{"id":5993,"date":"2023-06-08T22:16:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-09T03:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/?p=5993"},"modified":"2023-06-13T21:52:52","modified_gmt":"2023-06-14T02:52:52","slug":"peace-sound-lonnie-liston-smith-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/peace-sound-lonnie-liston-smith-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Peace Through Sound: A Conversation with Lonnie Liston Smith (Part One)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Across their almost twenty volumes of the Jazz is Dead series, performer-producers Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge have exposed listening audiences to under-discussed legends among us who continue to shape music. Of particular focus have been the luminaries who made incredible improvisation-based music during the era of jazz\u2019s alleged demise, the 1970s. Though occasionally denigrated by purists, the music of these artists has stood the test of time, even forming the sampled underpinnings of many hip-hop high points. JID 017<\/em> (Jazz is Dead, 2023)’s artist of focus: pianist-keyboardist Lonnie Liston Smith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Musically, Smith often inhabits some space between funk, jazz, and soul music. The best examples of this cross-genre approach can be found in the output of his mid-70s group, the Cosmic Echoes. The Cosmic Echoes appealed to a large crossover audience by emphasizing a gentle and soothing yet exotic sound, even as the bottom line pushed a heavy grooving funk. Smith\u2019s work with the Cosmic Echoes produced several tracks, most notably \u201cExpansions\u201d, [Expansions <\/em>(RCA\/Flying Dutchman, 1975)], which many would later view as classics in fusion, smooth jazz, and – the now largely lost to time – acid jazz. The Cosmic Echoes’ work also serves as a primary influence for JID 017<\/em>, Smith\u2019s first release in a quarter century. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take \u201cKaleidoscope\u201d where an energetic yet ethereal Fender Rhodes-led melody rides atop up-tempo drum rhythms. Or the balladic \u201cDawn\u201d which is similarly imbued with a psychedelic otherworldliness as Younge’s synths swirl above Smith\u2019s acoustic piano. But JID017 <\/em>does not stay mired in the Cosmic Echoes era of Smith\u2019s career, as \u201cGratitude\u201d veers a bit off-kilter, invoking his work with such firebrands as Pharoah Sanders and Miles Davis at his most artistically free. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout our conversation with Smith, we hit many different musical points in his life thus far. His father\u2019s gospel moorings. His brother\u2019s doo-wop stylings. Smith\u2019s own role as a young musician at a powerhouse Historically Black University. And his many hats as an artist – post-bop messenger; avant-garde experimentalist; musical translator in cross-cultural communication; cosmic voyager seeking tranquility; advocate of a softer Afrofuturism; sampling icon. But it is folly to compartmentalize these facets and view them in isolation. Instead, each connect to form a unified theme: a lineage of contemporary Black musical excellence in its many varied forms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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PostGenre: JID017 <\/em>is the first album you have released in twenty-five years.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lonnie Liston Smith: Oh yeah. Recording with Jazz is Dead was an interesting experience ’cause they have a different way of recording. They have a studio with the same stuff we had back in the 70s; the same sound boards, same keyboards, everything. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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PG: How did you get hooked up with Jazz is Dead?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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LLS: I got there through Drew [Andrew Lojero, owner of the label], who I guess is the business representative for Jazz is Dead. I decided to record with them because they had recorded Gary Bartz, Jean Carn, and others. When I got [to the studio], I was introduced to Adrian [Younge] and Ali [Shaheed Muhammad], both of whom I wasn’t previously aware. It was just bass and drums in the studio and myself. Adrian and Ali had ideas on motifs, and they said, “Well, we want you to develop them.” Which I did. They recorded it, and when I left, they added other things to it. It was really different.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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