Jarreau, Al

African-American singer of jazz and popular music; b. Milwaukee, March 12, 1940. Jarreau graduated with a psychology degree from the University of Iowa, then went to San Francisco, where he worked as a rehabilitation counselor. He began singing in local clubs, quickly garnering a following with his flexible vocal technique and warm, sometimes even ecstatic performance style.

Jarreau gained particular attention with his album We Got By (1975) and then toured Europe (1976), becoming one of the most popular jazz singers of the day. Other successful albums of this period include Look to the Rainbow (1977) and All Fly Home (1978). His audience changed substantially in the mid-1980s, when his songs and vocal style became less adventurous owing to an emphasized and often mundane disco beat. Albums dating from this later period include High Crime (1984) and L Is for Lover (1986).