Dr. Lonnie Smith is sometimes called the grandfather of acid jazz but this actually doesn’t do the New Yorker justice. The fact is that Smith was already ahead of his time back in the 1960s. In more than fifty years we have virtually never seen his equal as an organ player. Together with guitarist George Benson, in 1966 Smith formed the George Benson Quartet featuring Lonnie Smith. A year later, Smith released his first solo album Finger Lickin’ Good. In the years that followed he released dozens of albums under his own name. Earlier this year, Smith returned to the Blue Note label for the first time since the album Drives (1970). Top producer and current Blue Note director Don Was produced the outstanding album Evolution which features pianist Robert Glasper and saxophonist Joe Lovano, among others.
