INDIVIDUALITY (CAN I |

Personnel: Rachelle Ferrell (vocals, piano, synthesizer); Johnathan Butler (vocals, guitar); Russ Barnes (vocals); Jef Lee Johnson (acoustic & electric guitars, keyboards, bass); George Duke (acoustic guitar, keyboards, synthesizer, bass); Tony Maiden (guitar); Byron Miller (bass); "Lil" John Roberts, Ricardo Jordan (drums); Lenny Castro (percussion); Lori Perry, Kenny Lattimore (background vocals). Producers: Rachelle Ferrell, George Duke, Jef Lee Johnson. Principally recorded at The Blue Room Studios, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Personnel: Rachelle Ferrell (vocals, piano, background vocals); Jonathan Butler (vocals, guitar); Jef Lee Johnson (guitar, acoustic guitar, keyboards); George Duke (guitar, keyboards); Tony Maiden (guitar); Lil John Roberts (drums); Lenny Castro (percussion); Kenny Lattimore, Lori Perry (background vocals). Audio Mixer: Erik Zobler. Recording information: Andora Recording Studio; Le Gonks West; O'Henry Recording Studio; The Blue Room, Philadelphia, PA. Photographer: Beth Herzhaft. Rachelle Ferrell began as an R&B-tinged jazz singer, lending funk and soul to highly original takes on jazz standards. On INDIVIDUALITY, the tables are turned, and Ferrell uses her jazz chops in the service of some highly individual-sounding R&B. Unlike R&B artists who try to expand the genre's boundaries from within, Ferrell arrives armed with a highly developed harmonic sense that allows her not just to deconstruct, but to virtually reinvent modern R&B as we know it. In this endeavor, she's aided by some fellow genre-benders, including '70s fusion hero George Duke and harmolodic jazz-funkateer Jef Lee Johnson. Over a soundscape that is unrelentingly percolating and funky but never predictable, Ferrell utilizes both her range and her strong sense of dynamics to invest every tune with unmistakable passion.

• Genre: Jazz
• Format: CD
• Released: 9/12/2000