Home » Jazz Articles » Al Jarreau: The Very Best of: An Excellent Adventure

388

Album Review

Al Jarreau: The Very Best of: An Excellent Adventure

By

Sign in to view read count
Al Jarreau: The Very Best of: An Excellent Adventure
Al Jarreau is the most successful jazz singer of his time and has enjoyed a career that spans four decades. Oddly though, Jarreau has been never been represented with a career-spanning compilation, and his fans have been patiently waiting for a comprehensive overview.

They will have to keep waiting. An Excellent Adventure casts a wider net than the now out-of-print Best of Al Jarreau (Warner Brothers, 1996), but with only 16 tracks is far from definitive. There's too much good stuff missing; "Since I Fell For You," with Bob James and David Sanborn, and Jarreau's duet with Oleta Adams, "Waters of March," are two cuts that should be here. There is nothing at all from All Fly Home (Warner Bros., 1987), L is For Lover (Warner Bros., 1986), Tenderness (Reprise, 1994) or Heaven and Earth (Reprise, 1992). For the hardcore fan these are conspicuous omissions, but for those looking to scratch a bit deeper than just Jarreau's hits, An Excellent Adventure is as good as it gets for now.

Everything that might be expected on a retrospective of this seven-time Grammy-winning vocalist is here, including "Roof Garden," "We're In This Love Together," "Mornin'" and "Boogie Down." Two welcome additions Jarreau's "Just To Be Loved," from Tomorrow Today (GRP, 2000), and "Cold Duck," from Accentuate the Positive (GRP, 2004) featuring bassist Christian McBride.

The earlier Best of Al Jarreau collection had 16 songs. An Excellent Adventure does as well, but here compilation producer Fiona Frawley makes the smart decision to go deeper by including 1975's "We Got By" from the Reprise album of the same name, and "Rainbow In Your Eyes," from Glow (Reprise, 1976). These two selections serve as reminders of Jarreau's early jazz roots and act as bridges between his early jazz recordings and later mainstream R&B and pop hits.

Finally, Jarreau's vocal tour de force, "(Round, Round, Round) Blue Rondo A La Turk," is the ultimate showcase of his scatting skills and perfect phrasing. A lot of vocalists would tie their tongues into knots trying to pull off what Jarreau does with the Dave Brubeck classic. The Grammy that Jarreau took home for Best Male Jazz Vocal Performance, for this astonishingly bravura performance, was well-deserved.

There are a few problems that keep An Excellent Adventure from perfection. The most obvious one is the clunky and disappointing closer, "Excellent Adventure," a new recording which isn't the least bit excellent and sounding like a leftover from one of Jarreau's less inspired sessions. Frawley's decision not to sequence the songs chronologically is puzzling, as are the omission of any credits for musicians for the other 15 tracks.

Jarreau's discography is rich and varied enough to easily justify a multi-disc or box set. While it's nice to hear the digital remastering of Jarreau's songs, An Excellent Adventure is too piecemeal to truly be "the very best" of Al Jarreau. Hopefully, one day, Warner Brothers will see fit to produce the truly comprehensive representation of Jarreau's career that he deserves.

Track Listing

After All; Moonlighting; Never Givin' Up; Roof Garden; Spain (I Can Recall); Take Five (edit); We're In This Love Together; Rainbow In Your Eyes; Just to Be Loved; Cold Duck; We Got By; Boogie Down; (Round, Round, Round) Blue Rondo A La Turk; Mornin'; So Good; Excellent Adventure.

Personnel

Al Jarreau: vocals. Various musicians, including: Randy Bowland: guitar (16); Adam Blackstone: bass (16); Chris Farr: sax (16); Matt Cappy: trumpet (16); James Poyser: keyboards (16); Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson: drums (16); Dan Sadownick: percussion (16); Mercedes Martinez: backing vocals (16).

Album information

Title: The Very Best Of: An Excellent Adventure | Year Released: 2009 | Record Label: Rhino

Post a comment about this album


FOR THE LOVE OF JAZZ
Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who create it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

WE NEED YOUR HELP
To expand our coverage even further and develop new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for a modest $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination will vastly improve your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

Tags

More

Vibes on a Breath
Ted Piltzecker
Humanoid
Rachel Eckroth
Nine Rivers
John Blum
Eclectic
Jonathan Karrant

Popular

Double Portrait
Giuseppe Millaci and the Vogue Trio
Afro Futuristic Dreams
Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids
Pharoah (Box Set)
Pharoah Sanders
Dynamic Maximum Tension
Darcy James Argue's Secret Society

On the record

Vibes on a Breath
Ted Piltzecker
Eclectic
Jonathan Karrant
Brazilian Match
Luiz Millan
Double Portrait
Giuseppe Millaci and the Vogue Trio

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.