An early holiday gift for Al Jarreau fans. A lost live album by the Grammy Award-winning jazz/R&B/pop singer-songwriter that he recorded at Washington, D.C.’s historic Childe Harold Club in 1976 has finally been released.
title Wow! The rediscovered project is distributed by Resonance Records. The 10-track album, recorded two years before the then-up-and-coming Yarrow began his platinum-selling ascent, heralded a string of jazz, R&B and pop-inflected hits for the late artist, such as “We’ re in This Love Together,” “Mornin'” and themes from popular 1980s TV series part time. in another Wow! In addition, the album also features five songs that have never been included in Jarreau’s live recordings, including: James Taylor’s “Fire and Rain,” Count Basie’s “Shiny Stockings,” as well as early renditions of “Take Five” and ” You Don’t See》me.
Grammy-nominated producer Zev Feldman discovered the missing recordings. In an announcement about the live album’s upcoming release, Feldman recalled, “When I met Al in the early 2000s, I happened to be living in Washington, D.C., and we had a conversation and he told me about his first gig there. There was a show at a place called Childe Harold. Well, six months ago, I was at the house of the former operations director of WHFS Radio, and he had this tape of Al’s DC debut – professionally recorded, mixed and mastered. Processing. It’s a masterpiece. He absolutely gives it his all and has the audience in his hands. I can’t believe we found out about the actual recording after Al told me about this particular show all those years ago. Amazing environment!
In August 1976, with his vocal dexterity gaining critical and fan acclaim, Jarreau released his second album glow For replay recording. It was during the release week of that album that he performed in Washington, D.C., where one of his budding fan bases had gathered thanks to the local free FM station WHFS. For this live performance, Jarreau is backed by a trio led by his long-time collaborator, keyboardist Tom Canning. talked about in an interview Wow!Canning noted, “Al was very funny, always upbeat and a force of nature on stage. Most importantly, he was confident about being Al Jarreau.
Other artists have also shared their thoughts on Yarrow’s vocal abilities and overall legacy, including Dee Dee Bridgewater, Nile Rodgers, Earth, Wind & Fire , Philip Bailey and Dionne Warwick of Wind & Fire. “Al’s legacy is his music and his musical ability,” Warwick said. “I’ve never seen or heard anyone like Al – a perfect instrument above all else.”
Resonance will be released Wow! A limited edition two-album set to be released on November 29th as part of the Record Store Day Black Friday event. A deluxe CD and digital download will be available on December 6th.
Yarrow, a six-time Grammy Award winner who died in 2017, was the only singer to win statuettes in the jazz, R&B and pop categories. Wow! It also brings the total number of live albums he has recorded to seven. The six previous live albums are: Looking up at the rainbow: life in Europe (1977), in london (1985), tenderness (1994), Live at The Half/Note 1965 with George Duke, Vol. 1 (2011), Al Jarreau and Metropole Orkest live (2012), and Live in Montreux 1993 (2016).
