Al Ferrante

Al Ferrante, is known as "Father Al", Leader of Father Al and The Jazz Congregation, a South West Florida Jazz Quartet.

At age 10 Father Al Studied Drums and Percussion at the Gene Krupa, Cozy Cole Drum School, Manhattan, New York. His instructors were Cozy Cole and Billy Higgins. At age 12, He attended the University of Rhode Island Summer Music Camp studying, Theory, Composition, Ear Training, Jazz Theory, Jazz Band, and Concert Orchestra.

The New York Years: At age 17, American Federation of Musicians, Local 802, New York City Caberet License. Performed with, backed up, or opened for such notables as Jay and the Americans, Little Eva, the Shirelles, the Ronettes, Dion and the Belmonts, and was the house drummer for the Alan Freed Rock and Roll Shows at the Brooklyn Paramount and Albemarle Theatres. Played with NYC jazz groups in the Village Vanguard, Village Gate, Metropole Cafe and other jazz venues in NYC. The Hollywood Years: 1978, ADR, Foley, and Re-Recording Mixer for Motion Pictures and Television, Board of Directors of The Cinema Audio Society (CAS), 7 Honorable Emmys and 2 Golden Reel Awards for Sound Recording. Retired 2001. Recorded live background vocals for the Black Gold Awards, as well as working with such notables as Tom Scott, Lou Rawls, Randy Travis, Della Reese and the Monkeys.

Currently, in 2016, The Jazz Congregation is receiving accolades for it's recently released CD, "Here's To Life", featuring vocalist Cheryl Morrell. Jazz favorites, Latin, and versions of popular songs with Jazz arrangements. The uniqueness of the studio CD is that it was recorded in "One Take", with just some fine tuning.

Guitarist Dave Haskell Releases Debut Album, "Pivot Point", Feat. Robben Ford, Russell Ferrante, Jimmy Haslip

Source: Michael Bloom Media Relations
March 25, 2013

The history of jazz is strewn with brilliant players who have inexplicably eluded widespread recognition, flying under the radar of labels, journalists, and fans. But guitarist Dave Haskell’s stealth status over the past two decades isn’t hard to explain. He’s spent most of that time on the move as a commercial pilot, fulfilling a dream that took root as a child, about the same time he became enamored with the guitar. Before Haskell took to the air as a profession, ...
read more

Event

Lorraine Feather & Russell Ferrante To Perform At Seattle's Earshot Jazz Festival

Source: Michael Bloom Media Relations
September 10, 2012

On October 12th & 13th vocalist Lorraine Feather and pianist Russell Ferrante will perform (as a duo) for two nights at Tula’s in Seattle, as part of the Earshot Jazz Festival. Lyricist/singer Lorraine Feather has been heard on numerous records, in films and on television. She has received seven Emmy nominations as a songwriter. She began focusing on solo recording projects as an artist in 2001, first featuring her lyrics to instrumental classics by Fats Waller and Duke Ellington, then ...
read more

145

Obituary

Arthur Ferrante Half of the Popular Piano Duo Ferrante and Teicher Dies

Source: Michael Ricci
September 21, 2009

Their lush orchestral recordings of 1960s movie themes propelled them to popular and commercial success. The classically trained pair met at the Juilliard School in New York.

Over the course of their 40-year partnership, Arthur Ferrante and Lou Teicher recorded 150 albums, racking up 22 gold and platinum records and selling 90 million records worldwide, and performed 5,200 concerts before retiring in 1989.

