Jazz Articles about Russell Ferrante

Russell Ferrante Trio: Inflexion

by Jim Worsley
January 1, 2021

Pianist, composer and arranger Russell Ferrante has been on the jazz scene for decades. He has worked with everyone from Lee Ritenour to Joni Mitchell to Al Jarreau to Bobby McFerrin to Eric Marienthal and many more. However, he is best known as a founding member of The Yellowjackets back in 1977, along with Robben Ford and Jimmy Haslip. In 2020, at age sixty-eight, Ferrante is the only original member still with the band, and recorded his debut album as ...

Yellowjackets: Timeline

by AAJ Italy Staff
April 19, 2011

Con questo Timeline - che, va detto subito, è un gran bel disco, e senz'altro il loro migliore da almeno un decennio a questa parte - gli Yellowjackets celebrano trent'anni di carriera. Un traguardo formidabile, tanto più perché raggiunto con una formazione che ha conosciuto (relativamente) pochi cambiamenti di organico, imperniata com'è sul binomio Russell Ferrante e Jimmy Haslip, fondatori della band insieme a Robben Ford (il quale presta la sua chitarra in un paio di brani, per unirsi ai ...

Lorraine Feather: Language

by Nicholas F. Mondello
June 7, 2008

Lorraine Feather Language Jazzed Media 2008

By its very title, Language, from singer and lyricist Lorraine Feather, implies that Feather and company believe that they have the musical and linguistic chops to take on such a sophisticated concept for our entertainment. So it's good to find that Feather is a heavyweight who--with a championship caliber crew in her corner--delivers a resounding KO.

To some ears, story songs--word-intense tunes--may seem overly Broadwayesque and ...

Yellowjackets: Altered State

by Jim Santella
May 17, 2005

Fusing South African rhythms with soothing R&B melodies, the Yellowjackets continue to put up a refreshing performance that's made to suit easy listening audiences. Their mellow harmony and relaxed rhythmic pulses belie a loyalty to leisure suits, platform shoes with awkward heels, and hangin' out at the disco. The band began in the late 1970s, when those things were in vogue. The core element in their performance has never left them.

Bob Mintzer employs the tenor saxophone for ...

Yellowjackets: Altered State

by Woodrow Wilkins
March 17, 2005

There's something distinctive about Yellowjackets' sound. It's contemporary in that the music is fresh and employs some modern conveniences--such as the electric bass and the EWI. Still, the way it's put together is old school--like the free-flowing style and the manipulation of time. And if that's not enough, there's a color or flavor to Bob Mintzer's sax and Russell Ferrante's piano that lets you know it's a 'Jackets tune. This distinctive approach is evident from the start of ...

Yellowjackets: Altered State

by John Kelman
March 16, 2005

Sometimes the best move a band can make is to go indie. Consider Yellowjackets, who have been imbued with unquestionable instrumental credibility since emerging in the early '80s. Over their 25-year career Yellowjackets have veered from torch carriers of the latter-day, more structured incarnations of Weather Report to a group in dangerous proximity to smooth jazz territory. In the process of racking up nearly twenty recordings, the group's technical prowess has never been in question, but some of its choices ...

Yellowjackets: Altered State

by C. Michael Bailey
March 15, 2005

Yellowjackets' music is steeped in the R&B/jazz tradition of the Jazz Crusaders, Junior Mance, Weather Report, and, of course Miles. Russell Ferrante always manages to slip a bit of church into his piano playing, a trend quickly picked up and absconded with by Bob Mintzer. Jimmy Haslip plays the most elastic bass since Victor Bailey, and Marcus Baylor must be the toast of the percussion town.

The band members all come together for Altered State in a brilliant ...