Album Notes

Trombonist Alan Ferber was born in Oakland, CA and raised in the surrounding Bay Area. His professional music career began in Los Angeles after graduating with an economics degree from UCLA in 1997. He quickly developed a reputation as an extremely versatile musician, capable of performing at a high level in a wide array of styles. His ensemble playing ability in big bands led him to perform with the bands of Les Brown, Kenny Burell, Gerald Wilson, Vinny Golia, Louie Bellson, Jack Sheldon, and Woody Herman. He regularly toured the U.S., Europe, and Japan with the Brian Setzer Orchestra and the Bobby Caldwell big band, performing at world-renowned clubs, jazz festivals, stadiums, and theaters.
In addition to big bands, Alan's versatility led him in other directions. He was busy with many Latin bands on the L.A. scene, including the Grammy-winning Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band. With Poncho, Alan played numerously around L.A. and toured for 2 weeks in Japan. On the Hip-Hop scene, Alan worked for several months in the recording horn section for Dr. Dre. He can be seen pictured in the studio on the inside cover of Dre's platinum selling recording, Chronic 2001. Alan also worked with the best of the best on the Motown circuit, The Temptations and Martha Reeves and the Vandellas.
Despite Alan's success in Los Angeles, he began feeling the strong magnetic pull from the East Coast that aspiring jazz musicians around the globe universally feel. As a result, he decided to make the move to New York City in 1999 in order to immerse himself in its cutting-edge jazz community. His initial half-year in the city inspired a prolific outpouring of new compositions for his working septet. The result was his debut album entitled Playground on Jazz House Records, which features his group's very inspired playing on Alan's freshly written compositions and arrangements.
Upon moving to NYC, Alan has gradually built his reputation as a "skilled and imaginative" trombonist, well-versed in both ensemble and solo playing. He has been sought out to perform with some of the greatest musicians in the world including Kenny Wheeler, Lee Konitz, Don Byron, Charlie Hunter, Bennie Wallace, Anthony Wilson, and John Hollenbeck. On the local scene, Alan is involved as a sideman in many of the city's most exciting up and coming bands including the Dan Pratt Organ Quartet, the Sanford/Schumacher Sound Assembly, the Bill Mobley Space Time Orchestra, the Andrew Rathbun Big Band, Gary Morgan's Panamericana, and the Alexis Cuadrado Sextet.
In addition to jazz, Alan has performed extensively in other genres while living in NYC. He has worked with the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra, Nancy Sinatra, They Might Be Giants, Michael Buble, Paul Anka, Ed Palermo's Frank Zappa big band, the Argento Chamber Ensemble, the Extension Ensemble, and Broadway shows including The Producers, 42nd St., Oklahoma!, Fosse, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. He has appeared on TV shows including Late Night with David Letterman, the Tonight Show, The View, Beverly Hills 90210, and Good Morning America. Alan has also been a resident professor at the Portugal Jazz Workshop, the Bar Harbor Brass Week, the Maine Jazz Camp, and the Hayward-LaHonda Music Camp.
Most of Alan's focus has been devoted to his own nonet project. This group, comprised of some of the brightest young talent in NYC, serves as an outlet for new works and arrangements for mid-sized ensemble. The instrumentation includes trumpet, trombone, alto sax, tenor sax, bass clarinet, guitar, piano, bass, and drums. Alan has performed with the nonet in several venues around the city and has recently released a collection of new compositions on the reputable Fresh Sound New Talent record label. This new CD, entitled 'Scenes From An Exit Row', is available in stores worldwide and on many online music retail sites.
Currently, Alan resides in Brooklyn and remains busy as a freelance trombonist. His desire to integrate all of his varied musical experiences into one, unique voice keeps him inspired as he continues delving deeper into the NY music scene. As Don Heckman of the Los Angeles Times stated in a concert review of one of Alan's performances, "(Ferber) was sounding ready to groove into the new millennium." How right he is.