Lonnie Liston Smith JID017 (Jazz Is Dead)
Ali Shaheed Muhammad / Lonnie Liston Smith / Adrian Younge
Released April 2023
AllMusic Favorite Jazz Albums 2023
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About:
Coursing through the cosmic pulse of Jazz-Funk is the inimitable influence of Lonnie Liston Smith. For over five decades, the legendary keyboardist and bandleader has been a driving force in shaping the genre’s sound. Smith made his recording debut as a sideman for heavyweights Miles Davis, Pharoah Sanders, Gato Barbieri and Leon Thomas. He later formed his own ensemble, Lonnie Liston Smith and the Cosmic Echoes which delivered an incredible run of classic albums through the 1970s. His music has served as the foundation for immortal hip-hop samples and ecstatic dancefloor revelry. In late February 2020, Smith headlined Jazz Is Dead’s Black History Month series, giving many jazz fans what would be their last taste of live music before the nightmare of COVID-19 that took over in the weeks that followed. Now, he reunites with Jazz Is Dead to deliver Lonnie Liston Smith JID017 – a full-bloom tribute to the multitude of sonic strains that all lead back to the fingertips of the maestro himself.
Album opener “Love Brings Happiness” immediately bursts to life with drums and guitar accompanied by the sultry vocals of frequent Jazz Is Dead collaborator Loren Oden. The track title becomes an inescapable jolt of encouragement and assurance. In contrast, proceeding track “Dawn” slows things down, opening up for keyboard and synth meditations. “Cosmic Changes” sees Oden again serenade listeners, reciting celestial truths about love and happiness, as the guitar and keyboard float in the background. On “Gratitude” Smith and company temper their groove, with Smith switching onto a grand piano as cymbals shimmer and wind chimes fade in and out, gently recalling Smith’s recordings with Pharoah Sanders. Rounding out the trilogy of Oden collaborations, “Love Can Be” slowly ambles through Fender Rhodes, organ, and an unobtrusive groove that takes off the moment Oden enters. On the aptly-titled “Fête”, the band creates the perfect soundtrack for backyard soirees, joyous moments with friends spent lingering over a grill as the sun melts into the horizon.
Sounding as if it could have been taken from one of his classic albums released on the Flying Dutchman label, “Kaleidoscope” encapsulates much of what generations of listeners have come to love about Smith- introspective chords that glisten like sunbeams, opening up space for one to dive deeper or to release, a perfect balance of private energy. Penultimate track “What May Come” takes the concept of private energy further, pivoting into funkier territory as Smith’s Rhodes cruises like a comet making its once-in-a-century appearance, as horns, chimes, and percussion dart in and out of orbit. Closing the album, “A New Spring” is the thematic crescendo, the climax of the last several meditations. Taken as an entire body of work, JID017 is a triumphant celebration of love’s power to heal.
Already beloved by several generations of Jazz, Hip-hop, and Dance music fans, Lonnie Liston Smith still shines as brightly as he did on his most well-known records. In the studio with Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad, contemporaries who have enshrined much of Smith’s musical trails, the trio excavate and revisit some of Smith’s most well-known musical motifs and themes, and in the process deliver a reminder of their lasting poignancy.
