Joe Farrell

For other people named Joe Farrell, see Joe Farrell (disambiguation).

Joe Farrell
Joe Farrell performing at Lush Life in New York, 1985
Background information
Birth name	Joseph Carl Firrantello
Born	(1937-12-16)December 16, 1937
Origin	Chicago Heights, Illinois, United States
Died	City of Hope National Medical Center, California
Genres	Jazz, jazz funk, fusion, hard bop
Occupation(s)	Musician, composer, bandleader
Instruments	Tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute, English horn
Years active	1962–1986
Labels	CTI
Associated acts	Elvin Jones Trio Return to Forever Flora Purim Fuse One

Joseph Carl Firrantello (December 16, 1937 – January 10, 1986), known as Joe Farrell, was an American jazz saxophonist and flautist. He is best known for a series of albums under his own name on the CTI record label and for playing in the initial incarnation of Chick Corea's Return to Forever.

Biography

Farrell was born in Chicago Heights, Illinois, United States.

In the 1960s, Farrell played with Maynard Ferguson and The Thad Jones/ Mel Lewis Orchestra. He also recorded with Charles Mingus, Andrew Hill, Jaki Byard, Players Association and Elvin Jones.

With the group Fuse One, he released two albums in 1980 and 1982. He also can be heard on the pop recordings of Hall & Oates playing oboe and soprano saxophone.

Farrell performs with Brazilian percussionist Airto and Airto's wife Flora Purim on the album Three-Way Mirror. A message on the CD jacket dedicates the 1987 album to Farrell and states it contains his final recordings.

Farrell died of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) in Los Angeles, California on January 10, 1986 at the age of 48.

In 2008, Farrell's daughter Kathleen Firrantello filed a lawsuit against rappers Kanye West, Method Man, Redman and Common, and their record labels for allegedly using portions of Farrell's 1974 musical composition "Upon This Rock" in their songs without approval. Firrantello was seeking punitive damages of at least US$1 million and asked that no further copies of the songs be made, sold or performed.

Discography

As leader

• 1970: Joe Farrell Quartet (CTI)
• 1971: Outback (CTI)
• 1972: Moon Germs (CTI)
• 1973: Penny Arcade (CTI)
• 1974: Upon This Rock (CTI)
• 1975: Canned Funk (CTI)
• 1976: Benson & Farrell (CTI) with George Benson
• 1978: Night Dancing (Warner Bros.)
• 1979: Skate Board Park (Xanadu)
• 1980: Sonic Text (Contemporary)
• 1980: Farrell's Inferno (Contemporary)
• 1982: Darn That Dream (with Art Pepper, Tony Dumas, John Dentz, George Cables)
• 1983: Vim 'n' Vigor (Timeless Records, with Louis Hayes)
• 1985: Clark Woodard And Joe Farrell (BCS), with Clark Woodard
• 1985: Three-Way Mirror (Reference Recordings), with Airto Moreira and Flora Purim

As sideman

With Mose Allison

• Hello There, Universe (Atlantic, 1970)
• Your Mind Is on Vacation (Atlantic, 1976)

With Patti Austin

• End of a Rainbow (CTI, 1976)

With Average White Band

• AWB (1974)

With The Band

• Rock of Ages (1972)

With George Benson

• Tell It Like It Is (A&M/CTI, 1969)
• Good King Bad (CTI, 1975)

With Willie Bobo

• Bobo's Beat (Roulette, 1962)

With Frank Butler

• Wheelin' and Dealin' (Xanadu, 1978)

With Jaki Byard

• Jaki Byard Quartet Live! (1965)
• The Last from Lennie's (1965 - released in 2003)

With Billy Cobham

• Spectrum (1973)

With Chick Corea/Return to Forever

• Tones for Joan's Bones (1966)
• Return to Forever (1972)
• Light as a Feather (1972)
• The Leprechaun (1976)
• Musicmagic (1977)
• The Mad Hatter (1978)
• Friends (1978)
• Live (1978)
• Secret Agent (1978)

With Lou Donaldson

• Sophisticated Lou (1973)

With Maynard Ferguson

• Newport Suite (Roulette, 1960)
• Let's Face The Music And Dance (Roulette, 1960)
• Maynard '61 (Roulette, 1961)
• Double Exposure (Atlantic, 1961)
• Two's Company (Roulette, 1961)
• Primal Scream (Columbia, 1976)
• Conquistador (Columbia, 1977)

With Aretha Franklin

• Until You Come Back to Me (Atlantic, 1973)

With Fuse One

• Fuse One (1980)

With Grant Green

• The Main Attraction (Kudu, 1976)

With Urbie Green

• The Fox (CTI, 1976)

With Slide Hampton

• Explosion! The Sound of Slide Hampton (Atlantic, 1962)

With Andrew Hill

• Dance with Death (1968 - not released until 1980)
• Passing Ships (1969 - not released until 2003)

With Jackie and Roy

• A Wilder Alias (CTI, 1973)

With Elvin Jones

• Puttin' It Together (Blue Note, 1968)
• The Ultimate (Blue Note, 1968)
• Poly-Currents (Blue Note, 1970)
• Genesis (Blue Note, 1971)
• Merry-Go-Round (Blue Note, 1971)
• New Agenda (Vanguard, 1975)

With John Larkin

• John Larkin (1986)

With The Jeff Lorber Fusion

• Soft Space (1978)

With Arif Mardin

• Journey (Atlantic, 1974)

With Pat Martino

• Strings! (Prestige, 1967)

With Jack McDuff

• The Fourth Dimension (Cadet, 1974)
• Sophisticated Funk (Chess, 1976)

With Blue Mitchell

• Many Shades of Blue (Mainstream, 1974)

With James Moody

• The Blues and Other Colors (Milestone, 1969)

With Airto Moreira

• Free (CTI, 1972)

With Ray Barreto

• La Cuna

With Lalo Schifrin

• Black Widow (CTI, 1976)
• Towering Toccata (CTI, 1976)

With Don Sebesky

• Giant Box (CTI, 1973)

With Bobby Timmons

• Got to Get It! (Milestone, 1967)

With the Bee Gees

• Main Course (1975)

With Laura Nyro

• Eli and the Thirteenth Confession (Columbia, 1968)
• Christmas and the Beads of Sweat (Columbia, 1970)

With the Santana

• Welcome (Columbia, 1973)