Lonnie Smith - Afro-Desia (2024 Mr Bongo Groove Merchant Reissue LP Gatefold)

Lonnie Smith - Afro-Desia | Vinyl LP - 2024 Mr Bongo Gatefold Reissue (MRBLP297)

• Lonnie Smith's 1975 Hammond B3 jazz-funk landmark for Groove Merchant, produced by label owner Sonny Lester, with an uncredited George Benson on guitar, Joe Lovano on saxophone and Ron Carter on bass
• Five tracks ranging from the 15-minute free-wheeling "Spirits Free" to the Latin-inflected "Straight to the Point," covering Smith's full range from cosmic organ exploration to locked-in soul-jazz groove
• Among the earliest recordings of Joe Lovano, who went on to become one of the most important tenor saxophonists of the following four decades
• Gatefold reissue pressed at Optimal Media GmbH; the second release in Mr Bongo's Groove Merchant catalogue series

Lonnie Smith had been a central figure in soul-jazz and hard bop since the late 1960s, recording for Blue Note alongside Lee Morgan, George Benson and others, and building a reputation as one of the most inventive Hammond B3 players in jazz. By 1975, recording for Sonny Lester's Groove Merchant label, he assembled a lineup of Ron Carter on bass, Ben Riley on drums, a young Joe Lovano on tenor and soprano saxophone, and a mysterious guitarist who does not appear on the sleeve under his own name. "Compliments of a Friend" is widely understood to be George Benson, who had worked closely with Smith in the 1960s and could not be credited for contractual reasons. His guitar is present on the title track, "Favors" and "The Awakening."

The five tracks span the full range of Smith's idiom. "Afrodesia" opens the record with a nine-minute piece that moves from electric funk to open improvisation, Hopkins and Lovano trading on trumpet and saxophone over Armstrong's bass and a layered rhythm section. "Spirits Free" runs to fifteen minutes, rising and falling across free sections, spacey organ passages and funky grooves. Side B brings a sharper, more direct feel: "Straight to the Point" kicks off with a carnival pulse, and "Favors" — a reworking of Coltrane's "Impressions," though uncredited on the original sleeve — extends into a ten-minute trio improvisation with Benson and Lovano. "The Awakening" closes the record in the same territory. Smith had not yet adopted the "Dr." prefix in 1975; that came later in his career.