The Awakening (Ahmad Jamal album)

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

The Awakening
Studio album by Ahmad Jamal
Released	1970
Recorded	February 2–3, 1970
Genre	Cool jazz, post-bop
Length	40:34
Label	Impulse!
Producer	Ed Michel
Ahmad Jamal chronology
Ahmad Jamal at the Top: Poinciana Revisited (1968) The Awakening (1970) Freeflight (1971)

Production

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

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
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Pitchfork	(8.0/10)[5]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	[8]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings	[9]

Track listing

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

• Ahmad Jamal – piano
• Jamil Nasser – bass
• Frank Gant – drums

Charts

2023 chart performance for The Awakening

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

References

1. Impulse! Records discography accessed April 14, 2011
2. 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. 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.