Home News Local news Al Jarreau May Present Surprises at Reichhold

Al Jarreau May Present Surprises at Reichhold

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Sept. 27, 2005 – Al Jarreau, a five-time Grammy Award winner, is performing Saturday at the Reichhold Center for the Arts at the University of the Virgin Islands. His performance will include songs from all phases of his career; he said in an interview Tuesday, including songs from his 2004 album, "Accentuate the Positive."
"We put the performances together in a way that it's fun and exciting to watch," Jarreau said.
Proper attire for the concert includes dancing shoes, Jarreau joked. "You don't have to bring a smile, because that's what I'm there for."
He said he has never sat on a stool to sing, and he has never stood in one spot on stage during a performance. He described himself as a cardiologist who sings "music for your heart."
Now in his 60s, Jarreau's singing career has spanned six decades. He started singing when he was four, though he doesn't remember those days very well.
When he was four, "something was happening, and I can't explain it," he said. "But I was singing pretty good. I don't think I was the first Michael Jackson or that kind of singer-performer at the age of four, but I was singing little songs at church."
He has fleeting memories of people smiling at him and pinching his cheeks, but little else. "I think it happened pretty early that I understood my love for it, and I understood the smile that it brought to other people's faces," he said.
It wasn't until his teenage years that his music repertoire grew, and he considered singing as a career. "I was singing not only church songs, but now I was beginning to sing pop songs of the days, and I was starting to sing Broadway music as a member of the capella choir in high school."
One of his first paid singing gigs was with a dance band in his hometown of Milwaukee, Wis., where some of his relatives still live. The songs he remembers, he said, were "Moonlight in Vermont" and "Foggy Day in Londontown." "'It was pretty hip music for a teenager, even by today's standards it was considered pretty sophisticated stuff."
Jarreau has traveled all over the world performing, including an eight-week performance schedule this summer in Europe, but Saturday's performance marks Jarreau's first visit to the Virgin Islands. He said he has performed and visited other Caribbean locales.
"I'm kind of looking forward to making new friends and seeing new faces," he said.
Pamela Sanes, interim co-director at Reichhold Center, said Tuesday that all covered seats are already sold out. She urged anyone interested in seats in the other sections to call the Reichhold Center ticketing office at 693-1559 or go online at "www.reichholdcenter.com").
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