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Anthony Ferrara was born in the small bay-area town of Sonoma, California. It was here that he first discovered his love of music and performing arts at a young age, practicing singing and dancing at the local Sebastiani Theater. Beginning saxophone for 5th-grade band, he quickly showed an aptitude as well as passion for the instrument. He began studying with his first saxophone teacher in Sonoma, Keith Ridenhour, with whom he memorized transcriptions of Charlie Parker and Michael Brecker solos that formed a strong early foundation of his musical vocabulary. In those formative years, Anthony joined the Sonoma Hometown Band which performed for local parades and events. He even played lead alto saxophone in the Sonoma High School jazz band throughout middle school.
Anthony commuted for high school to Marin School of the Arts, a magnet school which had not one, but three jazz bands. It was here that he met award winning high school musicians that inspired him and also introduced him to his next saxophone teacher, Dann Zinn. Dann’s method of teaching scales and improvisation was so rigorous that Anthony began to practice 6-8 hours a day. And by his senior year, Anthony was playing lead tenor in the SFJAZZ High-School All-Star big band. He released his first self-produced album ‘Going’ that same year with friends he made at SFJAZZ.
In 2014, Anthony moved to New York City on a full-ride scholarship to NYU Steinhardt’s Jazz Studies program. At NYU, Anthony had access to some truly great saxophone teachers, studying privately with Rich Perry, Chris Potter, Mark Turner, Joe Lovano, Dave Pietro and even SNL bandleader and lead saxophonist, Lenny Pickett. During this time, Anthony self-produced another album, ‘Contradiction,’ this time with musicians he met at university.
It was also at NYU that Anthony met his mentor and legendary bass player, Ron McClure. Anthony started performing with Ron while he was still in school and continued after he graduated in 2018. Late that same year, Anthony recorded on Ron McClure’s SteepleChase album ‘Lucky Sunday,’ which received a 4-star review in Downbeat magazine. SteepleChase producer, Nils Winther, liked the album so much that he offered Anthony his own record. Although the recording date was delayed during the COVID-19 restrictions, Anthony’s debut album ‘Early Spring’ was eventually released in Spring 2021. He went on to record two more albums, ‘Cold Faded’ (2022) and ‘Factory Fresh’ (2024), all with the same world-class rhythm section of Gary Versace (piano), Jay Anderson (Bass), and Billy Drummond (Drums).
Anthony has performed in every borough of New York City including esteemed venues such as The Blue Note, Dizzy’s Club, Madison Square Garden, The Plaza Hotel, Tavern on the Green, Central Park Boathouse, Cipriani, Piers 17, 36, 40 & 60, Hudson Yards, Soho House, Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, Queens Botanical Gardens, Wynwood (Staten Island), Wave Hill House (Bronx) as well as Italian institutions like the Columbus Citizen’s Foundation and the Italian Trade Commission.
As a sideman, Anthony plays with an assortment of bands and acts. Anthony works with famed entertainment agency, Hank Lane, playing weddings from Long Island to Rhode Island with their top bands including Steve Delisi, Jenna Wynne, Sugarlane, and Bobby Attiko. He also performs regularly with Philadelphia-based entertainment company, Simone Band, performing at Polish weddings and other Polish celebrations across the northeast as far as Maine and even Napa, California. Anthony performs with neo-crooner and trombonist, Richie Nuzz, at many NYC hotel lounges including Faena and The James Hotel. He plays regularly with opera-soprano turned jazz-vocalist, Jessa V Salerno, at Italian celebrations and in nightclubs such as The Ivy Room and Laissez-Faire.
Most recently, Anthony has been pursuing new creative undertakings. His latest album, ‘Straight Into the Sun Vision’ features a whole new band of his closest musician cohorts. This project, also released under SteepleChase, debuts Ferrara as an emerging vocalist. Singing is something Anthony has done since a child in choirs and theater performances, but it was not until 2024 that he began to incorporate singing into his solo performances. In that time he has sang at several New York venues including Elsie Rooftop, Delancey Rooftop, AG Steakhouse (Long Island), Sotto La Luna (Astoria), Stuytown Ice Rink, as well as several senior living facilities including The Coterie (Hudson Yards), Alzheimer’s Foundation of America, and Inspir Carnegie Hill.
