Lonnie Smith: Mama Wailer

This is one of the essential Cti releases. Thrown onto the market in July 1972 (just three months after " Live at Club Mozambique"), when Soul-Jazz was at it's height, Lonnie Smith (not to be confused with another organist, Lonnie Liston Smith) romps through four tracks of dirty, smoking grooves.

The title track has everything the soul-jazz afficionado looks for. A popping pass (a Ron Carter, a hookline, a solid and steady rythm (Billy Cobham on drums), a latin tinge (Airto) and nice, soulful soli (Grover Washington). I find Smith's clavinet a bit odd though, I wish he would've played organ exclusively.

"Hola Munteca" is a laid-back mixture of latin-soul and jazz. The instrumentation is spare, with Smith in the foreground. Sadly, none of the others play a solo. Smith's solo contains a hint towards The Champs "Tequila".

"I feel the earth move" is a great revamp of Carole Kings soft-rock hit. The band picks up speed early until the end, again with the emphasis on Smith and the rest of the band laying the foundations.

The lengthy "Stand" begins very slowly but after 2 minutes the band begins with slow grooves that let you shake your head and pop your fingers. Guitars and Saxophone "discuss" with the organ before at halftime everything is being woven together to a complex piece where hell breaks loose.

This one is highly recommended to every serious soul-jazz afficionado, although I wish that the other musicians beside smith would get more solo space. It's a shame that this is currently out of print and only available as an import from Japan (which seems to be a heaven for Cti-fanatics, thanks to the King label which keeps releasing them constantly).
It's also the only Cti release that has Smith's name on it. He never released another one, not even as a sideman.