Lonnie Liston Smith 'JID017'

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There is nothing quite like getting lost in music, and that's exactly what happened when I cued up one of the latest releases from Jazz is Dead, featuring jazz-funk legend Lonnie Liston Smith.

I highly recommend listening to Lonnie Liston Smith JID017 straight through from Loves Brings Happiness featuring vocalist Loren Oden. That will take you through some stunning tracks , more of which feature Oden's vocals, until you reach the trance-like What May Come and finally A New Spring with more vocals.

One of the greatest things about the Jazz is Dead collaborations is the multi-instrumental talents of Adrian Younge alongside the bass of Ali Shaheed Muhammad. It's as if they set out to create music with some of their favourite artists - Roya Ayers, Gary Bartz and Brian Jackson, to name just a few of my favourites. Their own style permeates all of their releases, while they allow the musical soul of their collaborators to rise above it all.

The vocal talents of the Jazz is Dead stalwart Loren Oden permeate this album and seem to work perfectly alongside the jazz keyboards of Smith himself. The theme of the album is a celebration of love’s power to heal, but there is also a sense of the power of jazz to cross generations.

For those who know the name of Liston Smith, he's worked with the brightest stars of jazz in a long career, including Miles Davis, Pharoah Sanders, Gato Barbieri and Leon Thomas. When he formed his own ensemble - Lonnie Liston Smith and the Cosmic Echoes - and turned to the classic Fender Rhodes piano that he created a groove that is unmistakably jazz funk. His album Expansions, released in 1975 on Flying Dutchman Records, is one of the highlights of most DJs' stack labelled favourites.

This 17th issue from Jazz is Dead proves conclusively that jazz really is still very much alive and kicking. Oh, and numbers 18 and 19 are out already, if you were in any doubt.

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