Vocalist/Pianist Rachelle Ferrell LIVE at Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley | Feb. 2nd-5th, 2017

RACHELLE FERRELL

February 2 – 5, 2017
FROM: The Pacific Jazz Institute at Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley
2033 6th Avenue, Seattle, WA, 98121

COST: $33.50 (includes $5 service fee)

The Pacific Jazz Institute at Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley presents jazz vocalist and pianist Rachelle Ferrell for four nights and six shows. Band members joining Ms. Ferrell are TBA. Set times Thursday and Sunday at 7:30pm. Set times Friday and Saturday at 7:30pm and 9:30pm. Doors open at 6pm Thursday and 5:30p Friday – Sunday.

Rachelle Ferrell is a recent arrival on the contemporary jazz scene, but her visibility on the pop/urban contemporary scene has boosted her audience’s interest in her jazz recordings. Ferrell has made her mark not as a straight-ahead jazz singer and pianist, but as a crossover artist whose equally at home with urban contemporary pop, gospel, classical music and jazz.

Though she is largely obscure outside of jazz circles, Rachelle Ferrell is unquestionably one of the most dynamic talents in contemporary pop music. Very few vocal artists in the industry have Ferrell’s potent combination of range, phrasing, and musicianship as well as an accomplished pianist. Such potency was made powerfully aware to Blue Note Record’s executive Bruce Lundvall who first heard Ferrell on a demo tape and signed her shortly thereafter in 1990 upon seeing her perform in Germantown, Pennsylvania. So impressed was Lundvall with her talents, that he signed Ferrell to both the Blue Note Label and the Capitol Label allowing her to funnel her talents through the prism of traditional jazz and R&B. In short, Rachelle Ferrell’s talents transcend generic classification. Lundvall quickly set out to plan Ferrell’s coming out party via a showcase at the 1991 Montreux Jazz Festival. In the past, the showcase was used to introduced the talents of Dianne Reeves (also signed to both labels), Stanley Jordan, and Gonzalo Rubalcaba. Live at Montreux 91-97 captures Ferrell’s moving debut at Montreux in July of 1991 and subsequent performances at the venue throughout the decade of the 1990s.

She first emerged in the states with her R&B debut Rachelle Ferrell (1992), a solid collection of self-penned originals that featured a striking duet with Will Downing Nothing Has Ever Felt Like This. It was with the release of First Instrument in 1994 that audiences were really introduced to Ferrell’s jazz sensibilities.

Ferrell sang backup for Lou Rawls, Patti LaBelle, Vanessa Williams and George Duke to name a few. Her prolific songwriting abilities and ability to accompany herself on piano seem only to further her natural talent as a vocalist. www.rachelleferrell.com