Dr. Lonnie Smith Octet - In the Beginning, Volumes 1 & 2 (2013)

On IN THE BEGINNING, the second release on Pilgrimage Recording, his imprint label which he founded in 2012, Dr. Lonnie Smith revisits, recontextualizes, and reimagines a dozen songs culled from his first decade as a recording artist. The end product is a document as distinctive and accomplished as any within Smith's iconic canon.

Co-produced by Ian Hendrickson-Smith (Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Amy Winehouse, Reverend Al Green), his arrangements are performed by a first call New York octet which capture the intense, creative spirit that animated the latter 60's milieu generating Smith s recordings like FINGER LICKIN' GOOD, THINK, TURNING POINT and MOVE YOUR HAND.

IN THE BEGINNING was recorded to analog tape before a live audience in a studio situated in a converted Model-T factory in Queens, NY over a three day period.