playing the role of Teen Angel in the hit musical Grease! Other recent credits include guest star appearances on New York Undercover, Touched By An Angel and a national McDonald’s commercial with R&B sensation, Vesta Williams.
In 1999, for the first time, Al Jarreau teamed up with symphony orchestras throughout the U.S. and Europe performing his most popular hits as never heard before as well as some favorites from Broadway and the Classics, which received outstanding review. Al continues to perform symphony shows on a regular basis.
Called “the voice of versatility” by the Chicago Tribune and “one of the world’s greatest natural resources” by the Detroit News, Jarreau added a new chapter to his twenty-five-year recording career with Tomorrow Today (2001), his GRP Records debut.
Al Jarreau received his own Star on the “Hollywood Walk of Fame”, in March 2001, commemorating his status as one of the best singers of his generation.
Al spent the remainder of 2001 touring the United States, Europe and South Africa and working on his next album, All I Got (2002), where he teamed up with Verzion Telecom as a “Champion for Literacy”. This was followed on by the Grammy® nominated Accentuate The Positive (2004) on GRP Records/Universal Music Group.
Al’s 30th year in the music business saw another landmark with the pairing up with his peer the legendary R&B guitarist & singer, George Benson, for the album Givin’ It Up. Recorded in Spring of 2006, this record featured many guest artists including Herbie Hancock, Sir Paul McCartney, Jill Scott, Chris Botti and Patti Austin, amongst others musical veterans. Givin’ It Up was released to critical acclaim on October 24, 2006 by Concord Music Group/Monster Music and garnered 3 Grammy® nominations for; Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group, for “Breezin’” (nomination only), and two Grammy® wins in 2007 Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance for “God Bless The Child” feat. Jill Scott, and Best Pop Instrumental for “Mornin”.
Early in 2008, Al handpicked his favorite romantic tunes spanning three decades for his Love Songs, a 14-track compilation that was released in January 2008 on Rhino/Warner Music Group. He also helped the Playboy Jazz Festival celebrate its 30-year anniversary by headlining a sold-out opening night at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.
A few months later on October 14, 2008, Al released his first-ever Yuletide album, Christmas. The album features his warm and inimitable voice interpreting a dozen holiday classics, including ”The Christmas Song”, “Winter Wonderland” and “Carol Of The Bells”.
After more than 50-years, Al Jarreau is undoubtedly one of the greatest performers and innovative vocalists the music world has ever known. Time Magazine called him ‘the greatest jazz singer alive’ and ‘Excellent Adventure’ illustrates perfectly the reason why.

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Jörg Achim Keller (conductor)

Composer(s)

Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington influenced millions of people both around the world and at home. He gave American music its own sound for the first time. In his fifty year career, he played over 20,000 performances in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East as well as Asia. Simply put, Ellington transcends boundaries and fills the world with a treasure trove of music that renews itself through every generation of fans and music-lovers. His legacy continues to live onand will endure for generations to come. Winton Marsalis said it best when he said 'His music sounds like America.' Because of the unmatched artistic heights to which he soared, no one deserved the phrase “beyond category” more than Ellington, for it aptly describes his life as well. He was...
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Duke Ellington influenced millions of people both around the world and at home. He gave American music its own sound for the first time. In his fifty year career, he played over 20,000 performances in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East as well as Asia.

Simply put, Ellington transcends boundaries and fills the world with a treasure trove of music that renews itself through every generation of fans and music-lovers. His legacy continues to live onand will endure for generations to come. Winton Marsalis said it best when he said "His music sounds like America." Because of the unmatched artistic heights to which he soared, no one deserved the phrase “beyond category” more than Ellington, for it aptly describes his life as well. He was most certainly one of a kind that maintained a llifestyle with universal appeal which transcended countless boundaries.

Duke Ellington is best remembered for the over 3000 songs that he composed during his lifetime. His best known titles include; "It Don't Mean a Thing if It Ain't Got That Swing", "Sophisticated Lady", "Mood Indigo", “Solitude", "In a Mellotone",and "Satin Doll". The most amazing part about Ellington was the most creative while he was on the road. It was during this time when he wrote his most famous piece, "Mood Indigo"which brought him world wide fame.

When asked what inspired him to write, Ellington replied, "My men and my race are the inspiration of my work. I try to catch the character and mood and feeling of my people".

Duke Ellington's popular compositions set the bar for generations of brilliant jazz, pop, theatre and soundtrack composers to come. While these compositions guarantee his greatness, whatmakes Duke an iconoclastic genius, and an unparalleled visionary, what has granted him immortality are his extended suites. From 1943's Black, Brown and Beige to 1972's The Uwis Suite, Duke used the suite format to give his jazz songs a far more empowering meaning, resonance and purpose: to exalt, mythologize and re-contextualize the African-American experience on a grand scale.

Duke Ellington was partial to giving brief verbal accounts of the moods his songs captured. Reading those accounts is like looking deep into the background of an old photo of New York and noticing the lost and almost unaccountable details that gave the city its character during Ellington's heyday, which began in 1927 when his band made the Cotton Club its home.''The memory of things gone,'' Ellington once said, ''is important to a jazz musician,'' and the stories he sometimes told about his songs are the record of those things gone. But what is gone returns, its pulse kicking, when Ellington's music plays, and never mind what past it is, for the music itself still carries us forward today.

Duke Ellington was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1966. He was later awarded several other prizes, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969, and the Legion of Honor by France in 1973, the highest civilian honors in each country. He died of lung cancer and pneumonia on May 24, 1974, a month after his 75th birthday, and is buried in theBronx, in New York City. At his funeral attendedby over 12,000 people at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Ella Fitzgerald summed up the occasion, "It's a very sad day...A genius has passed."


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