Artist: Lonnie Liston Smith & The Cosmic Echoes
Album: Astral Traveling
Genre: Fusion, Free Jazz
Label: BGP Records
Released: 1973/2014
Quality: FLAC (tracks+.cue)
Tracklist:
- Astral Traveling (Smith) - 5:30
- Let Us Go into the House of the Lord (Smith) - 6:22
- Rejuvenation (Smith) - 5:36
- I Mani (Faith) (Smith) - 6:11
- In Search of Truth (Smith) - 7:12
- Aspirations (Smith) - 4:23
- Astral Traveling (alternate take) (Smith) - 5:38
- Rejuvenation (alternate take) (Smith) - 6:33
- I Mani (Faith) (alternate take) (Smith) - 5:57
- In Search of Truth (alternate take) (Smith) - 6:23
DOWNLOAD FROM FILECAT.NET >>>
- Personnel:
- Lonnie Liston Smith - piano, electric piano
- George Barron - soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone
- Joe Beck - guitar
- Cecil McBee - bass
- David Lee, Jr. - drums
- Badal Roy - tabla
- Sonny Morgan, James Mtume - congas, percussion
- Geeta Vashi - tamboura
Lonnie Liston Smith was familiar to Bob Thiele through his role as the pianist in Pharoah Sanders’ group, but it wasn’t until Lonnie had become a member of Miles Davis’ band that Thiele decided it was time to sign him to his own deal. By this time Lonnie had been on the scene for the best part of a decade playing with Art Blakey and Roland Kirk. He had come into his own with Sanders but there was nothing in jazz to compare with being in the piano seat for Davis’ group. For his Flying Dutchman debut Lonnie went into the studio with George Barron on saxophone, Cecil McBee on bass and a host of percussionists including two Indian players. The sound was atypical of his later recordings in that it was a largely acoustic set – featuring electric piano but no synths – but it fitted in with Lonnie’s cosmic jazz philosophy. The title track set the scene for an album with a mellow, spacey feel that today would be called spiritual jazz. The album was an immediate success and led to a long term contract with Flying Dutchman.
Review by Dean Rudland