His Big Tones Band is a group that is ever-evolving and has seen several new forms in recent years. Early Big Tones Band projects consisted of swing bands and brass bands hired as dance bands to play New Orleans Jazz, Big Band Swing, and Top 40 hits for events and private functions. Arrangements of the Big Tones Band have performed in a number of contexts ranging all the way from New Orleans funeral marches to birthday parties, wedding proposals & ceremonies, country club events, Christmas parties, and even some religious and other cultural services. His newest Big Tones Band projects include an 8-piece ‘mini big band’ swing project. Complete with vocals and horns, Anthony has arranged crooner classics for this unique brass ensemble. An ever diverse project, Anthony has also teamed up with award-winning Brazilian poet and composer, Fernando Augusto to put on performances of Bossa Nova and Samba music in which Anthony sings in both English and Portuguese. We are absolutely thrilled to present Anthony Ferrara as our newest Mover and Shaker! Peachy Deegan interviewed Anthony for Whom You Know.
Peachy Deegan: What is your first musical memory?
Anthony Ferrara: I started singing and dancing at my local Sebastiani Theater when I was very young but I honestly don’t remember much from being that young. I do remember my first day of 5th grade band I was so excited; I started putting my saxophone together before class and the teacher yelled at me, “Did I tell you to setup?!”
I think my first memory of being inspired musically was our end of the school year concert. I come from a small town, so our elementary school, middle school and high school all got together for the final concert. Not only was this the first time I had ever performed with a band, it was the first time I heard the sound of a full concert band live in an auditorium. Hearing the high school band and seeing the choir perform was so amazing to me. I went home the next day and practiced saxophone for two whole hours, which was a lot for me at 9 years old.
Do you come from a musical background in your family or family friends?
None of my family plays music, nor did any of my friends growing up before I first got involved with music.
What made you decide to play the saxophone and how do they vary?
Saxophone was always my first choice. In fact, when it was time for us to choose an instrument to play in 5th grade band, it was everyone’s first choice! But they couldn’t have a band of all saxophones, so we had a raffle. I was lucky enough to be selected, and I immediately took a fascination to it.
Do you play multiple saxophones today or do you concentrate on one?
I pretty much just stick with tenor sax. Although I played primarily alto sax all the way through high school and do still play it. I’m also decent on flute and clarinet.
What should everyone know about the saxophone that they don’t know yet?
The saxophone works like any other brass instrument in that it follows the same system of overtones. The more air you give the saxophone, the higher you can climb in the overtone series, which is the exact principle that allows the trumpet and tuba to play all the notes with only three buttons to press.
How did you become a composer?
I was always a composer. At some point early on my parents got me an electric keyboard and I remember I would spend hours playing around on that thing. I was composing entire symphonies (or so I thought) from day until night. I might have started composing with actual written notes as early as 10 years old. By the end of middle school I was composing entire scores for our concert band to perform at school concerts.
What percentage of professional musicians today would you estimate are also composers?
I think pretty much everyone who’s working playing music in the city has some sort of side project of their own going on. I think not all music is creative music, but recreative music, which is a whole art in itself. Outside of my creative projects, the Big Tones Band follows more or less the concept of a live band jukebox. We can play any song in any style, always with our own spin of course.
Does being a great composer correlate with a high aptitude in math?
I don’t think so. Music itself involves a certain amount of complex math. But great ideas come from an endless variety of sources.
Please tell us about your Portuguese background and how it influences your art.
