Ray Chew And The Crew was formed in 1992 as an extension of their duties as the house band for The Apolle Theatre in Harlem, NYC. The Crew consists of Artie Reynolds, Joe Gray, Bobby Douglas and Ralph Rolle. And like one might expect from a band playing regularly at the Apollo this album is full of strong soul and funk songs.
As if it wouldn't have been enough just to rely on their own strength and vocal abilities, Feelin' It also features some excellent guest musicians like George Clinton (on the funky Booty Juize), Roy Ayers (playing vibes and doing some scatting on Love Me that also features Lekule on spoken words), Ron Grant and Sarah Devine (on the gospel influenced Praise), Arthur Rogiers (on How Can I? and Promise Me). Plus we also get the wonderful Sandra St. Victor on the very appealing Smoke (this song really should've been included on Sandra's own album, it's that good!).
But like already mentioned the songs with just Ray Chew and his Crew are excellent too. Take the title track Feelin' It with Joe Gray and Ralph Rolle on vocal duties or the soulful Bobby Douglas sung Special Lady, the funky party-tune Party Down or Somethin', the third more uptempo song on offer here.
It's really great to hear an US-American album once again that's a little more diverse and not only relying on some strong ballads. And of course there's no denying of Ray Chew's and his crew's abilties to play and sing...otherwise they certainly would have never become the house band of the Apollo Theatre.
Highly recommandable and certainly somewhere on top of my list of the best soul albums for 2002.