Results for "Russell Ferrante"

Russell Ferrante

Well known as the keyboardist for the group Yellowjackets, RussellFerrante was born in San Jose, California in 1952,and began studying piano at the age of 9 years old. His early musical experiences revolved around the church where his father was the choir master. His interest in jazz and improvisation was kindled in high school and shortly thereafter he began performing with various R&B and jazz groups in the San Francisco Bay Area. The bay area was an exciting place to be in the early 70’s with musicians freely combining musical styles. This exposure to seemingly every kind of music helped prepare Russell for his professional career which began in 1973

Jimmy Haslip: Red Heat

By JIM WORSLEY

Music is our universal language. A message can be conveyed spiritually to a multitude of cultures and processed at innumerable human levels. Red Heat (originally released in 2000) is a rare and priceless gem that engages the masses with purely relatable emotions and feelings. It targets and strikes your core with purposeful marksmanship. This ...

Bailey’s Bundle – Seven Women (Plus Three) 2018 – Part IX

By C. MICHAEL BAILEY

Yilian Cañizares and Omar Sosa Aguas Ota Records 2018 Pianist/composer Omar Sosa has established himself as a pioneer at the edge of Cubano-Caribbean music. Sosa teams with violinist/vocalist Yilian Cañizares for a breezy and sensual stroll through 11 original, for lack of a better term, world music compositions that are as ...

Gabriel Alegría Afro-Peruvian Sextet: Diablo en Brooklyn

By CHRIS M. SLAWECKI

Gabriel Alegría is proud of the first five recordings by his Afro-Peruvian Sextet, but he's more proud of his sixth, Diablo en Brooklyn, than the rest. First, it's his first Sextet release completely recorded in Peru. Second, it reprises in-concert versions of band originals released on previous albums plus a twelve-minute hothouse expedition through the Gershwins' ...

University of Kentucky Jazz Ensemble: On the Road

By JACK BOWERS

The University of Kentucky Jazz Ensemble was indeed On the Road in recent years, performing the first eight of the fourteen numbers on this impressive album at the 2017 Elmhurst College (IL) Jazz Festival, the others at the Montreux and North Sea (Netherlands) Jazz Festivals in 2011. If you are puzzled by the lack of audience ...

Warm Climates, Cool Sounds: Southern Hemispheric Survey

By CHRIS M. SLAWECKI

Afro-Cuban All Stars Absolutely Live II DM Ahora! Productions 2017 You can find many groups who call themselves “Afro-Cuban All Stars." But few have the pedigree of this ensemble led by vocalist Juan de Marcos, co-architect of the legendary Cuban roots Buena Vista Social Club sessions (1997, Nonesuch/Elektra) ...

Marilyn Scott: Standard Blue

By DAN BILAWSKY

With an album title like this, some may be expecting boilerplate jazz that hews closely to some sort of straight-and-narrow musical orthodoxy. That, however, isn't what you get from vocalist Marilyn Scott. While it's true that Standard Blue is filled with familiar titles, these performances never sound platitudinous. Scott paints standards with a ...

Marilyn Scott: Standard Blue

By C. MICHAEL BAILEY

Vocalist Marilyn Scott is not a new name in music. She has released 14 recording since the late 1980s, including the present Standard Blue. It is odd, then, that she has had so little coverage in these pages. George Harris wrote a revealing piece on her 2006 release, Handpicked (Prana Entertainment), but that is about it. ...

Dwight Sills: Creating His Own Space

By LIZ GOODWIN

After delivering three projects on other record labels, guitarist-composer-producer Dwight Sills decided it was time to start creating an outlet for himself on his fourth and most personal CD yet, Short Stories. Creating this outlet was not a new concept for the Houston, Texas resident. Most of the eight tunes on this eclectic and ...

Steffen Kuehn: Leap Of Faith

By DAN BILAWSKY

Leap Of Faith is the fourth album from Grammy-winning trumpeter Steffen Kuehn, but it's the first record to truly represent and showcase every aspect of his artistry. He produced the album, he was involved in the mixing process, he wrote eight of the ten compositions featured within, and his horn playing is central to the success ...