A holiday gift is arriving early for Al Jarreau fans. A lost live album recorded by the Grammy-winning jazz/R&B/pop singer-songwriter at Washington, D.C.’s historic Childe Harold Club in 1976 is finally being released.
Titled WOW!, the rediscovered project is being released by Resonance Records. Recorded two years before a then-emerging Jarreau began his platinum-selling ascent, the 10-track set presages the late artist’s string of jazz-, R&B- and pop-vibed hits, such as “We’re in This Love Together,” “Mornin’” and the theme from the popular ‘80s television series Moonlighting. In another WOW! bonus, the set also boasts five songs never included before on a live Jarreau recording, among them: James Taylor’s “Fire and Rain,” Count Basie’s “Shiny Stockings,” plus early renditions of “Take Five” and “You Don’t See Me.”
It was Grammy-nominated producer Zev Feldman who discovered the lost recording. In an announcement about the live album’s upcoming release, Feldman recalls, “When I met Al in the early 2000s, I happened to be living in D.C., and we struck up a conversation where he told me the very first show he ever played there was at a place called the Childe Harold. Well, six months ago, I was at the home of the former operations director for WHFS radio, and he had this tape of Al’s D.C. debut — professionally recorded, mixed and mastered. It’s a tour de force. He’s absolutely swingin’ for the fences and has the audience in the palms of his hands. I can’t believe that after Al told me about this particular show all those years ago, we found the actual recording — an amazing set of circumstances!”
At that time in August 1976, as his vocal dexterity was gaining critical and fan acclaim, Jarreau had also released his sophomore album Glow for Reprise Records. And it was during that album’s release week that he performed in Washington, D.C., home to one of his budding fanbases thanks to local freeform FM station WHFS. For that live performance, Jarreau was backed by a trio led by his longtime collaborator, keyboardist Tom Canning. In an interview about WOW!, Canning notes, “Al was irresistibly funny, very upbeat all the time and a force of nature onstage. Above all, he was totally confident being Al Jarreau.”
Among the additional artists sharing their reflections on Jarreau’s vocal prowess and overall legacy are Dee Dee Bridgewater, Nile Rodgers, Earth, Wind & Fire’s Philip Bailey and Dionne Warwick. “Al’s legacy is his music and his musical ability,” says Warwick. “I’ve never met or heard anyone like Al — a consummate instrument above everything else.”
Resonance will release WOW! as a limited-edition two-album set on Nov. 29 as part of Record Store Day’s Black Friday event. A deluxe CD and digital download will become available on Dec. 6. The deluxe edition features an overview written by acclaimed music writer A. Scott Galloway.
Six-time Grammy winner Jarreau, who died in 2017, is the only singer to win the statuette in the jazz, R&B and pop categories. WOW! also brings to seven the total number of live albums that he recorded. Those six prior live albums are: Look to the Rainbow: Live in Europe (1977), In London (1985), Tenderness (1994), Live at The Half/Note 1965 with George Duke, Vol. 1 (2011), Al Jarreau and The Metropole Orkest Live (2012), and Live at Montreux 1993 (2016).