Alan Ferber Nonet - Roots & Transitions (2016) [Hi-Res]

Trombonist Alan Ferber is an in-demand performer, composer, arranger, and educator who combines a deep understanding of the jazz tradition with a desire to push the music forward. Born in Oakland, California in 1975, Ferber grew up in a musical family alongside his brother, drummer Mark Ferber. He was introduced early on to jazz and show tunes by his grandmother, a Broadway actress and singer. Initially, he started out on piano at age four and switched to trombone around age ten. However, it wasn't until he attended a jazz workshop in his teens that he became enamored of jazz and began soaking up the work of artists like J.J. Johnson, Curtis Fuller, Art Blakey, and others. Also during high school, Ferber and his brother would jam together, inviting other kids over to their house to play jazz. By the time he left high school, he was good enough to earn a scholarship to UCLA. However, while there, he ended up earning an economics degree, and held onto the scholarship by playing in the university's jazz ensembles.

Graduating in 1997, he spent several years playing professionally in Los Angeles before relocating to New York City. Since then, he has built an impressive array of credits from across various genres, including hits with such pop luminaries as Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, Sufjan Stevens, Michael Buble, and the National. He has also recorded with such like-minded jazz artists as David Binney, Nels Cline, Todd Sickafoose, Miguel Zenon, and others. As a solo artist, he debuted in 2005 with Scenes from an Exit Row on Fresh Sound New Talent, followed two years later by The Compass. He then moved to Sunnyside for a handful of well-regarded dates, including 2010's Music for Nonet and Strings: Chamber Songs with his wife, cellist Jody Redhage; 2013's March Sublime; and 2016's Roots & Transitions. In 2017, Ferber released his seventh album as a leader, Jigsaw. When not performing, he is a dedicated teacher and clinician, having held faculty positions at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University, the John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State University, and New York University's Steinhardt School, where he is an adjunct professor of jazz studies. ~ Matt Collar