Al Jarreau: Jarreau (Warner Bros.)

ALTHOUGH POP has always seemed Al Jarreau's destiny, his disposition toward jazz kept getting in the way. It wasn't so much that Jarreau bopped when he should have rocked; rather, his prodigious chops and penchant for overly sophisticated songs found him continually emphasizing the wrong things. Since Breakin' Away, however, Jarreau has been working out a compromise between his craft and his commercial appeal, and with Jarreau he finally seems to have found the mix that will let him have his cake and hit records, too.