Authentic Wisconsin.  Al Jarreau


Al Jarreau was born on March 12, 1940 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Al Jarreau - Jazz, R&B soul singer, musician, vocals, vocal percussion; Jarreau was born on March 12, 1940 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Al Jarreau grew up just south of Riverwest on Reservoir Street, west of Holton Street in Milwaukee. Jarreau's father was a Seventh-day Adventist Church minister and singer, and his mother was a church pianist. Jarreau and his family sang together in church concerts and in benefits, and he and his mother performed at PTA meetings.

Jarreau was student council president and the 1957 Badger Boys State delegate for Lincoln High School (A public high school in Milwaukee that was also briefly attended by Oprah Winfrey). At Badger Boys State (an eight day program that teaches young men about the civic processes of Wisconsin's government) Jarreau was elected governor. Another Wisconsinite, Daniel Travanti, Emmy award-winning actor best known for his role on televison show, Hill Street Blues, also attended Badger Boys State in 1957.

Jarreau went on to attend Ripon College, where he also sang with a group called the Indigos. He graduated in 1962 with a Bachelor of Science in psychology.

Jarreau was a six-time Grammy award winner spanning four decades. One of Jarreau's most commercially successful albums is Breakin' Away (1981), which includes the hit song "We're in This Love Together". He won the 1982 Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for Breakin' Away. In 1984, his single "After All" reached 69 on the US Hot 100 chart and number 26 on the R&B chart. Jarreau's last big hit was the Grammy-nominated theme to the 1980s American television show Moonlighting, for which he wrote the lyrics. Among other things, he was well known for his extensive use of scat singing (for which he was called "Acrobat of Scat"), and vocal percussion.


Awards and nominations include:

  • 1978 Emmy Winner: Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Look To The Rainbow
  • 1979 Emmy Winner: Best Jazz Vocal Performance, All Fly Home
  • 1980 Emmy Nomination, Best R&B Vocal Performance Male, Never Givin' Up (Single)
  • 1981 Emmy Winner, Best Pop Vocal Performance Male, Breakin' Away
  • 1981 Emmy Winner, Best Jazz Vocal Performance Male, Blue Rondo A La Turk
  • 1981 Emmy Nomination, Album of the Year , Breakin' Away (Album)
  • 1982 Emmy Nomination, Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompnying Vocal(s), Step By Step (Track)
  • 1984 Emmy Nomination, Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, Edgartown Groove (Track)
  • 1985 Emmy Nomination, Best R&B Vocal Performance Male, High Crime (Track)
  • 1986 Emmy Nomination, Best R&B Vocal Performance Male, Since I Fell For You (Track)
  • 1987 Emmy Nomination, Best Pop Vocal Performance Male, Moonlighting (Theme) (Single)
  • 1987 Emmy Nomination, Best Song Written Specifically of a Motion Picture or Television, Moonlighting (Theme from Moonlighting)
  • 1989 Emmy Nomination, Best R&B Vocal Performance Male, Heart's Horizon (Album)
  • 1992 Emmy Winner: Best R&B Vocal Performance Male, Heaven And Earth
  • 1994 Emmy Nomination, Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, Wait For The Magic (Track)
  • 2004 Emmy Nomination, Best Jazz Vocal Album, Accentuate The Positive
  • 2006 Emmy Winner, Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance, God Bless The Child
  • 2006 Nomination, Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, Breezin'
  • 2012 Nomination, Best Jazz Vocal Album, Live


For more information on Al Jarreau , visit Wikipedia.


Buy Al Jarreau album/CD music at Amazon. (Click on image below to browse.)

        

        



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Al Jarreau
"Acrobat of Scat"

Al Jarreau.


Above: Al Jarreau and Band live in Munich (1998).



Above: Al Jarreau All Fly Home download.



Above: Look to the Rainbow download.



Above: Al Jarreau in 1976 doing a little Scat.



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