I have no actual Portuguese background, but I’ve played a lot of Brazilian music at this point. I first discovered Brazilian music at NYU where I got to study with great Brazilian drummer Adriano Santos. It wasn’t until covid era that I started learning the lyrics to these songs and would practice singing them. Brazilian music became a passion for me that paid off when I began to start playing with different Brazilian bands around the city.
What should everyone know about jazz that they don’t know yet?
There are many ways to interpret jazz and a lot of ways to define it. I think the most important thing to understand about jazz is that it is all one lineage. The great masters of each generation were taught by studying the greats of the generation before them. And it was through this process that the language and the tradition of jazz has been carried on.
What is most surprising about playing live in New York or is it as one might expect?
Every day is a new surprise in New York City. One day you’re up, the next you’re knocked down. Those who can manage to keep getting back up are the ones who end up making it here.
What venues are the most enjoyable to play at and why?
NYC has so many great venues and they’re all so different. The West Village has some of the best jazz clubs in the world. The Blue Note has amazing sound. On even the same block as Blue Note is a club called Groove which also has a great setup. But every neighborhood has its own character and attributes. My local neighborhood of Bushwick actually has a shocking number of great venues. The Sultan Room is a relatively new venue that is quite impressive. I’ve also played at huge warehouse venues out in Bushwick including the Brooklyn Mirage which has unfortunately closed. One of my favorite venues that closed was a place called Swing 46, near Times Square. Sadly, it was one of the last remaining swing music venues in the city that was home to many of the most iconic legends in swing.
Where would you like to play that you haven’t played at yet?
There are still so many places that I would love a chance to play at. I’m yet to play at Village Vanguard or Birdland, two iconic jazz venues. Another great venue is The Django in Tribeca. A beautiful space in the basement of the Roxy Hotel, I’ve always wanted to play there.
How do you like singing compared to playing the sax and can you do both at the same time or during the same song?
I can technically sing into my sax when I play! But it mostly just results in a growling effect because it creates an interference pattern with the note that the instrument is producing. When I sing, I always play to follow. Singing has been a more recent addition for me, a way to expand my artistry. But I am much more experienced at using my sax to carry a tune and lead a band. So, I will always take solos and add parts on my saxophone, even on songs where I’m singing.
We love how you use “whom” correctly in your biography. How does proper grammar influence your career?
I don’t think grammar itself has had much impact on my musical career. But what I can say is, the reason I have good grammar is because I was very studious as a child. And if there’s any one thing I’ve learned from studying the language of jazz, it would be this: The more intimately familiar you are with the rules, the more potential you have to change them. In other words, how can you tell if an idea is original if you have no idea what’s already been said? Innovation is not random and comes from a deep understanding of the system.
What or who has had the most influence on your pursuit of excellence?
I think the person who most impacted my concept of excellence was my high school saxophone teacher Dann Zinn. He showed me the importance of details and that there are no shortcuts to refining your discipline. He taught me that the only way to get ahead is not just to work harder than your competition, but to embrace your weaknesses in order to focus on strengthening the areas that need it most.
What are you proudest of and why?
I think musically I have developed something that no one will ever be able to take from me. I have a sound that is immediately recognizable as me. Even if I were to die tomorrow, there will always be recorded proof that I had style.
What would you like to do professionally that you have not yet had the opportunity to do?
My ultimate dream has always been to lead my own big band. Big Band Swing was the first music I really fell in love with. I’ve recently been taking steps to achieve this goal. I’ve been writing vocal arrangements for reduced big band. My next project is going to feature me singing crooner classics with these new original horn arrangements.
What honors and awards have you received in your profession?
I received many student awards growing up, including the Downbeat Student Music Award for best undergraduate soloist. I have performed on albums that have received 4-star reviews from Downbeat magazine as well. My own albums are yet to receive such accolades. But it’s also an honor every time I’m invited to perform. Venues have no shortage of options when it comes to entertainment in New York City. Stepping into places like The Blue Note and Plaza Hotel, there’s always a feeling of elevation just to be a small part of the towering legacy those places carry.
