American - Musician | March 12, 1940 - February 12, 2017
I'm touched by rock n' roll. I'm touched by the Beatles. I want some of the music I do to reflect that.
Al Jarreau
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I'm touched by Jon Hendricks. I want some of my music to reflect that. And when I write, you're going to hear it.
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I'm this strange kind of fusion of jazz, pop, and R&B.
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Since the beginning of my recording career in 1975, I have had a little difficulty because the pop stations think I'm a jazzer who doesn't have a feeling for pop, so it's hard to get my records played. Similarly, black urban radio doesn't understand that with my R&B roots, I am more than a jazz singer. So I get pigeonholed.
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I'm saved every day by the intrinsic value of the work I do, which I truly enjoy.
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I was really learning my craft as a jazz singer and working with some great players and all, really growing and feeling my wings.
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There's a wonderful tradition of jazz people getting on stage and jamming and finding some feeling for music with audiences who may be fresh. For others, it might be just like a comfortable shirt they've been wearing.
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I don't know how much more what I've done is any more important than what Ella Fitzgerald did. Ella crossed those lines, as did George Benson before me. There've been lots of people who brought a pop audience to jazz because they were able to link the two and give people easy access to the world of jazz.
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Jazz should be recognized as music of the people, based in a lot of accents and melodies. What is jazz but music that people danced to? Jazz has the dynamic thing. I don't think you have to be playing only Charlie Parker licks on your horn or whatever the new version of that is.
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I am a distance runner, a marathoner... literally and figuratively.
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I can't imagine a more ideal life.
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I had five brothers and sisters. Four of them older, and some of them played instruments, and we would get together and have family recitals and raise money for the church. I belonged to a wonderful church community that encouraged me to sing.
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