Mordy's playing and compositions defy classification for the simple reason that he emulates no one and does more than his share to bring jazz into the 21st century. Writing expressive music for multiple instruments, he effortlessly joins the intricacies of melody and musicianship. As veteran pianist Richie Beirach explains, "Mordy Ferber is a very individual guitarist/composer. He has distilled the essence of the best musicians of his generation and has come up with a fresh approach within the language of contemporary guitar improvisation."

The legendary drummer, Jack DeJohnette says, "I love his sound and his feeling. He writes beautiful compositions. Mordy is committed to the highest level of quality and creativity. He is not afraid to take risks."

My most engraved Mordy Ferber memory as an improvising musician was when I heard him in California with Danny Gottlieb and Jeff Berlin. Mordy's playing was hard-edged, avant-garde, don't give-a damn-about convention, and rhythmically on fire. This is the spirit of what I like best about Mordy--he chooses hip scale-dissonance coupled with a rebellious freedom that reveals the pure joy of improvisation.  As A composer, Mordy shows another side, a more abstract, melodic, original, out-of -the-mainstream approach to jazz and that's the Mordy Ferber to whom no-one else can compare...
(Larry Coryell)

"Mordy is a wonderful musician who digs deep in his writing and playing with a clear sense of communicating to the listener."
(Dave Liebman)

"On Being There, Mordy Ferber provides reason to make sure he’s included in the lists of jazz guitarists who not only have developed sounds of their own through deep personal experience and technical mastery, but also who have shown sufficient compositional imagination to make their own statement."
(jazzreview.com)

"Add Mordy Ferber to the list of notable guitarists in the jazz world today. This Israeli-born sensation displays readily apparent technical fortitude and, more importantly, a confident sense of when and how to flex his talent.  Ferber is a player of considerable promise who blends irreverent energies and an angular, dare we say European?, harmonic sense into an overall jazz sans frontiers."
(Jazziz)

"New York guitarist-composer, Mordy Ferber, is a powerful, contemporary guitarist with an attitude, energy, and a pluck all his own.  And with a batch of riveting originals and plenty of zing per string, Ferber is clearly his own man."
(Jazz Times)

"Ferber’s Mr. X makes manifest his deep commitment and his firm attitudes towards his music. The compositional lines are strong; the ballads are fresh; and, the guitar work throughout is outstanding."
(The Jerusalem Post)  

Bio

Born in a small town in northern Israel, Mordy Ferber began his musical journey as a singer at the age of 10 performing at school events and small concerts in his hometown. At 12 years of age, after picking up a guitar at the home of a family friend, he decided to take formal guitar lessons. For the following year, he studied with the only teacher available in his town who taught classical music,
not his first choice of at that time. 

By the time Mordy was a teenager, he was heavily influenced by Rock and was performing covers of Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Cream, the Beatles, and Santana all over Israel. After hearing Django Reinhardt on the radio one day, Mordy was instantly enthralled and his new found love for Django would lead him to discover the likes of Charlie Christian, Joe Pass, Wes Montgomery and Jim Hall.

At the age of 18, Mordy joined the Israeli army, a three-year obligation of every Israeli citizen. The first two months were spent in combat training. He soon realized that if he wanted to play the guitar again, he would have to join the army band. Regardless of the music, he preferred a guitar to a gun. For the remainder of his time in the army, he toured the country as part of the military’s entertainment unit giving concerts to other soldiers in remote areas both inside and out of the country. During this time, Mordy began earning a strong reputation as a guitarist and upon his completion of service, Mordy quickly became one of Israel’s top musicians, performing on numerous records for CBS (Sony) with singers like Arik Ainstain, Shlomo Artzi, Shem Tov Levi, Shlomo Gronich, Miki Gavrielov and Norit Galron, appearing regularly on radio and television shows. 

"It was great training for me, getting so much experience playing in many different styles. I even had the privilege of performing with the legendary Jerry Lewis.
At the same time, I continued to work on jazz and developed as an improviser by myself during this period." 

At 23, Mordy received a full scholarship to Berklee College of Music in Boston and immigrated to the United States. He graduated in 1987 with full honours and received the prestigious Jim Hall award for outstanding musicianship. 

Mordy Ferber has performed and recorded with artists including Michael Brecker, Jack DeJohnette, Eddie Gomez, Peter Erskine, Bob Mintzer, Dave Liebman, Miroslav Vitous, Jeff Berlin, Danny Gottlieb, Bob Moses, Richie Beirach, Richard Bona, George Garzone, Will Lee, Larry Coryell, Adam Nussbaum and Billy Hart. 
He has recorded 3 albums as a leader on the Enja, Half Note and CBS Europe Record labels.

Mordy has twenty-six years of teaching experience at such prestigious institutions as New York University, Berklee College of Music in Boston, the New School University, American Institute for Guitar and the Sam Ash Institute in New York City. He is highly sought after for his private instruction and has taught master classes in improvisation technique, harmony and composition all over the world.
Mordy is regularly commissioned to write music for television and film and his work has been used widely in shows such as the Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Jack Ass, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Guilty on HBO, Fresh Prince, Bay Watch, Felicity, Chris Rock Special on HBO, Everybody Loves Raymond, Veronica’s Closet, the VH1 Fashion Award Show, the Grammy Awards promo, and on many other prime time television shows and movies worldwide.

Mordy endorses Framus Electric Guitars & Red Rogue Combo. La Bella strings, Fishman acoustic Amps and Godin Multiac Nylon & Steel Guitars
For more info please go to www.mordyferber.com.

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