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Joe Farrell
Joe Farrell was a journeyman sax man with an impressive resume when he signed on with the CTI label in 1970, and went on to record some of the best music for that label, gaining an international audience with his release of the progressive “Moon Gems,” in 1972.
Joseph Carl Firrantello was born in Chicago Heights, Illinois on Dec. 16, 1937. He was serious about music from an early age and was playing a proficient flute by age 11. Upon graduating from University of Illinois in 1959, he headed to New York and became a freelance musician, by this time well entrenched in the bop technique of the saxophone.
Farrell joined up with the Maynard Ferguson Big Band from 1960 to 1961 and then Slide Hampton in 1962. He did some recording sessions with Jaki Byard in 1965, and was with both the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra (1966-1969) and Elvin Jones' combo (1967-1970). He was also on original member of Return To Forever in 1971.
After signing with the CTI label he had a major hit with his third album for them “Moon Gems,” in 1972, backed by an incredible array of sidemen for the era in Herbie Hancock, Stanley Clarke, and Jack DeJohnette. This would be his best effort, and gained him quite a reputation.
After leaving CTI in he spent some time with the Mingus Dynasty, and as part of Louis Hayes’ group. He moved to Los Angeles in the ‘80’s and fell upon some lean times until his death in 1986.
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Heiner Stadler: Brains on Fire
by Howard Mandel
Brains on Fire fuels reflection on the past and response in the present. These eight extraordinary extended tracks, recorded in unusual conjunctions of master jazz improvisers instigated by composer/pianist Heiner Stadler for sessions held from 1966 through 1974, are alive with the passions of that era celebrating large, original works stretching the bounds of even the most ambitious music come before. As Stadler and his cadre of fully collaborative, creative interpreters brought immense smarts, skills and sensibilities besides ...
read moreElvin Jones: Revival: Live at Pookie's Pub
by Angelo Leonardi
Non c'è solo la musica --tumultuosa e avvincente-- a porre in primo piano questo doppio CD (o triplo LP) del quintetto di Elvin Jones, ripreso in un piccolo club di Manhattan dal 28 al 30 luglio 1967. L'edizione fortemente voluta da Zev Feldman (dopo 11 anni di tentativi presso varie etichette) illustra il punto di svolta del batterista da illustre sideman a leader e illumina la singolare condizione del jazz a New York nella seconda metà dei ...
read moreElvin Jones: Revival: Live At Pookie’s Pub
by Mike Jurkovic
No matter your format of choice—the deluxe 180g 3-LP set, streaming, or a 2-CD package--there is some serious, late '60s hard bop soul-searching happening on this eye-opening, mind-expanding, previously unreleased Revival: Live at Pookie's Pub. Elvin Jones cleared the cobwebs just two weeks after John Coltrane's passing and the resounding end to the classic quartet of Coltrane, Jones, McCoy Tyner and Jimmy Garrison. The writing had been on the wall that Coltrane was more than ready and eager ...
read moreElvin Jones: Revival: Live At Pookie’s Pub
by Chris May
A welcome addition to Elvin Jones' catalogue, the previously unissued 2 x CD / 4 x LP Revival: Live At Pookie's Pub was recorded in New York in July 1967. The gig was just two weeks after the passing of John Coltrane, with whom Jones had played from 1960 to 1966. Jones' quartet includes the gritty but underrated tenor saxophonist Joe Farrell, who had the unenviable job of standing in Coltrane's shadow. But he rises to the occasion magnificently. Jones ...
read moreHeiner Stadler: Brains on Fire
by AAJ Italy Staff
Heiner Stadler è nome pressoché sconosciuto se non agli addetti ai lavori o a qualche curioso appassionato jazzofilo. Nasce nel 1942 a Lessen in Polonia, cresce ad Amburgo dove studia pianoforte, armonia e composizione al conservatorio, per poi trasferirsi nel 1965 a New York. Qui intesse una serie di relazioni con importanti musicisti dal background assai variegato (si va sa Benny Golson a Barre Phillips, da Joe Chambers a John Gilmore e Joe Farrell, da Dee Dee Bridgewater a Thad ...
read moreHeiner Stadler: Brains on Fire
by Hrayr Attarian
Heiner StadlerBrains on FireLabor Records2012One of the most exciting reissues of the first quarter of 2012 is composer and pianist Heiner Stadler's pioneering Brains on Fire, originally released in 1973. The two-CD reissue adds three lengthy, previously unreleased tracks and informative and well-researched liner notes by critic Howard Mandel. Interestingly, Stadler occupies the piano chair only on five of the eight pieces, recorded over a seven-year span in a ...
read moreThe Jaki Byard Quartet with Joe Farrell: The Last From Lennie's
by David Rickert
If anyone wanted to record a history of jazz piano, it could have been done by Jaki Byard, an incredibly versatile pianist who could play virtually any style. However, Byard was too cagey to have approached a project of that magnitude, preferring to meld his influences within the space of a single composition. Utilizing a method that at times seemed as if Eubie Blake’s left hard and Cecil Taylor’s right hand were playing in Art Tatum’s style, Byard created a ...
read moreJoe Farrell Plays the Flute
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Recently, I was e-chatting with saxophonist Bill Kirchner about jazz flutists. I think it was just after my post on Harold McNair. At any rate, Bill noted that Joe Farrell (1937-1986) was one of the finest jazz flutists. Said Bill, “If there's a better sounding alto flute on a jazz record, I haven't heard it." [Photo above of Joe Farrell from the album Benson & Farrell.] To make his point, Bill sent along the following clips: Here's Farrell with the ...
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Horace Silver 5 & Joe Farrell 3
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
In April 1968, two American ensembles performed on Jazz Omkring Midnat, a Danish TV program. The first group was the Horace Silver Quintet, with Bill Hardman (tp), Bennie Maupin (ts), Horace Silver (p), John Williams (b) and Billy Cobham (d). Following Silver was the Elvin Jones Trio, featuring Elvin Jones (d), Joe Farrell (ts, fl) and Jimmy Garrison (b). Two bands that epitomized the rising heat and abstraction in acoustic jazz. Here's the hour-long show. It will lift the hairs ...
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Joe Farrell CTI Classics Now on CD
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Sound Insights by Doug Payne
During the 1960s, reed player Joe Farrell (born Joseph Carl Firrantello) had logged many hours and waxed many sides with Maynard Ferguson, Charles Mingus, Jaki Byard, the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra and Elvin Jones, with whom he had the greatest opportunity to prove his mettle as a fine soloist. Still, despite these notable associations, hardly anyone outside of New York music circles knew who he was. Farrell (1937-86) had also made the rounds as a New York studio musician in ...
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Joe Farrell
Instrument: Saxophone
Born: December 16, 1937
Died: January 10, 1986
