Lonnie Liston Smith & The Cosmic Echoes Cosmic Funk (LP, colored Vinyl, Ltd.)

(Real Gone Music) 6 tracks, gatefold sleeve, cooke-clear vinyl in limited edition of 550 copies

The groundbreaking albums by Lonnie Liston Smith and the Cosmic Echoes for the Flying Dutchman label have not received the attention they deserve from jazz fans. Of the many important former members of Miles Davis' fusion bands, keyboardist Smith and his fellow musicians have probably come the furthest from Davis' stylistic breakthrough. Over five albums spanning four years, Smith and the Cosmic Echoes stretched the fusion aesthetic to include post-bop, modal and spiritual jazz, funk, rock, pop and even the smooth jazz, quiet storm and crossover genres. And if the latter styles are a thorn in your side: Smith infused all of his records with integrity, vision and his unique spatial sensibilities. Rather than playing it safe or being commercial, he fearlessly paved the way for modern jazz musicians (Kamasi Washington, for example, has no doubt listened to these records extensively). Somewhere between soul jazz, spiritual jazz, fusion and post-bop, Lonnie's second Flying Dutchman album, 1974's Cosmic Funk, as the title suggests, took a funkier direction. Lonnie Liston Smith's brother Donald contributed soft vocal styles to John Coltrane's “Naima”, among others. A transitional work, but a fascinating one, with an assured production, again by Bob Thiele. With the original gatefold album cover... another “post-fusion” masterpiece from Lonnie Liston Smith and the Cosmic Echoes!