Please you tell us about your new album and album launch?
Our new trio album, Above the Clouds, will be released on October 11th via Elsden Music. It’s my fourth studio album and the second with my trio, featuring Charlie Pyne on double bass and vocals, and Katie Patterson on drums and vocals.
Above the Clouds is the culmination of two distinct creative processes. After releasing our debut album Childhood Memories, we began exploring vocal harmonies and songwriting alongside our “contemporary jazz” instrumental sound. All three of us sing—Charlie is a brilliant lead vocalist and songwriter, Katie excels with backing vocals, and I come from a background of soul-rock songwriting. Naturally, this evolution allowed us to blend our vocal work into the trio’s musical journey. My previous two albums were purely instrumental, but I felt the time was right to incorporate my singing voice, aiming to be as authentic as possible with both my audience and my artistic path.
On another level, I wanted to express the feeling of “floating above the clouds” in the music—observing life from a higher perspective. These clouds could represent overthinking, disconnection from one’s soul, or the experience of great loss. Everyone encounters their own “clouds” at different moments in life. The album’s songs explore love, loss, and our relationship with the planet, our country, and our loved ones—sometimes from an ethereal vantage point, other times up close. I believe music has the power to heal and help us view our lives with a bit more clarity and wisdom.
We recorded the album in November during a three-day residential session at the beautiful Curtis Schwartz’s Studio in Ardingly. Curtis is an outstanding recording engineer, and we quickly developed a strong rapport, creating an atmosphere that allowed us to capture our trio’s live sound. I insisted on recording in the same room to capture the natural energy that comes from us three playing together, while still using the studio’s technology to achieve separation for mixing purposes. I feel we achieved a good balance between authenticity and technical excellence.
Later, we returned to the studio to record the vocals and harmonies. We sang all the harmonies around one mic, again focusing on capturing the unique essence of our trio sound. In an age where technology can do so much, I believe there’s something truly special about emphasising the human connection and uniqueness of an ensemble.
The album was mixed by Joe Jackson, who also contributed ideas for sound design and effects, and mastered by Nick Watson at Fluid Mastering in Bristol. Greg Dowling and his label Elsden Music came towards the end of the production making a significant contribution in finalising the work. I’m particularly proud that this is a fully UK-based production.
I’m incredibly excited to present this album at our launch on October 25th at the World Heart Beat Embassy Gardens in London. It’s going to be a special evening in a stunning concert hall. We’ll perform the entire album, with special guests including the Soli Strings Quartet on one track, and a children’s choir on another. There might even be more surprises in store! The concert will also be broadcast live by One Jazz radio, which adds an extra layer of excitement for us.
What other projects are you currently involved in?
Right now, my main focus is on the trio, as I feel it’s a truly special ensemble with a rare kind of soul connection that doesn’t happen often in music.
Beyond that, I’ve developed a wonderful friendship and musical partnership with Cuban violinist Omar Puente, which has broadened my musical horizons and introduced more Cuban and Latin influences into my playing. You might even hear traces of these influences on the trio album. Omar and I have performed several duo shows in the UK, and we’re now exploring ideas for a duo album together.
I love to work with directors and video makers, now for example we are realising a animation video for our title track “Above The Clouds” with painter/illustrator Ben East and Video editor/animator Chris Clark. I have an ongoing friendship and collaboration with Video Producer Ciprian Turutea. I feel this is just the beginning of me working with animations and films.
I also continue to collaborate with the Ondanueve String Quartet. Last year I released Be Yourself a work for piano and string quartet. Now we’ve just finished producing a new album of Italian songs for piano, voice, string quartet and sound design, cowritten with singer and lyricists Giovanni Leo (featuring the Ondanueve). That album is set to be released in 2025.
I’m fortunate to have musical soulmates around the world with whom I occasionally share concerts or collaborate on future projects. Two of them are guitarist/composer Enrico Olivanti, who’s now based in Berlin, and singer/songwriter Chiara Stroia, who recently moved to France. I’m grateful to have such inspiring friends, who not only share musical ideas but also meaningful conversations about life.
Fundamentally I consider myself a composer, I’m always tuning into what could be my next creative venture. There are a few things in the works, but I prefer to keep them under wraps until they’re more concrete. That said, I’ll give you a little hint: the electric guitar has made a comeback in my life!
Lastly, as an educator, I mentor a select group of young musicians, helping guide them on their journey with piano and composition.
What are you currently listening to, and what was the last CD or download you bought?
This summer, I’ve been revisiting some classics, including Radiohead’s Pablo Honey, OK Computer, and In Rainbows, as well as Jeff Buckley’s Grace and Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Ladyland. I’ve also been drawn to Pat Metheny’s One Quiet Night. The last album I purchased was Compassion by the Vijay Iyer Trio on CD—an incredible trio.
My musical taste is quite varied. I love classical music, and Bach is a composer I return to often, though Ravel, Chopin, and Mozart also have a special place. I like to think of these sessions as “lessons with the masters.”
The same goes for jazz. I owe so much to my Jazz heroes—Bill Evans, Duke Ellington, Keith Jarrett, Esbjörn Svensson, Michel Petrucciani, Donny Hathaway, Charlie Parker, and Herbie Hancock. Their work continually reappears in my studies and inspires my approach to composition and performance.
While working on the new album, I also found myself listening to GoGo Penguin’s Everything is Going to Be OK Beatles’s Abbey Road and EST’s Seven Days of Falling.
But I might be going off-topic here!
What is your all-time favourite album and why?
I think this is one of the hardest questions for any artist to answer—it really depends on when you ask me!
Right now, I’m imagining myself at the end of my life, overlooking a beautiful landscape with only one record to keep me company. What would that be? Maybe The Köln Concert by Keith Jarrett. It’s an emotional choice rather than a rational one.
I first heard this album when I was 15, and it completely blew me away. It still does. I connect deeply with what Keith Jarrett was trying to channel in that moment—the spontaneity and the sheer beauty of his improvisation have stayed with me throughout the years.
Who has caught your attention recently that we should be listening out for?
There are so many amazing artists in London right now. I recently attended the Notting Hill Jazz and Country Festival and caught Mari Songs ’acoustic set. I really enjoyed it. She’s a singer, guitarist, and songwriter with a soulful voice that in my opinion sits somewhere between Beyoncé, Etta James, and Billie Holiday. Her connection with the audience was fantastic, her songwriting was both honest and interesting, and the fact that she plays electric guitar so well adds an extra layer of originality to her performance.
For more information visit ilarioferrari.com
Above The Clouds by Ilario Ferrari Trio is released on Elsden Music on CD & digital on Friday 11th October 2024
Album launch at World Heart Beat Academy on 25th October 7.30pm
