Frank Stokes is the unlikely leader and bassist of The Awakening. At first glance he looks as though he wandered away from a commune on a spirit journey circa 1972, got lost in Brooklyn and just decided to call it home. In reality, New York City has always been his home. He recalls his first live performance at a block party on 4^th and 53^rd in the early 1970s “I had a pawn shop bass and they let me plug in. When it was over, I went and found another block party.”

Throughout the 1970s and 80s, Frank played primarily punk and funk, jamming with the likes of Marky Ramone and opening for Jack Bruce. If it weren’t for a chance meeting with Jaco Pastorius III, Frank’s musical endeavors may well have ended along with the heyday of punk. “Meeting Jaco was definitely a monumental event in Frank’s life” notes Awakening drummer Dan Walsh. Without serendipity, Frank’s unique compositions that merge jazz and Native American for the world tribe might have never been heard.

Frank met Jaco on his way home from an audition at CBGB’s. The jazz composer, bass guitar virtuoso and bipolar drug addict was a Bowery legend. Frank remembers recognizing him sitting under a tree clenching a basketball. Though their first encounter was short, Jaco surprised Frank a few days later with a phone call. Open-spirited as always, Frank paid for a car to bring the homeless Jaco to his own house. That night they jammed, and Frank shared a jazz piece he had written. The harsh critique Frank expected did not come. Instead, Jaco encouraged him to move forward with forming his own band.

Though it was years between Frank’s meeting with Jaco and the formation of The Awakening, the band has been in existence almost 19 years. Guitarist Matt Grossman and drummer Dan Walsh, count their years in the group (5 and 12 respectively) by the number of NYC Marathon T-shirts they have collected at the band’s annual gig.

Randy Whitehead, who plays percussion and Native American courting flute, is one of the newest members and has been with them four years. The longest steady member, aside from Frank himself, is saxophone player Dave Morgan. Dressed in a white button-down, Morgan is Frank’s counterpoint. When Stokes refers to the band as “family” Morgan calls them a “highly functional collegial group”. More often seen as a five piece, the bands membership is officially nine, rounded out by come-and-go members Bleu Ocean, Mac Gollehon, Taylor Ryan, and Wayasti Richardson.

The Awakening is an impressive line-up of musical talent. Matt Grossman fondly calls it “just a sick level of musicianship.” Credentials in the bag include degrees from Berklee, Juilliard and the Manhattan School of Music. Awakening members have accompanied Ornette Coleman, David Bowie and Bruce Springsteen, performed with the Silver Cloud Singers and had billings at the Apollo and Carnegie Hall. Three of the members teach music professionally. There is a great potential for commercial success in the overlapping markets of jazz, Native and New Age audiences, but any in the band will tell you, that’s not why they’re there.

“None of us are kissing any frogs,” says Morgan. Success, in traditional terms is not the goal; the process, and the individual growth it fosters is its own reward. The spiritual element in their music is summed up by Stokes as “making music to heal the rifts between humans.”

Listening to The Awakening perform it is akin to overhearing friendly banter among friends, creating a warm welcome feeling. Jazz has, by nature, the form of a conversation filled with tangents. Native American music comes from a culture of oral traditions. These two primary influences meld into a unique 21^st century sound; music for a world tribe.

“[It is] As though it came from an Indian looking through the eyes of a European looking at an Indian and finding something really pretty,” says Whitehead. Morgan phrased it perhaps the most succinctly “When we practice, it is practicing like Zen or a religion.”

The Awakening just finished recording for a new CD, Walk With Me, that is due out later this summer and their emphasis is again on live performances. Unfortunately, talent and multi-audience appeal does not equal opportunity. Many New York clubs are booked by Gig Masters, who dictate not only a minimum crowd draw but also how shows are promoted, something that Frank Stokes is unwilling to consent to.

“We’ve all been around the scene here a while and are kinda burnt out on the New York club thing anyway,” added Walsh, “There will be a bad band on before you and a crappy one after. There are only so many times you want to ask your family and friends to pay 10 bucks to come out.”

Instead of clubs, they are concentrating their efforts on summer gigs at venues that have a natural crowd. Randy Whitehead’s lifelong connection as and with Native American performers has yielded multiple not yet confirmed dates. A successful gig on Staten Island’s Homeport Pier for Fleet Week was the first in what they expect to be a steady flow of event-related appearances. Most definite on their schedule is a Nov. 3 at a gas station on the corner of Senator and 4^th Ave in Brooklyn, their 19^th appearance at the NYC Marathon. It is the gig they will never miss, because as Dave Morgan put it, “There’s nothing like playing music while a herd of buffalo goes stampeding by.”

To hear a sample of The Awakening’s music, including a version of “Prelude”, the song that Frank Stokes first played for Jaco Pastorius, or view their current gig schedule, visit them at: http://myspace.com/theawakeninglive Their last CD, Visions, is available on CD Baby at: http://cdbaby.com/cd/awakening, on iTunes and at live shows where they give autographs at no extra charge.

- Words by Angel Thompson-Georges. Photos by Angelo J. Falanga.