Jazz legend Al Jarreau headlined the Iowa City Soul Festival in September of this year.
While he was in Iowa, he stopped by the University of Iowa campus for a conversation with River to River host Ben Kieffer. Jarreau earned a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling from the University of Iowa in 1964. He moved to California after graduating, where his music career took off. He says he’d always been interested in singing.
“Well, when you grow up in the church and you sing, when those ladies come up and kiss your cheeks… it leaves an impression.”
Jarreau got his start performing in Iowa at “The Tender Trap,” formerly a locally owned jazz club in Cedar Rapids.
This special broadcast was recorded before a live audience earlier this fall at the Lindquist Center at the UI.
