1993 Archive

Al Jarreau – Live At Montreux, 1993 – Eagle Records

by Audiophile Audition | Sep 20, 2016 | Jazz CD Reviews

Al Jarreau – Live At Montreux, 1993 – Eagle Records ER203992, 71:02 ****:  A sure-footed musical exploration by Al Jarreau at his peak. (Al Jarreau – vocals; Paulinho Da Costa – percussion; Steve Gadd – drums; Eric Gale – guitar; Marcus Miller – bass; Philippe Saisse – synthesizer; Joe Sample – keyboards; Patches Stewart – horns; Stacy Campbell, Sharon Young, Jeff Ramsey – backing vocals) Early in his career, a jazz critic described Al Jarreau as “a singer with an orchestra in his throat”. When this album, Live At Montreux, was recorded on July 6,1993 at a performance at The Montreux Jazz Festival, Jarreau was 53 years old and in full control of his vocal facilities. The set list was a stroll through material with which Jarreau was fully familiar, yet also had a number of tunes that were new to his repertoire. Additionally the back-up band had a number of stellar and accomplished musicians, including drummer Steve Gadd, bassist Marcus Miller who been an integral part of one of Miles Davis’ groups, and keyboardist Joe Sample who was one of the founding members of the 1960 hard-bop band The Jazz Crusaders. Jarreau persuasively begins the outing with his 1981 […]