Rachelle Ferrell (born May 21, 1961) is an American vocalist and musician. Although she has had some success in the mainstream R&B, pop,

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

and classical music scenes, she is noted for her talents as a contemporary jazz singer. In contemporary jazz she is noted for her delivery, control, range, improvisational vocal percussion, scatting ability and access to the

whistle register The whistle register (also called the flute register or flageolet register) is the highest register of the human voice, lying above the modal register and falsetto register. This register has a specific physiological production that is different f ...

Biography

Ferrell began singing at age six, and developed a six octave

range Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to i ...

by adulthood."Re: Rachelle Ferrell."
''www.rachelleferrell.com.'' Retrieved December 17, 2013.Steyer, Justin, and Abe Beeson
"Rachelle Ferrell: Singing Her Way to a Higher Plane."
''www.kplu.org'', December 2, 2013. Her range also includes the ability to sing in the

. Ferrell's highest notes in "It Only Took A Minute" (1992) have been described as "

Minnie Riperton Minnie Julia Riperton Rudolph (November 8, 1947 – July 12, 1979) was an American singer-songwriter best known for her 1975 single " Lovin' You" and her four octave D3 to F7 coloratura soprano range. She is also widely known for her use ...

-like wailing." She received classical training in violin and the piano at an early age and was performing professionally on both instruments and as a vocalist as a teenager. After enrolling in the Berklee College of Music, and graduating a year later, having learned arrangement and developing her abilities in singing and songwriting, she secured a position teaching music for the New Jersey State Council on the Arts alongside Dizzy Gillespie. From 1975 until 1990, Ferrell sang backup for Lou Rawls, Patti LaBelle,

Vanessa Williams Vanessa Lynn Williams (born March 18, 1963) is an American singer, actress, and fashion designer. She gained recognition as the first African-American woman to receive the Miss America title when she was crowned Miss America 1984. She resign ...

, and George Duke. Ferrell's debut, ''First Instrument'', was released in 1990 in Japan, five years prior to its US release. Recorded with bassist Tyrone Brown, pianist Eddie Green and drummer Doug Nally, several famed jazz accompanists also recorded on her album. They include trumpeter

Terence Blanchard Terence Oliver Blanchard (born March 13, 1962) is an American trumpeter and composer. He started his career in 1982 as a member of the Lionel Hampton Orchestra, then The Jazz Messengers. He has composed more than forty film scores and performed ...

, pianists

Gil Goldstein Gil Goldstein (born November 6, 1950 in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American jazz pianist and accordionist. He has won 5 Grammy Awards and he was nominated 8 time Biography He began studying accordion at age 5 after noticing it in The Lawrence We ...

and

Michel Petrucciani Michel Petrucciani (; ; 28 December 1962 – 6 January 1999) was a French jazz pianist. From birth he had osteogenesis imperfecta, a genetic disease that causes brittle bones and, in his case, short stature. He became one of the most accomplish ...

, bassists Kenny Davis and

Stanley Clarke Stanley Clarke (born June 30, 1951) is an American bassist, film composer and founding member of Return to Forever, one of the first jazz fusion bands. Clarke gave the bass guitar a prominence it lacked in jazz-related music. He is the first ja ...

, tenor saxophonist

Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter (born August 25, 1933) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Shorter came to prominence in the late 1950s as a member of, and eventually primary composer for, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. In the 1960s, he joined Miles Dav ...

and keyboardist Pete Levin. Her take on standards like Sam Cooke's "

You Send Me "You Send Me" is a song written and originally recorded by American singer Sam Cooke, released as a single in 1957 by Keen Records. Produced by Bumps Blackwell and arranged and conducted by René Hall. The song, Cooke's debut single, was a massiv ...

", Cole Porter's "

What Is This Thing Called Love? "What Is This Thing Called Love?" is a 1929 popular song written by Cole Porter, for the musical '' Wake Up and Dream''. It was first performed by Elsie Carlisle in March 1929. The song has become a popular jazz standard and one of Porter's most ...

", and

Rodgers and Hart Rodgers and Hart were an American songwriting partnership between composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and the lyricist Lorenz Hart (1895–1943). They worked together on 28 stage musicals and more than 500 songs from 1919 until Hart' ...

's " My Funny Valentine", gained her a substantial Japanese jazz audience.Rachelle Ferrell at Blues Alley Jazz Supper Club
In 2014, Rachelle Ferrell appeared on a new webseries called "Now What with Kevin E. Taylor", where she was the series season premiere. Ferrell decided, moved by Spirit, to sing her entire interview and at one point, she reduced the host to tears. "Some people sing songs like they wear clothing, they put it on and take it off", she explains in the biographical notes accompanying First Instrument. "But when one performs four sets a night, six nights a week, that experience affords you the opportunity to present the song from the inside out, to express its essence. In this way, a singer expresses the song in the spirit in which it was written. The songwriter translates emotion into words. The singer's job is to translate the words back into emotion".

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

Official site

Rachelle Ferrell
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrell, Rachelle 1964 births Living people Jazz musicians from Pennsylvania Musicians from Philadelphia Singers from Pennsylvania Berklee College of Music alumni American beatboxers American women jazz singers American jazz singers Blue Note Records artists Capitol Records artists Singers with a five-octave vocal range 21st-century African-American women singers 20th-century African-American women singers American neo soul singers