Overview
“Expansions” is an album by Lonnie Liston Smith, an American jazz, soul and funk musician and keyboardist.
Background of the Production
After playing with Art Blakey, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Pharoah Sanders, Gato Barbieri and Miles Davis in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Smith formed his own band, “Lonnie Liston Smith and the Cosmic Echoes” with jazz bassist Cecil McBee and other members in 1973. After that, he recorded a number of fusion and jazz-funk compositions in the 1970s and 1980s, which were regarded as classics in the context of club music, acid Jazz and smooth jazz.
Commentary
“Expansions” was recorded as the third album of the band in 1974, and was released by Flying Dutchman Records in 1975.
It is a spiritual fusion/jazz-funk masterpiece featuring Smith’s piano and electric keyboards, including the Fender Rhodes piano, Cecil McBee’s double bass, Smith’s brother Donald Smith’s flute and vocals, and African percussions.
The title track “Expansions” is one of the best-known jazz-funk classics and is also known as a club classic.
“Desert Nights” and “Voodoo Woman” include Smith’s modal improvisation.
“Summer Days” and “My Love” are tracks in the Brazilian jazz style, which are based on Latin rhythms.
“Peace” is a cover of the jazz standard by Horace Silver.
Donald Smith’s tenor vocals can be heard on “Expansions”, “Peace” and “My Love”.