What one word best describes you and why?
Tone. Not only is it my name, it’s also the thing I do. My name is Anthony, or Tony if you will. I make tones with my sax. That’s why they call me Big Tones.
What do you take your sense of identity from?
So, the big tones is more than just a cheap reference to my size. It actually refers to the way I play. Saxophone can be played like a trumpet using a system of what is called overtones. Overtones refer to the naturally occurring harmonic serious that can be achieved by overblowing any brass instrument. I have developed a style of playing in which I use only these harmonic series notes instead of the standard fingering. In other words, I’m big tones and I play sax with overtones.
What is your favorite place to be in Manhattan?
There’s no nicer place to be than Central Park itself.
And Sonoma?
I guess similarly I would say the center square, also known as the town plaza. In particular, Sebastiani Theater is an amazing old art deco theater right on the plaza that is still active today. And it’s where I first learned how to sing and dance as young as maybe 6 years old.
What is your favorite shop in Manhattan?
I’m full of Manhattan cliches I guess but honestly I’m a big fan of Macy’s Herald Square. A lot of my clothes are from there.
And Sonoma?
My favorite shop to visit was always the Cheese Factory. They sell a diverse assortment of kitchenware and home goods, but the reason I always went was for the free cheese samples!
If you could hire anybody whom would it be and why?
I’m lucky in that I’ve been able to work with and hire several of my heroes. My first three albums with SteepleChase were recorded with some of the greatest musicians alive today. If I had to choose just one person to work with, it would be a dream to play with Stevie Wonder.
What is the best advice you’ve received in your career and what mentors have influenced you the most?
I talked a lot about my high school teacher, Dann Zinn. But equally influential was my first saxophone teacher, Keith Ridenhour, who taught me throughout middle school. Keith put me onto a lot of truly great music early on. And as a veteran of the scene, showed me what it was like gigging and playing around the Sonoma wine country. His advice to me, well before I had put any thought toward applying to college, was to study where you want to live. Because where you choose to be, where you are, is the very musical scene in which you will work and create. I always knew that I wanted to be in New York City. All my favorite big band music was created here. NYU was always my top choice and I was lucky enough to get a full ride scholarship. I don’t think I would have been able to achieve such a success if Keith hadn’t made the path so clear for me at such an early stage.
What is your favorite drink?
After water? Beer. I went sober for 4 months a couple years back. I never missed weed, but I missed beer.
What is the funniest thing that has ever happened to you at a cocktail party?
My first roommate out of college was also the first person I met when I moved to New York. A trombone player my year at NYU, we became close friends. He used to throw parties in our apartment. We had a pretty spacious loft space in Greenpoint, Brooklyn; it was 4 of us total living there.
One time, at a party, a beautiful woman walks into my own home. It was a friend of a friend’s girlfriend. The party was full of artists and at one point in the night it devolved into a spitting circle. Some people were rapping, some people were singing but everyone was free-styling. Until this moment, I had made my best efforts toward being friendly to this mystery lady, but now was the time to make an impression. I have never beat boxed in my life, before or since, yet something in me that night compelled me to throw down the fattest beat. I swear, I’m so glad nobody recorded it. There’s no way the reality could ever live up to my memory of what happened. But I was going so hard, making sounds I never heard myself make before. And she and I ended up dating for several months to follow. I guess the moral of the story is that anything is possible when you are truly inspired by something.
What is your favorite restaurant in Manhattan?
In terms of best food I ever had? Probably Cipriani
And Sonoma?
My favorite restaurant was always Mary’s Pizza Shack. A local favorite, it has since expanded into a regional chain. It was such a hot spot; I remember I was in class with with one of the sons of the owners, Vinny, and he was always the coolest kid in class.
What is your favorite Manhattan book or favorite character in Manhattan literature?
As much as I do love the Great Gatsby, I think my favorite New York story is Sleepy Hollow. Maybe not Manhattan literature per se, but still very much New York literature.
And Sonoma?
