Chords for Who is Russell Ferrante - Yellowjackets Keyboardist

_ _ _ _ _ _ [A] _ _
_ _ [D] _ _ _ [Db] Man, he's my Bob.
[A] He's my Debussy.
[Dm] _ _ [Eb] _
[Dm] We're like family.
[A] We're like [E] brothers. _ _
_ [A] The consummate musician.
He's studied, [G] he's listened to [Dm] all different kinds of music, he [D] understands the inner [A] workings
of music, he sees the big picture.
_ _ If you think of a musician who practices, [Dm] who's never satisfied _ _ _ with their craft, with
their [Gb] playing, always looking for something new, always [D] looking to expand and grow upon
his craft, _ that's [Dm] Russell.
_ _ [Eb] When [Dm] he plays, when he composes, there's a real deliberate quality to [D] what he does.
In his compositions you will hear a theme or an [Db] idea or a technique or a device that
is the focal point of this [Dm] composition and then is elaborated upon and expanded upon.
_ [Db] Number [Dm] one, great human being.
_ [D] From the moment I met Russell, I [F] knew that he, I felt that he could [Dm] just give me the
shirt off his back.
That's cliché-ish, but it's really true.
There's three [N] percussion elements.
There's a shaker.
It's just in that second section.
There's a shaker.
There's that little hand drum.
_ And then at the gospel section there's a little tambourine.
He's just got an amazing pair of ears.
He has great time.
He's a composer, you know, and a lot of people can play but can't necessarily write.
Russ is a far more sophisticated writer, writes way more sophisticated things than most of
the people [A] that I hear even today.
When I go into that zone of writing or creative place, _ _ I kind of throw myself [Db] open to whatever
[Ab] might present itself.
[Db] I search around and I put my antennas up and really try to be aware of interesting [Dbm] ideas
that might [G] percolate to the top of my consciousness.
[A] _
I don't [Bbm] necessarily [C] think of it, [G] you know, as [Ab] initially at least, as the guys in the
band playing [Abm] the music.
I'm just searching for good musical ideas.
And then maybe once it's underway, [E] then I'll start [Gb] thinking, okay, this _ piece right here,
[Abm] this could be adapted really nicely for the band, what we do and the players in the band.
But I'm kind of more like just, you know, [Gb] it could, maybe the ideas could be applied
in a lot of different [E] directions.
Of the pieces that I contributed, [C] there were five pieces.
One I had been working on for a while and I thought this could be a, [F] make a nice [C] Yellowjackets
tune or it could be something, [Ab] you know, almost a little solo piano piece.
[Eb] But [C] then when we set this time, you know, a couple months [D] ago that we said we [Cm] really
need to record during this period of time, then over that, _ [Eb] _
[Am] these last month or so, [Cm] I
really set [C] to working on some music specifically for this record.
_ It's been really fun.
It was a great, it was really exciting.
And it was a thrill [F] being back in the studio and getting to record our tunes again.
If I don't have a deadline, [G] that, [C] a lot of times it doesn't get done or you'll get partway through something.
But the [F] _ impetus and the incentive to complete things and get the chart written [Eb] and really
tighten it up comes with the deadlines and knowing, you know, you're going to have to
record some things.
This piece is a Russ Ferrante composition titled Indivisible.
[Fm] There's the stuff [Gb] that will go on probably [Bbm] the remainder of your life, just trying [Db] to,
you know, [Ebm] be _ [Eb] as [E] truthful and as _ honest and [G] a [F] person of integrity that you can be.
So there's those [Db] challenges.
Manage your, [Ab] you know, emotions and [Gb] _ _ temper [Db] your bad habits [Gb] and all the rest.
So there's that.
_ _ [Cm] [E] There's trying to become a better musician, a better writer.
I mean, [Dm] that's, as a [C] musician, my focus is in [Ab] trying to learn more [Db] and [Eb] expand my [Ab] musical
vocabulary and my appreciation for [Bbm] [Gm] different styles and try to incorporate those things
into my own [B] music.
[Dbm] _ _
_ _ [Db] And actually, [D] you know, I mean, this is kind of corny, but _ [Db] Father's Day just passed and
I [Gb] got a really beautiful card from my daughter and she said, you know, some pleasantries
and then she said, but [E] most of all or something like this, thanks for [Db] being a great role model,
you know, and I thought, well, wow, I'm not really sure [Bb] I am, but I would try to like,
I would like to try to live [Gb] up to that, you [Ebm] know, in the eyes of someone who really loves
you, that it respects you.
Try [Gb] to be, you know, [Ebm] all that you can be.
[Ab] That's a [E] great challenge.
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[Bb] _ _ _ _ _ [Fm] _ [Ebm] _ _
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[Db] _ _ [E] _ _ _ [Eb] _ [D] _ _