Cover Story

February Issue 2007

When Al Jarreau’s Accentuate The Positive was released in 2004 he referred to it as the launch of the second half of his career. If the first two releases of this second phase are an indicator, we are in for the adventurous and entertaining ride that can happen when artistry and serendipity intersect and seeds that have been planted over the years come to fruition.

Accentuate The Positive reunited Jarreau with producer Tommy LiPuma and engineer Al Schmitt, both guiding forces during his early Warner Bros. recordings. The jazzed up blend

of standards and originals was nominated for a Grammy award and remains a standout in a market that is glutted with standards-driven releases. When word got out that he and George

Benson were going to work together, the first reaction was “of course.” It was such an obvious pairing; all you could do was wonder why it hadn’t happened before. Listen to Givin’ It Up and the answer is revealed. Things happen when they are supposed to and the perfect time for these two artists to hook up was now.

Benson and Jarreau’s career paths have mirrored each other, but the intersections have been few and far between. They both did solo sets at a Warner Bros. showcase in the mid-seventies when Benson had cracked the pop charts with Breezin’ and Jarreau was transitioning from cult figure to stardom. Almost 15 years later, they performed with Jon Hendricks on his Freddie Freeloader CD. They both recorded for Warner Bros. when it was peaking and segued to Verve/GRP just as that label was beginning to ebb. Benson had signed with Concord Jazz and Jarreau was label shopping when Concord president, John Burk, suggested a collaboration and set up a meeting. The chemistry that was present at that first meeting set the tone for the project – world-class musicians getting a chance to cut loose in an atmosphere permeated with friendship and fun.

Once the idea was on the table, things started moving at a whirlwind pace. “We met in late February or March and George and I looked at each other and said, ‘When do you want to do it? Let’s go!’ And that’s how it happened,” Jarreau explained. “At the next meeting, we started talking about songs and the fact that we needed to get it done before George and I started our summer tours. That meant, we went in to do the record in April and did it in five weeks. There was some mixing done later but we did the recording in less than 25 days, which was unbelievably fast. We found the beauty in that process because you trust your instincts and go with your first notions. You don’t second-guess yourself. There was so much spontaneity and improvisation in the creation of these songs and how they were put together. It was amazing. It felt as though the project was being guided.” Spontaneity proved to be an understatement. A comment made in conversation one day would inspire a song that would be recorded the next. At one point in time, Benson grabbed Jarreau’s coffee cup and started drinking it. Jarreau said “Don’t Start No Stuff!” They looked at each other and said “that’s got to be a song“ and track 12 was born. Jarreau co-wrote six of the songs on Givin’ it Up. Some had been works in progress that came into completion. Some were written on the fly. “I stayed up all night, sometimes going straight from my workshop at home into the studio. I was not going to let this moment pass.” By the time the final mixes were in the works, both artists were back on the road and working by email and shared sound files.

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