Not technically literature, but there is a movie that was filmed in Sonoma called ‘Bottleshock.’ It was starring Alan Rickman as an international wine critic. The movie was about the success of a winery in the neighboring town of Napa, California. A lot of the movie is about the upset in France that an American wine could ever score higher than French wine. So all the scenes that take place in France were actually shot in Sonoma. I was pretty young, but I remember that everybody was very excited to have a movie star in town.
What is your favorite tv show and why?
I can always rewatch Avatar the Last Airbender. While technically a kids show, it has such powerful themes and symbolism as well as incredibly colorful animation. It’s an amazing show for any age group. The show I’ve been most excited about recently that’s still in production is a little less kid friendly. It’s a horror series called “From.”
What is your favorite movie and why?
Hard to choose just one, but I’ve always really loved Sweeney Todd. I’m a big fan of horror (if you couldn’t already tell). And I grew up watching musicals. My favorite Broadway show by the way is Phantom of the Opera. I’m also a huge fan of Tim Burton and have seen A Nightmare Before Christmas over 1000 times in my life. But Sweeney Todd has such beautiful music, and it’s such a dramatic story, it might be #1 for me.
What do you know now that you wish you knew at the beginning of your career?
I wish I understood sooner the value of not only having good media, but of owning your own media. Of course, I’m happy to play under many different band leaders. But as long as I’m playing under someone else’s name, I’m contributing to the growth of their image but not really my own. By having my own media, clients find me directly. which gives me creative control regarding the style of music and with whom I choose to play.
What’s one thing you wish the world better understood about you and why?
I am huge on quality first and only. Quantity is irrelevant if there’s only one right tool for the job. In music, as in any craft, I was always told, “you play the way you practice.” In other words, if you practice something incorrectly 1000 times, it doesn’t matter how long you spent practicing. Not only will it still be wrong, now you will have to spend an additional 1000 repetitions to unlearn the mistakes you just taught yourself. As such, I am very picky about what I say and with whom I choose to create. As Peachy said to me recently, “the internet is forever.” Quality is something that can never be rushed. But if you’re hip to what’s good, it’s merely a matter of playing the right notes, using that one right tool for the job.
Who would you like to be for a day and why?
I don’t particularly care to be anyone else. I’m very comfortable in my own skin. But I suppose it would be fun to be Wemby for a day. I’m not exactly short at 6’3” but it could be cool to see what life is like over 7 feet tall.
What would you like to be asked in an interview that you never have been asked, and how would you answer it?
Who is your favorite American president and why?
Abraham Lincoln: Not only was he the tallest president, and exactly the strong leadership we needed to preserve the Union during America’s darkest chapter. Perhaps his most important accomplishment was connecting the East and West coasts by rail. In 1864, in the middle of a civil war, he signed an executive order at Council Bluffs, Iowa, authorizing the commencement of the Pacific Railroad. But he did more than just sign a document. He contributed to the development of this railroad as an attorney before even becoming president. In 1857, he advocated for a bridge that would allow this train to cross the Missouri River from Council Bluffs into neighboring Omaha, Nebraska.
If you could have anything in Manhattan named after you what would it be and why?
It would be pretty cool to have a jazz club named after me.
And Sonoma?
Maybe a music school
What has been your best Manhattan athletic experience?
I like to run a lot, and easily my favorite place to run is central park.
And Sonoma?
I was never very athletic as a child. My Dad encouraged me to tryout for the traveling soccer teams every year but I was never drafted. I played baseball too. I always wanted to pitch, but was similarly no good at the game. One day, we were winning by so much that the coach let me pitch the final inning of the game. When I tell you we almost lost that game, believe me coach was stressed. But luckily we pulled through and everyone still congratulated me when we won the game.
What is your favorite thing to do in Manhattan that you can do nowhere else?
