Human Feel is a
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
quartet that consists of
clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound.
Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...
/
tenor saxophone
The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...
player
Chris Speed
Chris Speed (born February 12, 1967) is an American saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer.
Early life and career
Speed grew up outside of Seattle and studied classical piano and clarinet from an early age. He later began studying jazz, took up ...
,
bass clarinet
The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B (meaning it is a transposing instrument on which a written C sounds as B), but it plays notes an octave bel ...
/
alto saxophone
The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...
player
Andrew D'Angelo
Andrew D'Angelo (born November 2, 1965) is an American jazz musician.
Career
D'Angelo was raised in Seattle, where he met Chris Speed and Jim Black, before he moved to New York City in 1985. He worked again with Speed in Boston, where they co ...
, guitarist
Kurt Rosenwinkel
Kurt Rosenwinkel (born October 28, 1970) is an American jazz guitarist, keyboardist, composer, bandleader, producer, educator and record label owner.
Biography
A native of Philadelphia, Rosenwinkel attended the Philadelphia High School for the ...
, and drummer
Jim Black
Jim Black is an American jazz drummer who has performed with Tim Berne and Dave Douglas. He attended Berklee College of Music.
Career
His band AlasNoAxis includes Hilmar Jensson on electric guitar, Chris Speed on tenor saxophone and clari ...
. The group combines elements of
free jazz
Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians during ...
,
chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...
, and
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...
and features extensive
improvisation
Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...
in their performances. Gary W. Kennedy noted their "tight-knit interaction and exploratory style."
Human Feel was formed in 1987 when Speed, D'Angelo, and Black were studying music in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
. Rosenwinkel joined in 1990. In the early 90s, the members relocated to New York City.
Discography
Albums
* ''Human Feel'' (Human Use, 1989)
* ''Scatter'' (GM, 1991)
* ''Welcome to Malpesta'' (
New World
The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...
, 1994)
* ''Speak to It'' (Songlines, 1996)
* ''Galore'' (
Skirl, 2007)
* ''Gold'' (
Intakt Records
Intakt Records is an independent record label, based in ZĂĽrich.
History
The label was founded in 1986 by Patrik Landolt.Margasak, Peter (September 2013) "Intakt's Landolt Takes Long-Term Approach to Avant-Garde". ''Down Beat''. p. 16. In the ea ...
, 2019)
EPs
* ''Party Favor'' (Independent, 2016)
References
External links
Human Feel press
{{DEFAULTSORT:Human Feel
American jazz ensembles
Avant-garde jazz ensembles
Free jazz ensembles