Human Feel, the legendary incubator of 21st century jazz talent, has reunited to record "Galore" for Skirl Records. As a group and as individuals, the members of Human Feel have made an indelible mark on the history of jazz and improvised music. Combining jazz virtuosity with open-minded curiosity and adventurousness, Human Feel has been a pivotal influence on musicians and listeners for the last fifteen years, and an important link between many strands of turn-of-the century music. Their reunion is a major event.
Founded in Boston in 1987 by Seattle-ites Jim Black, Andrew D'Angelo, and Chris Speed, and subsequently joined by Kurt Rosenwinkel in 1990, Human Feel quickly moved to New York, where it became an important part of the city's musical community. While Black, D'Angelo and Speed became associated with the "Downtown" scene focused on the Knitting Factory, Rosenwinkel was usually grouped with players like Joshua Redman, Mark Turner, and Brad Mehldau, and with the so-called more straight-ahead scene at Smalls. Human Feel negated these classifications and claimed its own musical territory, moving freely among these, and other, areas of the music world.
One easy way to judge Human Feel's importance to New York's music scene is how quickly many of the city's greatest musicians began hiring the members of Human Feel for their own bands. By 1995, Tim Berne (Bloodcount), John Zorn (Bar Kokhba), Dave Douglas, Ellery Eskelin, Paul Motian, and Uri Caine all had bands featuring members of Human Feel. Not coincidentally, the last Human Feel record, "Speak To It," came out in 1996.
In the ten years since, it has become clear that Human Feel was more than just a generator of sidemen. Individually known as some of the greatest living performers on their instruments and revered by the younger generation of musicians, the members of Human Feel also went on to distinguish themselves as composers and bandleaders. Pachora, Alas No Axis, yeah NO, and TYFT are just a few of the bands to emerge out of Human Feel. Rosenwinkel in particular would go on to enjoy a fruitful major-label run at Verve and become known as one of the most influential jazz guitarists ever.
This historic recording reflects all of these experiences and developments, but reiterates the band's initial creative spark. Balancing lyricism and aggression, order and chaos, discipline and anarchy, "Galore" is a mature statement by four master musicians. Human Feel is poised to influence a new generation of listeners, as well as remind longtime fans of their vital place in the world of creative music.

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