There’s no other place in the world that can touch the NYC jazz scene. It feels like there’s an endless supply of unbelievably talented musicians and no shortage of places to play either. Every year we lose jazz clubs, but yet still somehow everyday it seems I discover new amazing jazz clubs in the city.
And Sonoma?
Sonoma has some truly amazing wine. Perhaps not as famous as her next door neighbor, Napa, California, Sonoma shares the same incredibly rich soil that produces such fantastic grapes and other produce.
If you could have dinner with any person living or passed, who would it be and why?
I might have to go with one of my all time heroes and musical icon Duke Ellington. I don’t know if anyone has contributed more music to the world than the Duke himself. And one can only imagine the stories he could tell about his residency in Harlem from the late 1920s into the 1930s, the era that he himself coined “Swing.”
What has been your best Manhattan art or music experience?
It would be hard to choose just one best musical experience I’ve had. But maybe one of the best times I had band-leading was playing on the Elsie Rooftop near Times Square. We played as a jazz quartet in which I played sax and sang classic jazz tunes. But we also featured a burlesque dancer as part of the performance. Incorporating the dance with the music was a really unique but also old-school experience that I hope to do more of. Classic big bands always featured flapper dancers with crazy glamorous outfits. It’s a New York staple that needs to be brought back more often.
And Sonoma?
Perhaps the pinnacle of my performance career in Sonoma was in 8th grade. All of middle school I played in the Sonoma high school jazz band and also performed in the high school musical theater productions. In 8th grade, I was a sailor in George Gershwin’s ‘Anything Goes’ (another classic NYC story). As a sailor I sung in the chorus, had a couple small lines, and even had a featured tap dance solo.
What do you personally do or what have you done to give back to the world?
I really like the work I get to do with the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America and other memory care programs. Music has an uncanny way of accessing our memories. I sing timeless jazz standards for homes and even those who haven’t spoken all day might might suddenly start to sing along. Part of me likes to think that these small moments of joy will help them live longer. In certain cases, it gives the family of these patients a chance to have some final connection with their loved ones.
What do you think is most underrated and overrated in Manhattan?
I mean, easily the most overrated thing about Manhattan is the price for everything. That and Times Square. The most underrated thing about Manhattan has got to be its Bus system. People love to talk about how much they hate the bus, but the busses in NYC are actually an engineering marvel. Fully electric, our busses are equipped with a hydraulic system that allows it to “kneel” down and allow access for disabled riders.
And Sonoma?
I think the most overrated thing about Sonoma is its immediate neighbor of Napa, California. Napa is great, and definitely the more popular town. But Sonoma shares all the things that make Napa great and also has its own unique character. Sonoma is actually the older of the two towns, and as such, perhaps the most underrated part is its rich history. Sonoma is home to the last built of the California Missions: a string of 21 churches built all along the California coast by the original Spanish colonists from 1769 (San Diego) until Sonoma’s Mission San Francisco Solano was built in 1823. The Mission today sits on the town’s center plaza right next to the original barracks where the Spanish soldiers lived. Believe it or not, the town was built by Spanish Governor Vallejo as a military outpost to keep an eye on Russian activity that was happening along the Northwestern Pacific Coast. You see, around this time, Russia had been establishing settlements in Alaska, and was now starting to send out their own scouting missions South along the coast.
Other than Movers and Shakers of course, what is your favorite WhomYouKnow.com column and what do you like about it?
My favorite column has got to be New York Notes. The New York musical landscape is ever vast and always changing. No one’s got their ear to the ground like Peachy to sort through the noise!
What else should Whom You Know readers know about you?
There’s no party like a Big Tones party. If you’re looking for something cutting edge and upbeat for your next event, we play all kinds of music: Jazz, Pop, Funk, Samba, Reggae, Disco, R&B, Boogie-woogie, Bossa Nova, Christmas Carols, Italian Music. Big Tones Band plays all sizes and varieties.
How would you like to be contacted by Whom You Know readers?
You can email me at anthonyferrarasax@gmail.com or find me on social media @bigtonesband
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