UJD | Artist of Interest (AOI): Al Jarreau LIVE - with the Metropole Orkest

2012-06-27T20:23:40.571Z

LIVE on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Al-Jarreau-Metropole-Orkest-Netherlands/dp/B00899CH1Y/?tag=widgetsamazon-20 Al Jarreau on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AlJarreauOfficial

Al Jarreau playing his iconic songs live with the Metropol Orkest (w/Vince Mendoza conducting): "Spain (I Can Recall)," "Cold Duck," "We're In This Love Together", "After All" & more.

Al Jarreau has little interest in boundaries or preconceived limitations. Since the mid-1970s, this versatile singer has applied his distinctive and instantly recognizable vocal style -- a unique combination of lyrical swing and captivating vocalese -- to a broad spectrum of musical genres. With this eclectic approach, he has earned much success along the way -- enough to position him as the only vocalist in history to claim Grammy Awards in the three distinct genres of jazz, pop and R&B.

After nearly five decades of recording and performing, at an age when many artists are coasting if not retiring altogether, Jarreau continues to take his music to new and different places, literally and figuratively. The most recent chapter in this journey is Al Jarreau and the Metropole Orkest - Live, a collection of the best performances from a two-night engagement at the Theater aan de Parade, located in Den Bosch, Netherlands. The recording finds Jarreau onstage with a 53-piece orchestra from northern Europe whose collective expertise encompasses the best elements of classical music, American jazz and all the nuanced places in between. Al Jarreau and the Metropole Orkest -- Live is set for release on Concord Records on June 19, 2012.

Led by conductor and arranger Vince Mendoza (winner of numerous Grammys in his own right), the album makes its way through 11 songs from Jarreau's vast body of work -- but this time with full orchestral arrangements that force even the most die-hard Jarreau fan to hear them in a new way.

"A lot of people will have heard these songs before, but never in quite this way," says Jarreau. "This orchestra places them in an entirely new setting. There are new phrases and interpretations here. There are solos that they didn't hear on the original recordings. What comes through loud and clear is that you can reinvent and reinvigorate and restore existing music and make it into a completely contemporary experience."

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UJD | Artist of Interest (AOI): Al Jarreau LIVE - with the Metropole Orkest