Lonnie Liston Smith & The Cosmic Echoes* – Expansions

All of the reviews below address the quality of the performance, and I agree with all of them; this is definitely a standard-setter for funky, trippy jazz.
But he sound of this pressing is equally impressive. One of the widest soundstages of any album in my collection, and every instrument stands out clearly in it's space. My VG+ copy is even pretty quiet (for a 50-year old artifact). I'm thrilled with this purchase. I guess everything Bob Thiele put his hand to was top-notch quality.

A classic and what a brilliant sounding reissue & pressing. Makes it a real treat to listen to again! Vocals, Keyboards & percussion sound sharp while beats & bass sound full & fat. Beautifully done.

Les français sont des incorrigibles spéculateurs. Messieurs les disquaires et/ou collectionneurs français, desservez la profession. 55€ ? vraiment ? Faut-il se faire livrer depuis l'autre bout du monde ? ... Il va vraiment falloir que cela cesse un jour.

A fine serviceable copy, just don't expect to be blown away. For $15 it's tough to expect much more.

On my system this Scorpio reissue(?) sounds reasonably good. I don't have another to compare but there's decent low-end and detail and it at least sounds analogue with some decent dynamics. I've heard a lot, lot worse.

The volume is too low, and the low-end is all over the place. Definitely not the best reissue of this album out there. I don't recommend this one unless like me, you really, really love this album and is trying to get all of the pressings while still figuring out which one is the best for your system. This could be your piece, but it is not mine

Great audio on this reissue, nice analogue sound, low noise crystal clarity, no warps no flaws, sleeve could be better however.

Lonnie Liston Smith, during an interview for Electronic Standards, starts to write the lyrics of the LP theme and prepare his explanations:

”Expand your mind! To understand! We all must leave… In Peace today! Extend your hand! To help the plan! Of Love to all… Mankind on Earth!”

— “That’s the whole message in all the sounds! Man, you can turn your TV on today and watch a war just happening! Right before your eyes! Things are really moving fast! This is … I don’t know what we are going to do… Too much lack of understanding… it’s unbelievable!”
‘Expansions’ tune was the title theme of the 3rd album with the Cosmic Echoes project. “I had never written lyrics before, it was the first opportunity, so I wanted to write lyrics with meaning, and at the same time I wanted to be Jazz, improvised, and contemporary lyrics. All of the musicians were Jazz musicians, to keep that improvised, creative Spirit. I was really happy with the result, because I wanted people to hear all that music and lyrics and at the same time dance to if they wanted. I wanted it all in the music, and it worked!”

Shadows (1975) came out on the same LP. Lonnie tries to explain its unique mood: “I used an echoplex that made the notes repeat themselves, like echoes, or shadows of them in the Space! It’s like when you’re floating in Space, you know… it gave me that feeling! I wanted it to sound at the same time futuristic, organic and human.”

I wish the rest of the LP were more like "Expansions"....

Excellent pressing of this classic album. The jacket is great too.