Al Jarreau - Breakin' Away (1981) [2012 Light Mellow]

• Title: Breakin' Away
  
• Year Of Release: 1981 [2012]
  
• Label: Warner Bros. [WPCR-14479]
  
• Genre: Soul-Jazz, Smooth Jazz
  
• Quality: FLAC (*tracks + .cue, log, scans)
  
• Total Time: 00:41:05
  
• Total Size: 344 mb (+3%rec.)
  
• WebSite: Album Preview
  

Released in 1981, Breakin' Away is not only a great follow-up to This Time, it all but perfected the effort. With an amazing batch of songs, producer/artist chemistry, and top-level players, Breakin' Away became the standard bearer of the L.A. pop and R&B sound. "Closer to Your Love" comes off as a tougher, more confident version of the songs from the previous album. However, in short order, Breakin' Away assumes its own identity with brilliant results. Everything works so well here that the hit, the pleasing "We're in This Love Together," comes off as the weak link. "Easy," with its gorgeous and subtle Latin flourishes, has Jarreau's purposeful delivery coming off oddly poignant in its joy and beauty. The bittersweet "My Old Friend" has him giving a charming and understated reading with gorgeous synth signatures that speak volumes. Most of Breakin' Away has Jarreau in great spirits and giving one great performance after another, like the powerful and melody-rich title song. Like his best albums, this gives Jarreau plenty of room to exercise his chops. He struts through the funky and elegant "Roof Garden," and on the impressive "(Round, Round, Round) Blue Rondo a la Turk" he offers great scats and whimsical lyrics. For the final track, Jarreau brings new life to "Teach Me Tonight" and it has a sweeping, dreamy arrangement. Produced by Jay Graydon, Breakin' Away is a great album and informed a lot of Jarreau's subsequent efforts.

Tracks:

01. Closer To Your Love 3:57
02. My Old Friend 4:29
03. We're In This Love Together 3:47
04. Easy 5:26
05. Our Love 3:53
06. Breakin' Away 4:13
07. Roof Garden 6:21
08. (Round, Round, Round) Blue Rondo A La Turk 4:44
09. Teach Me Tonight 4:12

Personnel:

Al Jarreau - vocals, vocal arrangements
Jay Graydon - producer, arranger, engineer, guitar, synthesizer
George Duke - piano, arranger
David Foster - keyboards, string arrangements
Michael Boddicker - synthesizer
Billy Byers - strings, arrangements
Steve Lukather - guitar
Dean Parks - guitar
Abraham Laboriel - bass
Michael Omartian - synthesizer, Rhodes
Milcho Leviev - piano, arranger
Jeff Porcaro - drums
Steve Gadd - drums
Chuck Findley - trumpet
Jerry Hey - trumpet, horn arrangements
Lon Price - alto saxophone
Bill Reichenbach Jr. - trombone

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Smooth Jazz | Vocal Jazz | Soul | FLAC / APE | CD-Rip

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