Rachelle ferrell rachelle ferrell in Jazz Vocal Music

"Live at Montreux" (04/09/2002) Jazz Vocal Ferrell, Rachelle, Blue Note Records (USA)Personnel includes: Rachelle Ferrell (vocals, piano); Claude Nobs (spoken vocals); George Duke (arranger, keyboards); Eddie Green (piano); Brian Simpson (keyboards); Jonathan Butler (guitar); Tyrone Brown (bass); Doug Nally (drums). Recorded live at The Montreux Jazz Festival, Montreux, Switzerland between July 15, 1991 and July 12, 1997. Includes liner notes by Bruce Lundvall and Rachelle Ferrell. All tracks have been digitally remastered. Ah, the LIVE AT MONTREUX album, the gold watch of jazz. It seems like once a musician or vocalist has spent a few decades in smoky clubs and roughneck juke joints, they get to fly to Switzerland and make a dignified (read: dull) recording in front of a respectful (read: bored) audience. It's a tradition. That singer Rachelle Ferrell made her LIVE AT MONTREUX album only three albums into her career is surprising. That it's her finest work yet is nothing short of amazing. On early albums like 1989's FIRST INSTRUMENT, Ferrell seemed hesitant to find her own voice, too often relying on familiar phrasing even on original songs. Perhaps this was just studio nerves, because on stage only two years later (nine of these 12 songs were recorded in 1991 with the Earl Green Trio, with the remainder coming from a 1997 date with a big band), Ferrell reinterprets a fine set of standards and works wonders on her original songs, particularly an excellent version of her signature tune, "I'm Special," with George Duke on keyboards. The three later tracks are even better, as they show the result of several years of vocal experimentation on Ferrell's part; her phrasing is remarkably free, but never as mannered as her contemporary Cassandra Wilson can be at times. Far from being a staid, boring run-through of tired material, Rachelle Ferrell's LIVE AT MONTREUX is a revelation.

"First Instrument" (04/04/1995) Jazz Vocal Ferrell, Rachelle, Blue Note Records (USA)Personnel: Rachelle Ferrell (vocals, piano); Eddie Green (piano); Kenny Davis (bass); Tyrone Brown (stick bass); Doug Nally (drums); Terence Blanchard, Alex Foster, Gil Goldstein, Wayne Shorter, Michel Petrucciani, Pete Livin, Stanley Clarke, Lenny White. Recorded at Kajem Victory, Gladwyne, Pennsylvania; Broadway Productions, Englewood, New Jersey; Sound On Sound and Chelsea Studios, New York, New York between December 1989 and February 1990. FIRST INSTRUMENT is Rachelle Ferrell's first album. It was released in Japan in 1990, but not made available in the U.S. until 1995. Only once every generation or two does a talent like Rachelle Ferrell's emerge, and after a listen or two to FIRST INSTRUMENT, you'll find it hard to believe that these tapes have been bouncing around since 1990. One can only wonder why, because Ferrell's instrument and her ear for interpretation are utterly unique. And while one can easily point to influences and antecedents, when all is said and done, Rachelle Ferrell is an original. To get an idea of how original, flip directly to cut number nine, "Don't Waste Your Time." Beginning with cuica-like percussive accents over a shifting Afro-Cuban/swing pulse, Ferrell descends into her rich lower register to distance herself from a suitor's scheming and dreaming. She returns after the piano solo with elaborate horn-like arpeggios, first descending then ascending, shading her notes with expressive colorations and Coltraneish harmonic modulations, before leaping into an unearthly altissimo register for a clear whistling tone that must have Lassie doing cartwheels. Ferrell's extraordinary stylings might suggest Sarah Vaughan's limitless top-to-bottom range ("Expressions") and Ella Fitzgerald's swinging rhythmic virtuosity ("Bye Bye Blackbird") to some well-travelled listeners. And like those two great stylists, Ferrell is often less concerned with the song's theatrical attributes than with its melodic contour and harmonic possibilities--as a jumping off point for her phenomenal variations. On "You Send Me" and a remarkable "My Funny Valentine," she fuses her dramatic and melodic approaches in the service of the song, while a traditional set of blowing changes--such as Cole Porter's "What Is This Thing Called Love?"--is treated to an exploratory slam-dunking.

"Rachelle Ferrell" (09/08/1992) Jazz Vocal Ferrell, Rachelle, Capitol/EMI RecordsPersonnel: Rachelle Ferrell (vocals, piano, keyboards, horns, strings, organ); Will DOwning (vocals); Michael J. Powell (guitar, percussion); Paul Jackson, Jr., Kevin Eubanks, Mike Campbell, Carlos Rios (guitar); Oscar Brashear (trumpet); George Bohannon (trombone); Barry Eastmond, Vernon Fails, Brian Simpson (keyboards); George Duke (keyboards, strings, percussion, background vocals); Freddie Washington, Al Turner, Larry Kimpel, Anthony Jackson (bass); Ricky Lawson, Buddy Williams, Doug Nally (drums, cymbals); Paulinho Da Costa (congas); Steve Thornton (percussion); David I. Ward II, Paul D. Allen (programming); Jim Gilstrap, Carolyn Perry, Lori Perry, Darlene Perry, Sharon Perry, Lynn Fidmont-Linsey, Josie Jones, Alex Brown (background vocals). Producers: George Duke, Michael J. Powell, Barry J. Eastmond, Rachelle Ferrell.