Hear, Sense and Feel (Remastered): Blue With Black Swirl Vinyl LP

Pre-Order Item. Release Date Subject to Change.
Label: Real Gone Music
Release Date: 6th February

Mad that The Awakening were the only group to be put out on the legendary Black Jazz label 'Hear, Sense and Feel' hits a sweet spot where some members of the band were seasoned avant-garde players ala Art Ensemble of Chicago and others go-to soul and funk session players. The result is a band whose albums lent to both Afrocentric  avant garde rhythms and a soulful jazz funk fusion. 

The Awakening were the only “group” recorded by Black Jazz, for which they made two albums; those two releases happen to be among the most collectible in the label’s entire catalog. Recorded in 1972, Hear, Sense, and Feel marked the band’s debut, and featured the same line-up that played on next year’s Mirage. Being from Chicago, The Awakening’s line-up unsurprisingly boasts a heavy connection to the AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians) collective that claimed The Art Ensemble of Chicago among its most esteemed artists; in fact, both bassist Reggie Willis and tenor saxman/flautist Ari Brown were AACM members and appeared on albums with Muhal Richard Abrams, Lester Bowie, and Anthony Braxton among others. The other members of The Awakening, on the other hand, hailed from the city’s soul jazz scene, specifically Young Holt Unlimited, for whom co-leaders trumpeter Frank Gordon and keyboardist Ken Chaney played (trombonist Steve Galloway played on Melvin Jackson’s soul jazz classic Funky Skull). And it is that sweet spot, somewhere between the free jazz and Afrocentric explorations of the Art Ensemble and the rhythm-heavy soul jazz sound being recorded at Chicago-based labels like Brunswick and Cadet, that Hear, Sense and Feel lands. This blue with black swirl vinyl edition features liner notes by Pat Thomas, author of Listen, Whitey! The Sights and Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975, that set the scene for both the label and the band. Limited to just 500 copies!

Track Listing:
The Awakening-Prologue-Spring Thing
When Will It Ever End
Convulsions
Kera’s Dance
Jupiter
Brand New Feeling
Awakening-Epilogue