Lonnie Liston Smith - Dreams of Tomorrow (1983/2009)

In an interview on the jacket of this album, Lonnie Liston Smith says that he underwent a personal crisis after some nasty dealings with a "big record company" (either RCA or Columbia). He then became a disciple of Sri Chinmoy -- guru to John McLaughlin, Carlos Santana and many other musicians -- went veggie, started meditating, became a new man. For all of that, little had changed in his music, which remains pleasant, gently funky and deeply into spiritual concerns but not in a heavy way. Again, Smith switches between acoustic and electric pianos, while brother Donald sweetly intones the serene lyrics or handles the flute, and Donald Hubbard offers ethereal soprano sax. Marcus Miller, the once and future Miles Davis collaborator, exerts some influence here by composing three of the eight tunes -- none terribly memorable -- and playing bass and keyboards.