Album of the Day

Al Jarreau strikes an easy, confident pose on the cover of BREAKIN' AWAY and the music follows suit. The 1981 album was the singer's fifth studio set for Warner/Reprise, and at this point he'd perfected a seamless blend of genres – the collection topped the R&B and jazz charts and reached the pop Top 10. Along with producer Jay Graydon and associate producer Tom Canning, Al co-wrote half of these songs and makes the others – including standard “Teach Me Tonight” and crossover smash “We're in This Love Together” - his own with sublime phrasing. The cream of L.A. session players lend their talents to the platinum-certified BREAKIN' AWAY, which earned Jarreau a pair of Vocal Performance Grammys and remains among his very best albums.