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Just in... LONNIE LISTON SMITH Confirms Irish Tour

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  • 05-09-2004 5:26pm
    #1
    jmc
    Closed Accounts Posts: 764 ✭✭✭


    LONNIE LISTON SMITH
    Live

    October 27 - The Empire, Belfast
    Octobr 28 - The Village, Dublin
    October 29 - An Cruiscin Lán, Cork

    b. 28 December 1940, Richmond, Virginia, USA. Not to be confused with the soul/jazz organist Lonnie Smith. Born into a very musical family, Smith seemed destined from a very early age to make music his career. His father and two brothers were all vocalists, but it was the keyboard that attracted Smith. After studying at Morgan State University, he moved to New York and immersed himself in the city's thriving jazz scene.

    Accompanying Betty Carter for a year in 1963, Smith soon became a highly sought-after pianist, working with successive jazz stars, from Rahsaan Roland Kirk (1964-65), Art Blakey (1966-67), and Joe Williams (1967-68), through to Pharoah Sanders (1969-71), Gato Barbieri (1971-73), and finally Miles Davis (1972-73).

    In 1973, Smith formed the Cosmic Echoes and released the all-instrumental Astral Traveling. The following year's Cosmic Funk introduced his brother Donald as vocalist.

    Playing a very popular soft fusion, Liston Smith and the Cosmic Echoes recorded a number of successful albums and remained popular throughout the mid-70s. Despite a number of personnel changes, they landed another major label recording contract in 1978 when they switched to Columbia Records.

    Growing increasingly commercial, the new-look unit enjoyed a minor R&B hit with "Space Princess" (from Exotic Mysteries). The album was the last of this era to feature Donald Smith, with James "Crabbe" Robinson taking his place on A Song For The Children and Love Is The Answer.

    Smith reunited with his brother when the Cosmic Echoes moved to the Doctor Jazz label, but despite enjoying a minor hit with the vocal track "Never Too Late" the unit ground to a halt in the mid-80s.

    In 1991, after some time out of the spotlight, Smith recorded a high-quality album, Magic Lady, and embarked on a European tour (including the UK). In recent times Smith has shared his performing duties with his role as a teacher at various workshops. He reunited with his brother Donald on 1998's Transformation.

    DISCOGRAPHY:
    with the Cosmic Echoes Astral Traveling (Flying Dutchman 1973),
    with the Cosmic Echoes Cosmic Funk (Flying Dutchman 1974)
    with the Cosmic Echoes Expansions (Flying Dutchman 1974)
    with the Cosmic Echoes Visions Of A New World (Flying Dutchman 1975)
    with the Cosmic Echoes Reflections Of A Golden Dream (RCA 1976),
    Live! (RCA 1976),
    with the Cosmic Echoes Renaissance (RCA 1977)
    Loveland (Columbia 1978)
    Exotic Mysteries (Columbia 1978)
    Dreams Of Tomorrow (Doctor Jazz 1979)
    A Song For The Children (Columbia 1979)
    Love Is The Answer (Columbia 1980)
    Love Goddess (Startrak 1983)
    Silhouettes (Doctor Jazz 1983),
    Rejuvenation (Doctor Jazz 1985),
    Make Someone Happy (Doctor Jazz 1989)
    Magic Lady (Startrak 1991)
    Transformation (Loveland/Ichiban 1998)

    COMPILATIONS:
    The Best Of Lonnie Liston Smith (Columbia 1981)
    Golden Dreams (Bluebird 1988)
    Watercolors (Novus/RCA 1991)
    Explorations: The Columbia Recordings (Columbia/Legacy 2002)


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