Russell Ferrante Trio with Michael Valerio & Steve Schaeffer

Russell Ferrante (piano), Michael Valerio (bass), Steve Schaeffer (drums)

Born in San Jose, California in 1952, Russell Ferrante began studying piano at the age of 9 years old. His early musical experiences revolved around the church where his father was the choir director. His interest in jazz and improvisation was kindled in high school and shortly thereafter he began performing with various R&B and jazz groups in the San Francisco Bay Area. The bay area was an exciting place to be in the early 70’s with musicians freely combining musical styles.

This exposure to seemingly every kind of music helped prepare Russell for his professional career which began in 1973. It was then that he met guitarist, Robben Ford and toured the U.S. and Europe as part of legendary blues singer, Jimmy Witherspoon's band. “Much to my parent’s displeasure, my gig with Jimmy Witherspoon necessitated my dropping out of college.…