(Vocal Jazz, Avant-Garde) The Sound of Feeling - Up into Silence (1968-1971) - 2007, MP3, 320 kbps

The Sound of Feeling was a group initially consisting of multi-instrumentalist/arranger/singer Gary David and twin sister vocalists (Alyce Bielfeldt and Rhae Bielfeldt (later Alyce and Rhae Andrece), who met in Los Angeles in the mid-1960's. The sisters had been trying to break as a singing duo, and had even done a stint in Las Vegas as showgirls, whilst David had been playing jazz in the area around San Francisco, following his discharge from the army in 1959. In addition to being proficient on bass, piano, and drums, he also sang and arranged. He and the Andreces, choosing the name The Sound of Feeling, moved into realms of avant-garde jazz that managed to incorporate elements of pop music, classical, and even folk sources, built around the sisters' unique, soaring vocal sound. Their music, a bolder variant of the kind of vocalise approach that the Swingle Singers had been burning up the charts with (and which the Manhattan Transfer would virtually patent in the 70's), made them too cutting-edge to succeed as more than a cult act in mid-1960's Los Angeles; a stint at a club called the Losers, on the Sunset Strip had them pegged as "too far out," according to David in his notes to the 2007 reissue of their two albums. But by 1967, amid the burgeoning psychedelic boom, the Sound of Feeling were in exactly the right position in relation to pop and jazz -- they were heard by jazz critic/scholar Leonard Feather, who took to their innovative approach to jazz vocalizing and put them together with Oliver Nelson. The result was their debut album for Verve Records, with Feather producing, supported by Nelson on soprano sax, with Ray Neapolitan (bass), Chuck Domanico (bass) and Dick Fisher (drums), which earned a Grammy nomination. They were signed to Mercury Records following an appearance with Duke Ellington at the Newport Jazz Festival, which yielded their second album, Spleen, which -- like its predecessor -- got a Grammy Award nomination. The group continued working together until 1972 when David and the Andreces went their separate ways.

Alyce Andrece — Vocals
Rhae Andrece — Vocals
Joe Roccisano — Flute, Sax (Alto), Sax (Soprano)
Oliver Nelson — Sax (Soprano)
Gayle Levant — Harp
Paul Beaver — Moog Synthesizer
Gary David — Marxophone, Piano, Vocals
Fred Katz — Cello
Ray Neapolitan — Bass
Chuck Domanico — Bass
Dick Fisher — Drums
Maurice Miller — Drums
Dave Parlato — Bass
Emil Richards — Percussion