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 Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

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.

Early life

Ferrell began singing at age six."Re: Rachelle Ferrell."
''www.rachelleferrell.com.'' Retrieved December 17, 2013. She also received classical training in violin and the piano at an early age. During her teenagehood, she was performing as a professional musician. She began performing at age 13 as a violinist, and in her mid-teens as a pianist and vocalist. After enrolling in the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

, she graduated a year later and secured a position teaching music for the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

Career

1975–1988: Backup singing

From 1975 to 1990, Ferrell sang backup for Lou Rawls,

Patti LaBelle Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American Rhythm and blues, R&B singer and actress. She has been referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Godmother of Soul". LaBelle began ...

, and Vanessa Williams. In 1988, she began touring as a backup vocalist for

Phyllis Hyman Phyllis Linda Hyman (July 6, 1949 – June 30, 1995) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Hyman's music career spanned the late 1970s through the early 1990s, and she was best known for her expansive contralto range. Some of her most ...

. In the same year, she also appeared as backup vocalist on Miles Jaye's song "Desiree".

1989–1997: ''First Instrument'' and ''Rachelle Ferrell''

In 1989, Ferrell secured her own recording contract with

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

. In 1990, Ferrell released her first album, '' First Instrument'', exclusively in Japan. The album contained

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s of

jazz standard Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive List ...

s. In September 1992, she released her second album '' Rachelle Ferrell''. The album spawned the singles "Til You Come Back to Me", "Welcome to My Love", "Nothing Has Ever Felt Like This", and "With Open Arms". The album received a gold-status

music recording certification Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music Sound recording and reproduction, recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video ...

. In the same year, she appeared on

George Duke George Martin Duke (January 12, 1946 – August 5, 2013) was an American keyboardist, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer. He worked with numerous artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and as ...

's album '' Snapshot''. In 1993, Ferrell headlined her own tour and performed several jazz festivals. In 1995, Ferrell released her album ''First Instrument'' in the USA. From 1995 to 1997, Ferrell toured as part of the George Duke Band. The group released a concert film titled ''Live at Montreux'', which highlighted their concert set during the

Montreux Jazz Festival The Montreux Jazz Festival (formerly Festival de Jazz Montreux and Festival International de Jazz Montreux) is a music festival in Switzerland, held annually in early July in Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second-largest annu ...

in 1997. Ferrell also appeared as a backing vocalist on his albums ''

Illusions An illusion is a distortion of the senses, which can reveal how the mind normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation. Although illusions distort the human perception of reality, they are generally shared by most people. Illusions may ...

'' (1995) and ''Is Love Enough?'' (1997).

2000–2002: ''Individuality (Can I Be Me?)''

In August 2000, Ferrell released third album '' Individuality (Can I Be Me?)''. The album peaked at number 1 on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

s Top Jazz Albums chart and sold over 160,000 copies.Singer’s Fans Give Her Strength
Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on September 21, 2023 The album's singles "I Forgive You" and "Satisfied" both charted in the top twenty on the Adult R&B Songs chart. In 2001, Ferrell headlined her own tour to support the album. In April 2002, she released her live album ''Live in Montreux 91–97''.

2006–present: Recent activity

In 2006, Ferrell released a song titled "Wounds in the Way" on the Madea's Family Reunion

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

. In 2008, she appeared George Duke's ''Dukey Treats'' album. In 2014, Ferrell performed at the Capital Jazz Festival. In 2018, she performed during the

tribute at the Capital Jazz Festival. Ferrell also confirmed that she was recording her forthcoming album ''The Art and Soul of Rachelle Ferrell''.

Vocal ability

Ferrell has a six

octave In music, an octave (: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is an interval between two notes, one having twice the frequency of vibration of the other. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referr ...

vocal range Vocal range is the range of pitches that a human voice can phonate. A common application is within the context of singing, where it is used as a defining characteristic for classifying singing voices into voice types. It is also a topic of stud ...

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

Minnie Riperton Minnie Julia Riperton (November 8, 1947 – July 12, 1979) was an American soul singer and songwriter best known for her 1974 single " Lovin' You", her five-octave vocal range, and her use of the whistle register. Born in 1947, Riperton grew ...

-like wailing."

Personal life

In 1992, Ferrell filed a lawsuit against a production company, which was settled out of court in 2000. In August 2023, Ferrell's management and website released a statement that Ferrell was experiencing "health, wellness, and life-related hardships".Fundraiser Launched to Benefit Singer Rachelle Ferrell
BET. Retrieved on September 21, 2023

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. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrell, Rachelle 1961 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 six-octave or greater vocal range 21st-century African-American women singers 21st-century American women singers 20th-century African-American women singers 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers American neo soul singers Musicians from Chester County, Pennsylvania