First Instrument

First Instrument was produced by Hitoshi Namekata and Lenny White. Artists such as Wayne Shorter, Gil Goldstein, Terence Blanchard, Stanley Clarke, and Pete Levin appear on the album.

James T. Jones IV of USA Today wrote, "This quiet acoustic setting gives this brilliant singer more musical room to expand her impressive vocal chops. Backed by an unintrusive piano trio, she lets fly her vast vocal arsenal, scatting and manipulating a melody as if it were Silly Putty. Her freewheeling improvisations recall early Al Jarreau."

Scott Yanow of AllMusic remarked, "Her voice is quite soulful, making her later shift to R&B less of a surprise in hindsight, but Ferrell seems quite unsure of how to use her wide range, and her improvisations are often quite eccentric. Her lack of warmth and subtlety (along with a tendency to scream and screech in unexpected spots without a buildup) makes it difficult to listen to several of the numbers on this standards-oriented set."

Langston Wertz of the Charlotte Observer proclaimed, "This is an album that was previously available only in Japan and was recorded in 1989 and '90. That this jazz record of "old music" could constitute one of the best things in any genre to be released in the past 18 months says that Ferrell, if nothing else, has staying power. She doesn't make music for the moment."