Springing onto the stage Saturday night before an adoring audience, Al Jarreau, the first performer to officially open the new Edmonds Center for the Arts, got right to the heart of the matter.
“We’re gonna have a celebration here tonight!” he said enthusiastically. Then he and his backup band launched into a jazzy rendition of Elton John’s “Your Song,” improvising and adapting the lyrics to underscore the connection he creates between performer and audience. “How wonderful life is because you are in my world,” he sang, his arms outstretched to his fans as he enticed them to sing along.
Jarreau delivered a dynamic performance that was playfully energetic and extremely rhythmic. His voice was quite supple – elastic, you might say – covering an astounding range from falsetto to baritone. Perhaps some high notes weren’t as pure as they once were, but it didn’t slow him down at all. His scat singing technique made him a virtual one-man band, able to mimic impeccably any instrument, even the drums. His body moved, too, with an agility that belied his age (he’s nearly 67).
Many in the audience responded to his fluid style by clapping in time and swaying in their seats. By night’s end, those in the front rows of the center rippled back and forth like sports fans doing the wave, and soon the entire house hooted with glee and rose in standing ovations.
Jarreau was joined by bassist and musical director Chris Walker, drummer Mark Simmons, second keyboardist and saxophonist Joe Turano, keyboardist Larry Williams and guitarist Ross Bolton. As the show progressed, Jarreau graciously stepped aside and let his band members show off their own talents, which included their own vocals.
Jarreau, the winner of five Grammys, is the only artist in history to win in three different categories: jazz, R&B and pop. While most think of him as a pure jazz singer, he steadfastly sticks to a “hybrid” interpretation of those genres, refusing to be pigeonholed.
During Saturday’s performance, he offered an impromptu master class in scat singing. “Can you do that?” he asked his fans, coaching them to position their throat for various effects.
His opening medley included snatches from “Since I Fell for You”; the theme to TV’s “Moonlighting”; “Mornin’”; “Boogie”; and the 1981 hit “We’re in This Love Together.”
“I’m havin’ so much fun with music,” Jarreau said during the show. He later reiterated the notion. “Music,” he said, “makes you light as a feather. Music should send you out 10 pounds lighter.”
Other tunes included “After All,” a great scat rendition of Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five,” as well as the Lionel Hampton-Harold Arlen number “Midnight Sun.” The finale was a satisfyingly complete reprise of “We’re in This Love Together.”
Jarreau and company thought they were done for the evening, but the audience demanded and received encores that included a jazzy, vocal rendition of Bach’s “Air on G String”; a call and reply romp through the Brazilian infused melody “One Note Samba”; the sounds of Soweto in “Jacaranda Bougainvillea” (inspired by Jarreau’s travel to South Africa, where he worked to fight hunger); and the funk-inspired “Cold Duck.”
At one point, Jarreau asked to have the house lights turned up. “I just want to look at the beautiful people that have come out to support this wonderful building,” he said, calling the new Edmonds Center for the Arts a “petit bijou – a little jewel.”
“The arts are so important,” Jarreau said, “We’ve been given the amazing opportunity to create,” adding, “We’re different when we do that, uplifted.” He finished his thoughts by applauding the local Edmonds arts patrons for their “creative thinking to save this old place.”
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