DAN FERRIS
Whether rendering a ballad or cutting loose on a big band swing tune, Dan Ferris creates the right musical atmosphere for any occasion. Ferris brings elegance and excitement to the bandstand that is not often found these days he's a throwback to the supper clubs of the Forties, Fifties and Sixties. Vocally versant in several styles, for the past several years he has focused primarily on jazz and the Great American Songbook.
Possessing vocal skills of the first order, Ferris pleases an audience song after song. To wit, Ferris recently performed outdoors for one of several Morton Arboretum Membership Appreciation Nights, drawing a larger crowd (over 1,000 people) and generating more favorable comments than any other performance, which included a variety of music styles. The diverse crowd included kids, parents and grandparents; people of all ages were dancing to the music. In short, popular jazz standards appeal to ALL age groups.
Ferris recently concluded a longstanding engagement at Chicago's Peninsula Hotel, which is selected as the Number One hotel in North America by three world travel publications: Cond Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure and Zagat Survey.
In addition to singing, Ferris also composes music. Though he has composed both words and music for dozens of songs, his most recent efforts have been penning lyrics to instrumental works, especially those originally written for film. John Barry's Body Heat and George Duning's Bell, Book and Candle are examples of film score title tracks for which Ferris has added lyrics. Both songs will be included on Now Playing, his forthcoming CD, featuring music from movies and television.
His current CD, Martinis & Sinatra, features music made famous by ËœOle Blue Eyes" and other selections from the Great American Songbook, as well as jazz and pop standards.
Recent television appearances include MetroMix, on CLTV (a Chicago Tribune cable station), and a Millennium Park performance, A Tribute to Nat King Cole, which aired on the City of Chicago's cable channel.
Ferris is also co-founder and actively involved in publishing Chicago Jazz Magazine, a bimonthly publication dedicated to promoting both the Chicago jazz scene and jazz as America's artistic contribution to the world.