{"product_id":"ellington-4","title":"Ellington","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAl Jarreau\u003c\/strong\u003e always said he sang Al Jarreau music, and he truly was one of a kind: his six Grammy awards and nineteen nominations as ‘Best Vocalist’ cover no fewer than three categories – jazz, pop, and R\u0026amp;B – in other words, musical genres didn’t really concern him. “Music may well fall into categories for other people, and I understand that,” he said, “but for me, if I like a song, I have to do it, and that’s that.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIf you come to my concerts, I sit on your shoulder and whisper in your ear. I open minds and walk through many doors.” This kind of rich, descriptive imagery evokes the flights of vocal fantasy which his singing was capable of at any moment. He could suddenly take a song in new and unexpected directions. He used to explain it thus: “If there is a backbone to what I do, it’s the jazz vernacular.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMusic, sounds, and rhythm seemed to flow through him, and no wonder. Born in 1940 into a musical family, he was an above-average student, graduating with a Bachelor Of Science degree in Psychology and subsequently a Master’s Degree in Vocational Rehabilitation. And yet music was never far from him. Joining a trio led by pianist George Duke by the late 1960s, he was working towards making singing a full-time vocation in Los Angeles nightspots such as Dino’s and the Troubadour.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt was at this point that Siggi Loch, who back then was a high-flying executive at Warner Brothers Records (WEA), and who later went on to found ACT Records, first heard him. “I saw \u003cstrong\u003eAl Jarreau\u003c\/strong\u003e for the first time in the Troubadour in Los Angeles in 1974 and was instantly hooked by his voice and his stage presence,” he recalls. “The next day I went to see Mo Ostin, President of WEA, to convince him to sign him.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAfter encountering initial resistance, Loch was given the go-ahead and \u003cem\u003eWe Got By\u003c\/em\u003e, was released in 1975. “I brought \u003cstrong\u003eAl\u003c\/strong\u003e over to Germany before he had any success in the U.S.,” continues Loch. Al performed for three nights in Hamburg and I managed to convince Michael Naura, the head of jazz at NDR to record the third night for live TV broadcast.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt was followed by \u003cem\u003eGlow\u003c\/em\u003e (1976), which again was well-received in Europe, winning a second German Record Critics’ Award, but did not do so well in the United States. “That was aimed at ‘smooth jazz’ audiences,” said Loch. “It didn’t capture \u003cstrong\u003eAl\u003c\/strong\u003e in front of a live audience. So I requested that his next release had to be a live album. Mo Ostin reluctantly agreed,” and \u003cem\u003eLook to the Rainbow\u003c\/em\u003e was a huge success in Europe.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e“When it was released in the US it became \u003cstrong\u003eAl\u003c\/strong\u003e’s breakthrough album and won him his first Grammy, so it really is right to say that his career took off first of all in Germany!” says Loch. \u003cstrong\u003eAl Jarreau\u003c\/strong\u003e’s long association with NDR prompted Jörg Achim Keller, chief conductor of the NDR Bigband, to suggest a collaboration with the singer in 2016, “Doing a production with \u003cstrong\u003eAl\u003c\/strong\u003e and Ellington’s music was something I had wanted to do since the early 2000´s,” he remembers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn writing the charts, Jörg was careful to respect \u003cstrong\u003eJarreau\u003c\/strong\u003e’s approach to the material by giving him space. Tracks such as ‘I’m Beginning to See the Light’ or ‘I Got It Bad (and that Ain’t Good)’ also give the band’s soloists headroom to give of their very best. \u003cstrong\u003eJarreau\u003c\/strong\u003e and the band toured the music during the latter part of 2016.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eLooking back on those sessions and tour, Jörg says, “It was \u003cstrong\u003eAl\u003c\/strong\u003e’s style and personality that held it all together. The whole thing was a true combination of \u003cstrong\u003eJarreau\u003c\/strong\u003e’s and Ellington’s musical mastery – it appealed to audiences all over Europe, they loved the programme.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn many ways, Ellington closes a circle: it feels very right that \u003cstrong\u003eJarreau\u003c\/strong\u003e’s final album should be released on ACT, the label founded by Siggi Loch whose strong and unwavering advocacy for the singer originally set him on the road to superstardom. And the fact that it was recorded by broadcaster NDR and their in-house big band is a fitting reminder that this was the very broadcaster whose TV programme had once made \u003cstrong\u003eJarreau\u003c\/strong\u003e famous in Germany overnight.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFurthermore, just like \u003cem\u003eLook to the Rainbow\u003c\/em\u003e which was \u003cstrong\u003eJarreau\u003c\/strong\u003e’s international breakthrough album, \u003cem\u003eEllington\u003c\/em\u003e was also recorded live. Sometimes there are threads of connection between events which at first appear to be unrelated, and the result turns out to be not just special and magical, but also meaningful and deeply affecting. It certainly has done here.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Act Music","offers":[{"title":"Black LPx2","offer_id":50531464249675,"sku":"2220747","price":32.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50531463987531,"sku":"2220745","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/image.php_c54c38ae_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1728108833","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/de\/products\/ellington-4","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}