A holiday gift arrives early for Al Zaro fans. A lost live album recorded by the Grammy-winning jazz/R&B/pop singer-songwriter at Washington's historic Childe Harold Club in 1976 is finally being released.
Titled AMAZING SUCCESS!, the rediscovered work is released by Resonance Records. Recorded two years before a then-emerging Jarreau began his rise to platinum sales, the 10-track set foreshadows the late artist's string of jazz, R&B and pop hits like “We're in This Love Together.” “Mornin” and the theme from the popular 80's TV series Moonlight. In another AMAZING SUCCESS! bonus, the set also features five songs never before recorded live by Jarreau, including: James Taylor's “Fire and Rain,” Count Basie's “Shiny Stockings,” as well as early performances of “Take Five” and “You Don't See”. My.”
It was Grammy-nominated producer Zev Feldman who discovered the lost recording. In an announcement about the upcoming live album release, Feldman recalls, “When I met Al in the early 2000s, I happened to live in DC and we struck up a conversation where he told me that the first show he played there was at a place called Childe Harold. Well, six months ago, I was at the house of the former director of operations for WHFS radio, and he had this tape of Al DC's debut — professionally recorded, mixed and mastered. It's a tour de force. He absolutely fights for the fences and has the audience in the palms of his hands. I can't believe that after Al told me about this particular show all those years ago, we found the actual recording — an amazing set of circumstances!”
By this time in August 1976, as his vocal prowess was gaining critical and fan acclaim, Jarreau had also released his second album Shine for Reprise Records. And it was during the week of that album's release that he appeared in Washington, DC, home to one of his budding fans thanks to local FM station WHFS. For that live performance, Jarreau was backed by a trio led by his longtime collaborator, keyboardist Tom Canning. In an interview for AMAZING SUCCESS!notes Canning, “Al was irresistibly funny, very upbeat all the time, and a force of nature on stage. Above all, he had complete confidence that it was Al Jarreau.”
Additional artists sharing their thoughts on Jarreau's vocal prowess and overall legacy include Dee Dee Bridgewater, Nile Rodgers, Earth, Wind & Fire, Philip Bailey and Dionne Warwick. “Al's legacy is his music and his musical ability,” says Warwick. “I've never met or heard anyone like Al – a perfect instrument above all else.”
Resonance will be released AMAZING SUCCESS! as a two-album limited edition released on November 29 as part of Record Store Day's Black Friday event. A deluxe CD and digital download will be available on December 6th. The deluxe edition includes an overview written by acclaimed music writer A. Scott Galloway.
Six-time Grammy winner Jarreau, who died in 2017, is the only singer to win the statuette in the jazz, R&B and pop categories. AMAZING SUCCESS! it also brings to seven the total number of live albums he has recorded. These six previous live albums are: Look at the Rainbow: Live in Europe (1977), In London (1985), Tenderness (1994), Live at The Half/Note 1965 with George Duke, Vol. 1 (2011), Al Jarreau and The Metropole Orkest Live (2012), and Live in Montreux 1993 (2016).
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/al-jarreau-lost-live-album-wow-release-record-store-day-black-friday-1235827044/
