Lonnie Liston Smith And The Cosmic Echoes

Lonnie Liston Smith was 32 when, in 1973, he finally got around to recording his first album as a leader, Astral Traveling. By that time, the pianist/keyboardist had a great deal of sideman experience under his belt, and this superb debut made it clear that former employers like 𝗣𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗵 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗥𝗮𝗵𝘀𝗮𝗮𝗻 𝗥𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗞𝗶𝗿𝗸, 𝗚𝗮𝘁𝗼 𝗕𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗶𝗲𝗿𝗶, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘁𝘆 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿 had taught him well. One hears a lot of Sanders, John Coltrane, and McCoy Tyner influence on Astral Traveling; Smith obviously shares their passion for all things spiritual. Nonetheless, this LP leaves no doubt that the improviser is very much his own man and has a wealth of brilliant ideas of his own; thankfully, he has a cohesive band to help him carry them out.