"Hi, how are you"... With a breathy, slightly stretched velvet voice, Al Jarreau, the incomparable jazz vocalist who imitates instruments with his voice and goes from speaking to singing in a rapping manner, has his audience in his pocket right from the start. The guests who have gathered at the legendary Montreux Jazz Club on this beautiful summer evening are literally glued to Al Jarreau's lips. Because this is a great entertainer at work.
Better than listening to Ella Fitzgerald: being in love
The singing grandmaster opens the evening with two new songs, in his first song he describes the feeling of life in the big city - "11 million people, and yet you're alone...", and his second song is a teasing hymn to love ("Better than hearing Ella Fitzgerald is being in love...Better than hearing Ella Fitzgerald is being in love!"). Joe Turano accompanies Al Jarreau light-footedly and routinely, first on the Yamaha electric piano, later also on the concert grand, and often sings a snappy second voice. With this duo, Al Jarreau returns to his roots, as he explains. He performed his first concert in Montreux in 1976 as a duo, albeit by mistake at the time, as his band didn't show up, and so he established the ingenious duo form in which he can fully exploit his vocal improvisational talent.
"I would take my clothes off here if....."
The joy is written all over Al Jarreau's face, and he seems to get more energy with every song. He is hyper-present, and between songs he skillfully flirts with the audience. "I love to chill", he says as he leans back in his chair with relish, a bright Borsalino on his head, "I love to relax". "I only drink orange juice," he explains with cunning glee, after taking a sip from a large glass. "If I drank anything else, I'd take my clothes off here and put a lampshade on my head," he says, looking mischievously at the audience. He continues with a fast-paced mix of Jarreau classics such as "Take Five" and the jazz evergreen "Cold Duck Time", in which Super Star Al is at his best, chuckling and improvising, peppered with charming remarks about his pianist Joe Turano. ("Take your time, Joe"), when he didn't start the next song within seconds, and cheeky remarks to the audience: a couple arrives half an hour late for the concert, and Al Jarreau comments: "Oh, hi, nice of you to come! Sorry I started my concert on time..." the audience laughs, and then Al Jarreau comes up trumps with ballads. The singer introduced his famous song "We're in this love together" with the following words: "We're in this dream together here, you and I", referring to us, the audience. Yes, we really are, and when Magic Al sings "Wait for the magic", it almost brings tears to your eyes. Even in his old age, Al Jarreau's voice has an unbelievable, youthful freshness.
A duet with the young jazz talent Elina Engibaryan
Not everyone knows that Al Jarreau has also been active as a promoter of young talent at the Montreux Jazz Festival for several years. Last year's winner of the Montreux Jazz Academy in the "Voice" category had the great honor of opening Al Jarreau's concert on Sunday evening with a short program of her own, and in the second part of his concert, the singing old master invited her on stage for a duet. Together, Al Jarreau and Alina Engibaryan scatted their way through a Brazilian song medley of "Agua de beber" and "Mas que nada", which sounded amazingly light-footed and familiar.
After an emotional flight of fancy with Mister Al, he unfortunately comes to the end of his concert at some point. After a standing ovation from the enthusiastic audience, Al Jarreau sings "Summertime" by George and Ira Gershwin and says to the audience: "The Gershwins, they were immigrants from Russia. How did they actually know what these fields look like? And while Al Jarreau sings, he spreads his arms wide, he seems refreshed after this almost two-hour concert, and so are we. We would like to listen to this fascinating, captivating old master for much longer.
MONTREUX JAZZ FESTIVAL
30.06.-16.07.16, Montreux
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