As a 16-year-old teenager, I tried to sing along to Roof Garden by Al Jarreau, impossible. What he made of "Does anyone wanna go waltzing in the garden?" was anything but clear lyrics. Because of Jarreau's great hit "Roof Garden" I went to Music Shop Frits Willemsen to buy the LP "Breakin' Away". It is also the only record I have bought by Al Jarreau. Like many others. His songs no longer appear in the Top 2000.
On 12 April, the album "Breakin' Away" was on our turntable at the Sunday Morning Classics.
Al Jarreau
Alwyn Lopez "Al" Jarreau (12 March 1940 – 12 February 2017) was an American jazz and pop singer. Al Jarreau was known for his often improvised scat singing and the ability to imitate musical instruments with his voice, including guitar and percussion. He is the only singer to have won Grammy Awards in three categories: jazz, R&B and pop.
As the son of a preacher, he gained his first singing experiences in the church choir. He first studied psychology at Ripon College, where he performed in the evenings in a singing group called "The Indigos". He graduated in 1962 and went on to study "Vocational Rehabilitation" at the University of Iowa. After this, he worked as a social worker but later decided to become a professional singer. In California, he performed with a jazz trio led by George Duke in small clubs. His first album was released in 1965. In the late sixties, he made some TV appearances, including on Johnny Carson.
Breakin' Away (1981) is his best-selling album. This album includes the hit "Roof Garden" and the song "We're in This Love Together".
In early February 2017, it became known that Jarreau wanted to retire for health reasons. He was admitted to a hospital in Los Angeles with exhaustion symptoms. Al Jarreau died a few days later at the age of 76.
Source: Wikipedia Photo: Stig Ove Voll
