February 12, 2008
It’s two days before Valentine’s Day, and romance
is already in the air. How appropriate, and how lucky
for us, that the one and only Al Jarreau is in town promoting
his latest release, Love Songs. No
one sings a love song like Al Jarreau. Come to think
of it, no one can sing anything like Al Jarreau. He could
sing my last will and testament, and make it sound wonderful.
He’s playing the Birchmere, not a huge, cold, generic
venue. His style and personality are perfectly suited
for the intimacy of the Birchmere. Jarreau fans realize
this and scoop up tickets quickly and the show sells out. We
hope this is not the first and last time we see Al Jarreau
at the Birchmere.
He brings with him a full band, the lovely Debbie Davis, his
long-time background singer and duet partner, and a large bouquet
of roses to hand out to members of the audience. The
night is set for songs of love and romance, messages of hope,
and communion.
Jarreau opened with a brief medley of love songs, including
the classic “My Funny Valentine,” which he sung
with Debbie. “The Waters of March” was
a light and playful duet, also with Debbie.
Many of the audience members are like me; we’re huge
Jarreau fans. We’ve been listening to his music
for years; we know it and we love it, so when he sings songs
like, “We’re In This Love Together,” “After
All,” and “Mornin’,” it’s not
unusual for the audience to sing along with him. As a
matter of fact, he encourages it. While I love hearing
Al sing some of those classic songs, it’s always nice
to hear some that you don’t get to hear too often when
he’s in concert. “Wait for the Magic” is
one of those songs.
It would not be an Al Jarreau concert if he didn’t do
a little scatting. From the Givin’ It
Up CD, he scatted and vocalized his way through
the George Benson classic “Breezin,” and the crowd
favorite, “Take Five.” He ended this fantastic
show with “Cold Duck Time.”
When you have someone like Al Jarreau performing
at one of your favorite venues, you don’t ever want the
show to end. He is such a unique talent, you want to
be selfish and have him sing all night, despite the fact that
it’s
cold out, the roads are icy, and you really should be home
since it’s a “school night” anyway. (Besides,
Mr. Jarreau needs his rest, too.) He was nice enough
to give us a two song encore. Debbie joined him for the
lovely ballad “Let It Rain Tonight.” Then,
we partied with Al and the band for “Rooftop Garden.” Someone
once said that Al Jarreau is a national treasure, and they
were right. It was a great night.
- Mary Bentley
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