TeaFlix Interview with John Ferraro

John Ferraro is a highly respected Los Angeles-based drummer, percussionist and recording musician whose versatile career has encompassed pop, rock, jazz, R&B, country, big band, film, television and live theatrical performance.

Born in Waterbury, Connecticut, Ferraro began playing drums at the age of five. Music was part of his upbringing, with a trumpet-playing father and a pianist mother. After his family relocated to Southern California, he developed his skills through school ensembles, marching bands, talent competitions and his own traditional jazz group. He later attended Orange Coast College and California State University, Long Beach, where he studied business administration while taking music performance classes and earning honors as an instrumentalist. 

Ferraro’s first major professional engagement was performing at Disneyland as part of the entertainment created for the newly opened Space Mountain attraction. He subsequently became one of Southern California’s most dependable and adaptable professional drummers, equally comfortable supporting a vocalist, driving a jazz ensemble or bringing precision and energy to a large-scale concert production. 

Among the highlights of his career was working with international superstar Barry Manilow. Ferraro performed on Manilow recordings, including tracks associated with the 1982 album Here Comes the Night, and travelled around the world as a member of Manilow’s touring ensemble. His combination of technical skill, musical sensitivity and disciplined showmanship made him ideally suited to Manilow’s sophisticated concert productions. 

Ferraro also maintained an extensive musical relationship with Grammy Award-winning guitarist Larry Carlton, touring with him domestically and internationally over a period of approximately 18 years. He later toured throughout Europe, Asia and the Americas with legendary composer Burt Bacharach, helping bring Bacharach’s celebrated catalogue of songs to audiences around the globe. 

Throughout his career, Ferraro has performed or recorded with an extraordinary roster of artists, including Burt Bacharach, George Benson, Linda Ronstadt, Aaron Neville, Robben Ford, David Benoit, Randy Crawford, Steve Lukather, Albert Lee, Carl Anderson, Carl Verheyen, Kirk Whalum, Michael Sembello, Eddie Van Halen, Tak Matsumoto and Rod Stewart. 

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