Freddie Ravel

Freddie Ravel is an American keyboardist. Ravel is a former member of the band Earth, Wind & Fire. As well he has worked with artists such as Sergio Mendes, Flora Purim, Bobby McFerrin, Carlos Santana, Madonna, Al Jarreau and Prince.[1]

Freddie Ravel
Birth nameFred Ravel
GenresR&B, Latin, soul, Jazz
Occupation(s)musician
InstrumentsKeyboards, Piano
Associated actsEarth, Wind & Fire, Al Jarreau, Sergio Mendes

Biography

Ravel was born and bred in Los Angeles to a Russian-German-Polish father and a Colombian mother. He started playing the accordion at the age of 7 then moved on to play the drums, guitar and eventually the piano. He later got a Bachelor's Degree in musical studies at California State University.[2][3]

During 1988 Ravel became the musical director for Indian violinist L. Subramaniam. Within the following year he became a member of Sergio Mendes's band.[2][3] Ravel went on to join Earth, Wind & Fire in 1992 as the band's musical director. He thus played on their 1993 album Millennium. He also featured on Flora Purim's 1994 album Speed of Light. After four years with EWF he went on perform with Madonna on the soundtrack of the 1996 feature film Evita. He also played on Peter White's 1997 LP Songs of the Season. During 1998 Ravel became the musical director of Jazz musician Al Jarreau.[1][3][4][5] He went on to produce Jarreau on his 2000 album Tomorrow Today.[6] The album rose to No. 2 on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart.[7]

Ravel later performed on Jarreau's 2002 album All I Got. He then played on Euge Groove's 2002 LP Play Date and EWF's 2003 album The Promise. Ravel also composed on Jarreau's 2004 album, Accentuate The Positive, and performed on a 2006 album by Jarreau and George Benson called Givin' It Up.[1]

Discography
  • Midnight Passion (1991)
  • Sol to Soul (1995)
  • Freddie Ravel (2000)
  • If Music Could Speak (2014)[1]

References
  1. "Freddie Ravel". allmusic.com.
  2. Heckman, Don (April 30, 1993). "Ravel Revels in Versatility : The CSUN-trained keyboardist and composer has played with an array of artists and reflects a spectrum of influences". latimes.com. Los Angeles Times.
  3. Epstein, Benjamin (May 18, 1996). "Pianist Ravel Runs Gamut--From 'Sol to Soul'". latimes.com. Los Angeles Times.
  4. Lewis, Lis. "A Chat With Musical Director, Freddie Ravel". thesingersworkshop.com.
  5. "Fred Ravel interview". soulmusic.info.
  6. "Al Jarreau: Tomorrow Today". allmusic.com.
  7. "Al Jarreau: Tomorrow Today (Jazz Albums)". Billboard.com.


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