Underrated Lonnie Liston Smith
One of the more underrated artists of the 1970's was jazz funk artist Lonnie Liston Smith.Smith was a fine jazz pianist who got his start playing straight ahead jazz with the likes of Roland Kirk, Betty Carter, and Pharoah Sanders.
Lonnie also contributed to a couple of Miles Davis albums, Big Fun and On the Corner before he went out on his own.
By this time the landscape had changed, and if you wanted to make any money you had to adapt. Popular sounds like soul, R&B, and funk permeated top 40 radio. So to be heard on a large level, you better fuse these element into your jazz.
Lonnie not only did that, he came up with his own brand of laid back funk jazz, that was bent toward the quiet storm genre. This came to a head on the Columbia label.
I could certainly see Venus Flytrap spinning these Lonnie Liston Smith tunes on his late night radio show on WKRP in Cincinnati. Most of the 70's albums fused a solid jazz foundation. "This foundation for Lonnie would later become decidedly funk"- That jazz element is always there, Smith also fuses world music and various drums and keyboards.
On his album "Renaissance" he chooses to lay down these colorful pallets, a landscape of cosmic sounds using synthesizers and his brother Donald's flute.
Lonnie will then play the acoustic piano over the groove, and it works perfectly, the piano cuts right through the wash of colors and it stands out like a lighthouse beacon on a foggy evening, that is something Lonnie does a lot that really stands out to me.
Lonnie's first album Astral Traveling is probably the most straight ahead modern jazz album he ever did, each album after adds a little more commercialism, but even his most commercial Columbia albums never completely go over the cliff into disco drivel.
A few times the wheels may be hanging over that cliff, but these Columbia albums are the forgotten ones as far as Smith goes. Those Columbia albums fit very comfortably into the quiet storm genre.
Lonnie's 70's albums are perfect to listen to consecutively, as they seem to form a concept of sorts, they never seem to veer off too much.
You're going to get some laid back smooth grooves, and a few upbeat heavy on the drums cookers, a few island groove type numbers and some above average singing by Lonnie's flute playing brother Donald.
The vocal numbers that usually appear 2 or 3 per platter are your typical laid back soul, with female backing vocals over the exotic colorful groove pallet I mentioned earlier.
If you like quiet storm or jazz funk and don't mind a few R&B ringers, you'll have a nice relationship with Mr. Smith. I know I return to his music quite often just to chill. Below "Enchantress" is a perfect example of what I consider quiet storm to be.
Lonnie's music draws you in and over time shows its rewards. Years later I have grown to like this music more and more as a meditation feel good music, with enough challenging jazz styles thrown in to keep a staunch modern jazz fan interested.
These jazz funk albums have become very popular to modern contemporary artists, who seemingly find an endless supply of beats to lift from dusty vinyl copies for their hip hop and DJ activities.
I bet you could get every vinyl copy in Lonnie's discography for under $150 if you shopped around a bit.
(Photo my own)
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