I'm sitting patiently waiting for singer Jeffrey Osborne to call me back. We have played a horrible game of phone tag and now he's it. Osborne is one of my favorite male vocalists and the last time I saw him in concert here was around 1979. He'll be in Rochester on Sunday, November 15, for the fifth annual Jazz For The Park concert at the Kodak Hall of the Eastman Theatre, at 7 p.m., singing his numerous hits. I can't wait.
Osborne first came to our attention as one of four lead singers for the group, LTD. His newest CD is Jeffrey Osborne Greatest Hits Live. It doesn't really matter what he sings, that sultry smooth icon voice is amazing.
When the phone does ring and I hear that voice on the other end of the line; I know our interview is going to go well. At age 61, the Providence, Rhode Island native is very introspective about his career and accomplishments. "I haven't stopped working,' says Osborne, who finished in morning workout. "I'm working every weekend."
"I never thought I'd make a living doing something that I love," continues the youngest of 12 children. Music is in his blood. His father was a jazz trumpeter. "Singing has taught me a lot. It has taught me how to work with other artists, producers, and musicians. I started in this business doing background vocals and playing drums. I did what I had to do to live out my dream and keep income coming in."
Osborne, who has four grown children and five grandchildren, was asked to play drums for the group LTD when he saw them in his hometown. His mom had squashed his attempts to play with The O'Jays a few years earlier. This time she didn't.
He played with them for two years before they received a recording contract. "We had recorded two albums that people didn't know about," he chuckles. In those days, he shared an apartment with 10 guys. The group's album, LTD: Love To The World, that features the classic, Love Ballad was their big breakthrough hit. "I knew when I heard the album on the airwaves that we had made it. In those days, it was a struggle to get airplay."
Leaving the group, LTD was the hardest decision for him to make. "It wasn't a good split," he adds. "Leaving LTD wasn't something I wanted to do. A&M Records wanted me to do other projects and the group wouldn't let me because of the contract I signed with them. I couldn't record as a solo artist and couldn't write songs for other artists. The group told me that I wouldn't make it as a solo artist because no one new who I was or my name."
Osborne had to wait an entire year once he left the group to start his recording career. He recorded eight albums with LTD and nine albums as a solo artist. Osborne has also worked with numerous artists over the years like: Smokey Robinson, George Duke, and The O'Jays.
The sudden death of singer Michael Jackson took him aback. "I worked with Michael Jackson and toured with him. It was hard to believe that he left (this Earth) the way he did; it could have been avoided," he continues. "He perhaps was the best entertainer that I've ever seen. Sammy Davis Jr. was alright, but he didn't have Michael's chops or his massive pop appeal. MJ was one of a kind; they don't make singers like that anymore."
So what can Rochesterians expect during his concert? "Expect a little bit of everything that I've done," he says. "Old school is new again."
Posted By: Marsha Jones
Monday, November 9th 2009 at 4:51PM
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