Lonnie Liston Smith & the Cosmic Echoes - Goddess of Love (1976)

Biograph: Dusty Groove: Lonnie Liston Smith grooves it hard here with his Cosmic Echoes group -- mixing in a stronger dose of soul than ever before, yet still giving tracks a righteous feel overall! The approach here is a bit like that of Roy Ayers work from the 70s -- still jazzy at its core and conception, but often featuring vocals to deliver a wider message for the tunes -- plus some nicely snapping rhythms that are enough to get a fe cuts good play on the dancefloor! The record's still got plenty of great mellow tracks too, though -- the kind of floating spacey numbers that Smith virtually invented during the 70s, and which stand here as a more strongly jazz-voiced contrast to some of the soul tunes in the set. Donald Smith and Dave Hubbard are still working here with Lonnie to give the work a really solid sound, and tracks include groovers like "Get Down Everybody", "Peace & Love", and "Beautiful Woman" -- mixed with spacier fusion numbers like "Quiet Dawn", "Golden Dreams", and "Goddess Of Love"