The Awakening (Ahmad Jamal album)

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The Awakening
Studio album by
Ahmad Jamal
Released1970
RecordedFebruary 2–3, 1970
GenreCool jazz, post-bop
Length40:34
LabelImpulse!
ProducerEd Michel
Ahmad Jamal chronology
Ahmad Jamal at the Top: Poinciana Revisited
(1968) 		The Awakening
(1970) 		Freeflight
(1971)

The Awakening is an album by American jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal featuring performances recorded in 1970 for the Impulse! label.[1]

Production[edit]

The album was recorded at Plaza Sound Studios in New York City on February 2 and 3, 1970.[2] It was produced by Ed Michel, whose production credits also include jazz and blues artists such as John Lee Hooker, B.B. King, John Coltrane, and Alice Coltrane.[3] The liner notes were written by jazz historian Leonard Feather.[4]

Critical reception[edit]

The AllMusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 4 stars stating "By 1970, pianist Ahmad Jamal's style had changed a bit since the 1950s, becoming denser and more adventurous while still retaining his musical identity... Intriguing performances showing that Ahmad Jamal was continuing to evolve".[2]

Writing in Pitchfork, Michael J. Agovino writes that the album "is a fine example of Jamal’s stately—and understated—elegance punctuated with doodles of whimsy".[5]

Retrospectively, the album has had an influence in Hip hop music culture and production, with artists such as Nas and Common sampling tracks from the album for their work.[6][7]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Pitchfork(8.0/10)[5]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide[8]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings[9]

Track listing[edit]

  1. "The Awakening" (Ahmad Jamal) – 6:19
  2. "I Love Music" (Emil Boyd, Hale Smith) – 7:19
  3. "Patterns" (Ahmad Jamal) – 6:19
  4. "Dolphin Dance" (Herbie Hancock) – 5:05
  5. "You're My Everything" (Harry Warren, Joe Young, Mort Dixon) – 4:40
  6. "Stolen Moments" (Oliver Nelson) – 6:27
  7. "Wave" (Antônio Carlos Jobim) – 4:25

Personnel[edit]

Charts[edit]

2023 chart performance for The Awakening
Chart (2023) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[10] 187
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[11] 42

References[edit]

  1. ^ Impulse! Records discography accessed April 14, 2011
  2. ^ a b c Yanow, Scott (n.d.). "Ahmad Jamal Trio / Ahmad Jamal: The Awakening". AllMusic. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  3. ^ "Ed Michel: Credits". AllMusic. n.d. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  4. ^ Ahmad Jamal (1970). The Awakening (LP). Impulse. OCLC 5794763. AS-9194.
  5. ^ a b Agovino, Michael J. (April 3, 2017). "Ahmad Jamal: The Awakening". Pitchfork. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  6. ^ Jazz Night in America (2017-04-19), "Jazz is the mother of hip-hop" | JAZZ NIGHT IN AMERICA, retrieved 2017-07-02
  7. ^ Nas – The World Is Yours, retrieved 2017-07-02
  8. ^ Swenson, John, ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. New York: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 111. ISBN 9780394726434. LCCN 84-42510.
  9. ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 761. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
  10. ^ "Ultratop.be – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – The Awakening" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
  11. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – The Awakening" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
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