Personnel includes: Rachelle Ferrell (vocals, piano); Claude Nobs (spoken vocals); George Duke (arranger, keyboards); Eddie Green (piano); Brian Simpson (keyboards); Jonathan Butler (guitar); Tyrone Brown (bass);

Doug Nally (drums).

Recorded live at The Montreux Jazz Festival, Montreux, Switzerland between July 15, 1991 and July 12, 1997. Includes liner notes by Bruce Lundvall and Rachelle Ferrell.

All tracks have been digitally remastered.

Ah, the LIVE AT MONTREUX album, the gold watch of jazz. It seems like once a musician or vocalist has spent a few decades in smoky clubs and roughneck juke joints, they get to fly to Switzerland and make a dignified (read: dull) recording in front of a respectful (read: bored) audience. It's a tradition. That singer Rachelle Ferrell made her LIVE AT MONTREUX album only three albums into her career is surprising. That it's her finest work yet is nothing short of amazing. On early albums like 1989's FIRST INSTRUMENT, Ferrell seemed hesitant to find her own voice, too often relying on familiar phrasing even on original songs.

Perhaps this was just studio nerves, because on stage only two years later (nine of these 12 songs were recorded in 1991 with the Earl Green Trio, with the remainder coming from a 1997 date with a big band), Ferrell reinterprets a fine set of standards and works wonders on her original songs, particularly an excellent version of her signature tune, "I'm Special," with George Duke on keyboards. The three later tracks are even better, as they show the result of several years of vocal experimentation on Ferrell's part; her phrasing is remarkably free, but never as mannered as her contemporary Cassandra Wilson can be at times. Far from being a staid, boring run-through of tired material, Rachelle Ferrell's LIVE AT MONTREUX is a revelation.

JazzTimes (7-8/02, pp.96,98) - "...Showcases the dynamic, young Ferrell at her budding best..."