Track Listing:
1. Love Brings Happiness feat Loren Oden 04:53
2. Dawn 02:51
3. Cosmic Changes feat Loren Oden 03:47
4. Gratitude 03:27
5. Love Can Be feat Loren Oden 04:28
6. Fête 04:25
7. Kaleidoscope 03:09
8. What May Come 03:54
9. A New Spring 03:08
Personnel:
Lonnie Liston Smith: Acoustic Piano (1, 2, 4), Fender Rhodes piano (3, 5-9)
Adrian Younge: Electric guitars (1-9) , Electric bass guitar (1, 3-5, 8), alto saxophone (1, 2, 5, 6, 8), Sopranino saxophone (1, 2, 6) , Monophonic synthesizer (1-55, 7, 8) , Clavinet (1, 4, 9) , Vibraphone (1, 4, 9), Percussion (1-9), Fender Rhodes piano (2), Mellotron (2, 9), Flutes (2, 7), Hammond B3 organ (3, 5, 7, 8), Acoustic guitar (3), Auto-harp (4, 9)
Ali Shaheed Muhammad: Fender Rhodes Piano (1, ), Electric bass guitar (2, 6, 7, 9)
Greg Paul: drums (1-5)
Loren Oden: vocals (1, 3, 5, 9)
Malachi Morehead: drums (6-9)
Vocals written by Loren Oden
All music composed by Lonnie Liston Smith, Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad unless otherwise noted
Produced and mixed by Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad at Linear Labs Studios, Los Angeles, CA
Mastered by Dave Cooley for Elysian Masters
Executive Produced by Andrew Lojero
Associate Produced by Adam Block
Graphic Design by Julian Montague
Photography by The Artform Studio
Review:
Lonnie Liston Smith is the latest jazz-funk icon to be tempted back into the studio by Jazz Is Dead’s Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad. His 1970s Flying Dutchman recordings with the Cosmic Echoes offered a different approach to the jazz-rock fusion of the time. Deeply interested in Eastern and African spirituality, the keyboardist created a sweetly soulful brand of jazz fusion where R&B and funk held sway over rock. Before Lonnie Liston Smith JID017, he hadn’t released an album since 1998’s underrated Transformation. The musically savvy partnership of Muhammad and Younge talked him into headlining their live Black History Month series in February 2020, before COVID locked down the planet. The duo re-enlisted him in 2022 for this nine-track set at their studio. Smith plays Fender Rhodes and acoustic piano; Muhammad plays bass guitar and Rhodes; and Younge appears on electric guitars, bass, synth, clavinet, vibraphone, and Hammond B-3. Drums are handled alternately by Greg Paul and Malachi Morehead. Soul and gospel singer Loren Oden appears on four tracks.
Opener “Love Brings Happiness” is one of the Oden showcases. Smith’s acoustic piano provides the modal frame as Muhammad paints it with Fender Rhodes. Younge sets up behind Oden, playing fuzzy, bright, shard-like guitar fills that recall those of Ernie Isely. Synths, clavinet, and vibes all appear in the dense mix. Smith and Oden find their way onto another musical plane, pushing each other into the improv stratosphere. “Dawn” is a breezy, soulful instrumental wherein electric guitars, piano, synths, and saxes (played by Younge) meet bass and breaking, syncopated drums. Oden also appears on “Cosmic Changes.” Smith, Younge, and Paul offer an approach akin to the one Smith employed on jazz and blues singer Leon Thomas’ Spirits Known and Unknown. An open modal chord sequence introduces Oden, who claims the poetic lyric, makes it soar, and meets the instrumentalists for mutual discovery. Oden’s last appearance is on “Love Can Be,” which juxtaposes funky, cracking tom-toms, syncopated snares, Smith’s gorgeous Rhodes playing, and Younge’s B-3, synths, guitars, and horns. This is spiritual soul music at its best. Oden’s control and range naturally rise above the band’s intimate, instinctual interplay. “Fête” is Latinized jazz fusion with a killer Rhodes solo from Smith and a bumping bassline from Muhammad, while Younge buoys the proceedings on tenor and soprano saxophones and Morehead brings the syncopation and funk. “What May Come” is a dramatic exercise in modal fusion with Smith’s Rhodes framed by B-3, guitars, saxes, and synths, while Morehead keeps them anchored and moving simultaneously. In “A New Spring,” Oden’s wordless hovering, swooping vocals are framed by Mellotron, Rhodes piano, and bubbling, syncopated drums and bass.
So many of the composer/pianist’s stylistic trademarks are on display that Lonnie Liston Smith JID017 may be the best series entry in capturing the most important, recognizable elements of the artist’s influential core sound and showcasing them as quite relevant. It’s a lovely, affirming album that is well worth seeking out.
Thom Jurek (AllMusic)
