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LONNIE LISTON SMITH & The Cosmic Echoes REFLECTIONS OF A GOLDEN DREAM RCA Victor Gold Series 09026638792

 

Collective Personnel :
Lonnie Liston Smith: vocal, piano, electric piano & electronic colourations
Joe Shepley, Jon Faddis - trumpet, flugelhorn
Donald Smith - vocal, flute
David Hubbard - saxes, flute
George Opalisky, Arthur Kaplan - saxes
Al Anderson - bass
Wilby Fletcher - drums
Leopoldo Fleming, Guilherme Franco - percussion
Maeretha Stewart, Patti Austin, Vivian Cherry - chorus

Recorded at Media Sound, New York City, January 1976

1.Get Down Everybody
( It's Time For World Peace )
2. Quiet Dawn
3. Sunbeams
4. Meditations
5. Peace & Love
6. Beautiful Woman
7. Goddess Of Love
8. Inner Beauty
9. Golden Dreams
10. Journey Into Space

"The musicians on this album tell the story of the 70's, an era characterised by innocent sentimental mysticism as well as the carnal pleasures of dance music." This is the way the liner notes introduce this re-issue and it is perhaps as apt a summation of the contents of this disc as could be stated so concisely. The material contained here is definitely more commercial than "Astral Travelling" and there is a real move towards more danceable tempos and rhythms.
Once again there is a firm emphasis on the use of electronically generated sounds, many of which are commonplace now, but at the time of this recording they would have been very much at the cutting edge of contemporary ideas. They are referred to as "electronic colourations" and a synthesised string sound is one of the ones used most regularly and to the greatest effect.
Lonnie Liston Smith's piano is the major solo voice on these selections and he achieves a very relaxed, melodic approach on most of the titles. The horns are used mainly in a backing capacity and on "Peace & Love" are featured as a soul type section a la James Brown. Smith is the lead singer on "Golden Dreams " and " Get Down Everybody", which is an early rendition of what became known as the "Disco" style. The tracks that feature Donald Smith as vocalist are all very good - he is a far more natural singer than the leader and has a more soulful style of delivery. He is actually Lonnie's younger brother and also plays flute on some of the tunes. ( The flutes provide a mesmeric background on the title track.)
I did not find this release as interesting as "Astral Travelling", but once again it is a good record and is quite significant in that it charts the beginnings of the time when Jazz was crossing the divide with more popular kinds of music.


Dick Stafford

 
 
 
 

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