John Ferrara is a bassist and composer, best known for his work with the acclaimed world fusion band “Consider the Source.” He’s gained worldwide recognition for his unorthodox approach to writing and performing which he accomplishes largely by utilizing the “two handed tapping technique”. His unique approach alters the instrument’s role into something more akin to a piano or classical guitar. Where Ferrara’s take on the bass guitar showcases his technical proficiency, his ethos as an artist is strictly to serve an emotional end, making his compositions both comprehensible, relatable, and palatable.
Ferrara has proven to capture the ears of seemingly disparate audiences. Having spent years gaining recognition straddling the progressive rock, jam-band, and metal scenes, he was recently featured as a finalist on NPR Music’s “Tiny Desk Contest TOP SHELF”, among mostly pop-oriented singer songwriters. His unique submission was chosen out of thousands of entries by NPR Tiny Desk Contest winner “iLe.” Tiny Desk Concert founder, Bob Boilen called Ferrara’s playing “Jawdropping.”
John has also been featured several times over the last couple of years for his performances and lessons on the world renowned bass website “Scott’s Bass Lessons.” Thousands of bass players have admired Ferrara’s method, and hundreds of them have taken private lessons with him online to learn his technique and apply it to their own work.
Ferrara’s music is a mixture between classical, jazz, rock, folk, and minimalism and falls somewhere between the brooding moodiness of Phillip Glass, the improvisational exploration of Chick Corea, and the melancholic spirit of Radiohead. He is inspired by composers and jazz pianists equally. The music paints many different scenes with shifts in mood and dynamics often occurring multiple times within each song.
Ferrara regularly tours all over the U.S. with both his band “Consider the Source” and with his solo project and has also performed in other countries including Germany, Turkey, Israel, and India.
He has been featured in several Bass magazines and other publications. He proudly endorses:
Jawdropping
When it comes to bass tapping, John Ferrara is an absolute beast of a player.
The bassist seems to get every last ounce of music out of his instrument …. Although his extensive playing techniques are extremely impressive, it is obvious that they are merely tools for the compositions.
The sounds that New Yorker gets out of that Fodera will leave bass players flabbergasted and amazed
A composers bassist (who) translates the mystery of chops into a musical improvisational environment
Ferrara has been admired for his compelling bass approach which evokes as much bodily emotion as it does musical passion, exquisitely combining South Indian, Drum n Bass and metal rhythms
John Ferrara played bass like a lead instrument, melodic and beautiful and technically brilliant
John Ferrara’s bass playing is pure wizardry. His ability to pluck that many notes on his instrument, making it seem as if multiple people are playing the bass at once was breath taking! He was able to be smooth, vicious, tenacious, and extremely creative all at the same time. Truly one of the most talented bassists in the world
Percussive and blistering fast slap bass rhythms
This is my main bass. I picked this up from the Fodera shop and drove immediately to a gig where I played it on stage. The learning curve going from a 4 to a 5 was difficult but I was so excited to play it I just felt like jumping and getting to know it was the only option.
I had wanted Taurus pedals since CTS recorded Esperanto and I used them on a couple of tracks. One day, our lighting designer at the time, a good friend named John Olson built this by taking the foot pedals off of an old Yamaha organ, taking the electronics out of a Casio keyboard, wiring it all together and built a casing and surprised me with it. It’s been an integral part of my performing and writing ever since!
I’ve been playing Hartke Gear since I was about 16. My sound developed with these amps. I have several different Hartke heads, cabinets and combo amps for different performance and recording situations. The set up I have in this picture is the one I use for my solo/duo project. For CTS I use the same cabinet with their insanely souped up “Kilo” head. I also use the Hartke kickback to run sound for my Taurus pedals.
This was my first Fodera. I was so excited to get this that I had multiple dreams about it the months before it was completed. I played this on almost every Consider the Source album aside from World War trio parts 2 + 3
These little guys pack a punch!! They sound great and work really well with the different instruments used in the CTS acoustic sets.
Another awesome and unique instrument that I use in the CTS acoustic sets! It has a really short attack, pretty much zero sustain which is really good for fast staccato playing. Harmonics on this guy sound awesome too, really haunting!
These are one of the most unique instruments out there. Slapstick are long rectangular pieces of metal with a another thin layer of metal along one side which acts like a string. They are tunable and can be fretted as well. They can be played with sticks, fingers or with your thumbs which is the main way I like to play them. In the picture here I have several different slapsticks all tuned differently and I play them like a Xylophone. I can play entire bass lines with it layed out like this and the way they sound and ring into each other is truly awesome!