Arthur Ferrante, one half of the piano duo Ferrante and Teicher whose lush orchestral recordings of 1960s ...
read more

183

Interview

Notes from the Net: Grant Green Reissued, Russell Ferrante Interviewed, Plus News, Reviews, and More

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
April 21, 2009

Here's this week's compilation of assorted news briefs and links related to jazz, improvisation, and creative music in St. Louis, including news of musicians originally from the Gateway City, recent visitors, and coming attractions, plus assorted other items of interest:* For our obligatory weekly Miles Davis-related links, there's a story in the San Jose Mercury News with more on this weekend's tribute to Davis at Stanford University. Also, for the latest news on the proposed film biography of ...
read more

Obituary

Lou Teicher Half of Ferrante & Teicher Piano Duo

Source: Michael Ricci
August 6, 2008

Lou Teicher, half of the popular Ferrante & Teicher piano duo that had top-10 hits in the 1960s with lushly orchestrated movie-theme singles, has died. He was 83.

Teicher, a longtime resident of Sarasota, Fla., died unexpectedly of heart failure Sunday at his summer home in Highlands, N.C., said Scott W. Smith, Teicher and Arthur Ferrante's personal manager.

Ferrante & TeicherIn a musical collaboration that spanned five decades and ended when the duo retired from the concert stage in 1989, ...
read more

168

Interview

Yellowjackets Keyboardist Russell Ferrante Interviewed at AAJ

Source: All About Jazz
February 6, 2007

2006 marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Yellowjackets. It has been a quarter of a century of continuous evolution, both musically and in terms of changes in band personnel.

From their R&B beginnings with guitarist Robben Ford in '81 right through to the sophisticated and utterly distinctive brand of jazz that they play today, the Yellowjackets have moved with the times, absorbing different aspects of world music and adding new rhythms and influences to the pot.

Keyboardist Russell Ferrante took ...
read more

233

Performance / Tour

Yellowjackets Songbook Concert to Feature Russell Ferrante and Marcus Baylor

Source: All About Jazz
March 24, 2005

The Yellowjackets Songbook At the Berklee Performance Center Friday, April 8, 2005 To Feature Herb Alpert Visiting Professors, Yellowjackets Members Russell Ferrante and Marcus Baylor BOSTON, MA — Song, Delta Air Lines' low-fare subsidiary, and Berklee College of Music are pleased to present “Song's Nothing Conservatory About It," an exciting, eight-concert series. The next concert is the Yellowjackets Songbook, Friday, April 8, 2005, 8:15 p.m., at the Berklee Performance Center, 136 Massachusetts Ave., Boston,MA. Berklee welcomes WGBH-FM 89.7 as the ...
read more

135

Music Industry

BERKLEE PIANO WEEK 2001 TO FEATURE ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR JOANNE BRACKEEN AND VISITING ARTISTS RUSSELL FERRANTE OF THE YELLOWJACKETS AND ARMEN DONELIAN

Source: All About Jazz

BOSTON, February 27, 2001 -- Berklee College of Music will present Piano Week from Monday, March 5, through Thursday, March 8. The annual series will feature concerts and clinics by visiting artists, Berklee's renowned piano faculty, and some of the college's top student pianists. All events are free except Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday night concerts in the wheelchair-accessible Berklee Performance Center. BPC events are $4.00 -- $1.00 for seniors. Tickets are available at the box office, 136 Massachusetts Ave., Boston, ...
read more

Ft. Myers Magazine, March-April 2016

"Father Al and The Jazz Congregation has been a favorite of Southwest Florida’s jazz fans since 2009, playing clubs from Cape Coral and Sanibel to Fort Myers and Naples. His fans throughout the area, as well as jazz lovers everywhere, can now enjoy Father Al’s music whenever they wish thanks to the release of his first album, Here’s to Life, featuring vocalist Cheryl Morrell. The album showcases Morrell’s delightful singing, no more so on the opening track, the standards ‘Love Being Here With You’ and ‘The Nearness of You’ or on Bob Dylan’s ‘Make You Feel My Love.’ With a collection of songs ranging from Bonnie Raitt’s ‘Love Me Like a Man’ and the Etta James classic ‘At Last’ to a soft bossa nova and a sweet samba, the CD is sure to be a gift for their fans in Southwest Florida as well as a wonderful introduction to jazz lovers everywhere.