Lonnie Liston Smith (Piano): Expansions

The name Lonnie Liston Smith is synonymous with cosmic jazz like no other. The jazz, funk and fusion musician made a name for himself in the 1970s with albums such as 'Expansions', which fused the elements of jazz, funk and dance like never before. He played with Art Blakey (1966), Pharoah Sanders (Karma, 1969), Gato Barbieri (1971) and Miles Davis (1973), then from 1974 combined jazz with popular black music styles such as funk in his own band Lonnie Liston Smith & the Cosmic Echoes. Lonnie Liston Smith is one of the representatives of fusion and Bob Thiele's Flying Dutchman label was one of the most important distribution companies for this style with its acts such as Lonnie Liston Smith, Gil Scott-Heron, Leon Thomas and others.