LONNIE LISTON SMITH — Lonnie Liston Smith & The Cosmic Echoes : Expansions (review)

LONNIE LISTON SMITH — Lonnie Liston Smith & The Cosmic Echoes : Expansions album cover Album · 1975 · Fusion Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
FunkFreak75
Recorded on November 25 & 26 of 1974. The Cosmic Echoes continue on their funk-imbued quest to promote the manifestation and realization of higher states of consciousness.

A1. "Expansions" (6:04) an awesome funk-cruisin' groove over which Lonnie's wah-wah-ed Fender Rhodes bounces and Donald Smith's smooth voice and expressive flute slashes and thrashes. It feels right that the Cosmic Echoes now have a full-time clavinet player on board (Michal Carvin). Cecil Bee is his usual awesome self while J-R-F's best percussion team hold it close and a little unusually tight. (9.125/10)

A2. "Desert Nights" (6:45) Lonnie switches to piano while the rhythm crew establish a slow-groovin' motif to quell us into nighttime submission while flute, sax, piano, and drums take turns spewing forth their subdued solos, flourishes, and fills. Lonnie's piano pounding feels a little unsuited to the desert vibe being bouyed by the others but then, who knew he'd have had a history with Don Pullen? (8.875/10) A3. "Summer Days" (5:53) a happy-go-lucky two key samba sounding like something from a Herb Alpert or Sergio Mendes song. Here we find Lonnie once again reverting to the acoustic piano as his main voice. (8.75/10)

B1. "Voodoo Woman" (4:13) a very engaging song that is built over a more insistent beat (due to the prominence of the clavinet). Flutes, hand percussives, and Lonnie's flanged Fender Rhodes make this rather two dimensional song rise above the Easy Listening fare of artists like the more-pop-oriented Bob James, The Crusaders, and Hubert Laws but don't quite take it into the arena of the jazz-funk greats. like Kool & The Gang, Earth, Wind & Fire, the Ohio Players, or (8.875/10)

B2. "Peace" (4:13) a gentle song with Donald Smith back in the vocal driver's seat--very much a vocal-centric song that sounds as if it is built over a variation of Leon Russell's "This Masquerade" chord and melody lines. Very pleasant and jazzy but nothing earth-shattering or ground-breaking. (8.75/10)

B3. "Shadows" (6:20) another gentle melody line around which is constructed a weave of bass, flanged drums, congas and other hand percussives, and rich electric piano and synth strings textures. Dave Hubbard plays a gentle sax over the top before Lonnie takes over with his delay-echoed Fender Rhodes. (He must have really been trying hard to figure out how to use this echo effect. It's really hard to do--and Lonnie by no means crushes it.) The overall music is actually good but diminished by (8.875/10)

B4. "My Love" (5:40) how can one not like this beautiful song! Donald Smith sings a flawless vocal over a great musical tapestry of support. This is a song I would love to see live--to dance with my beautiful wife to. Lonnie's piano playing is absolutely perfect for this, and the two-key motif so lovely and romantic--with the usual awesome work of the rhythm & percussion team beneath. (9.25/10)

Total time: 39:08

B+/4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of early Easy Listening / Adult Contemporary / Smooth Jazz.
Share this review

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

JMA TOP 5 Jazz ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
A Love Supreme Post Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
Kind of Blue Cool Jazz
MILES DAVIS
Buy this album from our partners
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady Progressive Big Band
CHARLES MINGUS
Buy this album from our partners
Blue Train Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
My Favorite Things Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners

New Jazz Artists

New Jazz Releases

For the Love Makers Vocal Jazz
HANNAH GILL
Buy this album from MMA partners
Spooky Jazz Vol. 2 Vocal Jazz
HANNAH GILL
Buy this album from MMA partners
Música Imaginaria 21st Century Modern
BALDO MARTINEZ
Buy this album from MMA partners
Alberto Nemo, Claudio Milano (with borda), Niccolò Clemente : Frattura, Comparsa, Dissolvenza Jazz Related Improv/Composition
CLAUDIO MILANO (NICHELODEON)
Buy this album from MMA partners
Shapes of Silence (live) World Fusion
ALEPH QUINTET
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Jazz Online Videos

Let's Move
ALEPH QUINTET
js· 3 hours ago
Música Imaginaria
BALDO MARTINEZ
snobb· 4 hours ago
Puttin' On The Ritz
THE NEW WONDERS
js· 17 hours ago
Wet Weather Wet
THE WRONG OBJECT
js· 1 day ago
Michael Kiwanuka - Lowdown (parts i and ii)
MICHAEL KIWANUKA
js· 1 day ago
More videos

New JMA Jazz Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Jazz News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us