Bryan Ferry works with son Tara on new album ‘Avonmore’

TORONTO – Bryan Ferry has high praise for the headstrong young drummer on his new album “Avonmore,” who also just happens to be the legendary crooner’s son.

“He’s very strong-willed, a very good player,” the former Roxy Music frontman said of Tara Ferry in a recent interview. “Very grounded, very earthy sort of player. And thankfully he’s listened to a lot of really good drummers and it shows.”

Out next week, “Avonmore” features eight new songs, as well as covers of Stephen Sondheim’s “Send In The Clowns” and Robert Palmer’s “Johnny and Mary.”

After various tribute projects from Ferry (including 2012’s “The Jazz Age” and 2007’s “Dylanesque”), the new album marks a return to the lush, sensual sound of classic Roxy Music hits like “Slave to Love,” “More than This” and “Avalon.”

In addition to the appearance by Tara Ferry, “Avonmore” boasts a star-studded list of collaborators including Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, multiple Grammy winner Nile Rodgers and bassist Marcus Miller — as well as turns by Flea, Ronnie Spector and Mark Knopfler.

Laughter is a big part of the recording sessions: “You end up having a similar sense of humour as the people that you choose to work with,” said Ferry. “It’s very much a part of being a musician it seems, somehow.”

The 69-year-old singer says he first met Marr during the making of an early Smiths album. The pair also worked together on Ferry’s 1987 release “Bete Noire,” which featured the hit “Kiss and Tell.”

“He’s terrific, a real rock and roll spirit, loads of energy … very groovy player,” Ferry said of Marr, who co-wrote the “Avonmore” track “Soldier of Fortune.”

That said, any hard-partying rock-star excess is apparently a thing of the past.

“He’s very fit — he runs marathons now, it’s incredible,” Ferry noted when asked to tell a story about recording with Marr. “He’d say: ‘Oh yeah, I ran for five miles before I came in today. I’d say: ‘Really?’ When I knew him years ago it was a bit different. It’s incredible.”

The title track, meanwhile, features an appearance from Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, whom Ferry met in Los Angeles through British artist Damien Hirst.

“When he came to the session he had this great bass guitar that Damien had given him that which was kind of coated with butterflies,” recalled Ferry. “A beautiful instrument and worth millions, I guess. So that’s what he played. He’s a very good player, lots of energy and we got on very well. He plays the bass sort of hundreds of notes a second, very fast. He’s like a virtuoso bass player.”

“Avonmore” was mostly put together in London (the album’s title comes from a street in the neighbourhood where Ferry’s studio is located). He worked on the record between tours and some of the tracks had been “lying around for awhile” as Ferry did “The Jazz Age” and worked on music for the 2013 Baz Luhrmann film “The Great Gatsby.”

There’s more than one familial connection on “Avonmore.” Ferry’s son Isaac, who is involved in the dance music world, introduced his father to Norwegian DJ Todd Terje, who collaborated on “Johnny and Mary.”

The singer seems to get a kick out of sharing music with his offspring.

“It’s good having that interaction,” said Ferry. “I’ve shown them a bunch of the old music to listen to and they tell me who the new people are.”

They also share similar sensibilities, which no doubt helped on “Avonmore.”

“I think we have the same taste in drummers that we like,” Ferry said of son Tara. “Like you know, he loves Al Jackson who played on the Otis Redding records and all those wonderful Stax records from Memphis. So, that sort of thing. So he’s sort of old-school taste which is good, though he’s very young and cool.”