As a featured soloist and ensemble singer,
Fred Farell has made a name for himself as
a preeminent pro jazz voice. Across five
decades and at venues as esteemed and
diverse as Avery Fisher Hall, the Brooklyn
Academy of Music, and the Museum of
Modern Art, Farell has demonstrated inspired
interpretive abilities to go with his heartfelt
lyricism and sweet pipes. Distant Song, his
debut for Whaling City Sound, a home for
much quality jazz, is a profound experience,
thanks partly due to his composers and loyal
accompanists saxophonist Dave Liebman
and piano/keys player Richie Beirach, both of
whom have collaborated on the original music
for this record. Farell’s own wordsmithing is
sublime, requiring deftness, patience and
passion on the microphone. His compositions
unfold gently, religiously. Infused with sacred
messaging, Distant Song is an emotional
project—part, jazz, part spiritual, part loving
experiment—produced with happiness and
love by a veteran talent clearly confident and
at peace with himself and his abilities.