LONNIE LISTON SMITH — Expansions (review)

LONNIE LISTON SMITH — Expansions album cover Album · 1975 · Fusion Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
Sean Trane
After the fairly good but uneven Cosmic Funk album, LL-S came back the following year with Expansions, an album much n the same line, both in musical direction, but also ins unevenness, as it proposes some pretty soppy tracks. The Cosmic Echoes group (was it ever really?) line-up built on the CF album is already fairly changed, with only Killan, Don Smith and Liston himself remaining, but we hear the return of ex-Pharoah member Cecil McBee on bass. Graced with a superb (if slightly flattened) gatefold artwork, Expansions was again released on the Flying Dutchman label, a few months after Cosmic Funk.

The opening title track, is rather reminiscent of mid-70’s Santana, but with a dominating Rhodes instead of guitar and with Don Smith’s excellent vocals and flute solo to boot, so it adds up a unique feel. The outstanding Desert Night follows, filled with serenity and beauty that you could only find in the Arizona, Nevada or Sahara nocturnal hours. However Summer Days has an already-heard (déjà-entendu, anyone?) somewhere else feel, with that rumba-samba rhythm riff that is indeed reminiscent (but can’t pin it as I write it now) of a cover of a better-known similar track. Its over-repetitive nature overstays its welcome halfway through, though.

The flipside opens extremely well with the up-tempo Voodoo Woman, with its shrilling flute, and later on Shadows is much in the same mould. Unfortunately, the album takes a wrong curve with the soppy sung-ballad, Peace. As if that wasn’t enough, the following My Love goes even further down the overly-sentimental road.

So, Expansions is still a very-worthy album, but it opens much better than it closes, but that’s the beauty of the compact disc, one flick of the eject button can end your plight. Definitely still worth investigating for there are three excellent tracks.

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