Ronnie Foster - Love Satellite (1978)

Ronnie Foster's Columbia debut, Love Satellite, is for all intents and purposes an R&B record swaddled in the trappings of jazz -- the aptly titled "Happy Song" even features drums from no less than Stevie Wonder, whose groundbreaking mid-'70s Motown LPs profoundly shaped the sound and scope of Foster's concurrent efforts. Ably supported by a cast of fusion giants including vibist Roy Ayers, bassist Alphonso Johnson, and drummer Harvey Mason, Foster creates music that is smart and focused yet unapologetically commercial in orientation and presentation -- though played with the expertise and dynamism of jazz, the songs speak to the body at the exclusion of the mind.

Tracks:

01. Why Don't You Look Inside (Foster) - 4:38
02. A Soft Heart (Foster) - 5:11
03. Happy Song (Foster) - 4:25
04. Shooting Star (Sound Effects) (Foster) - 0:18
05. Midnight Plane (Foster) - 6:26
06. I Want to Bring My Love Home (Foster) - 4:37
07. Easier Said Than Done (Foster) - 4:45
08. Nassau Day (Foster) - 4:49
09. Love Satellite (Foster) - 5:29

Personnel:

Ronnie Foster - keyboards, electric piano, synthesizer, percussion, vocals
Jerry Peters - acoustic piano, cowbell, background vocals
Alphonso Johnson, Byron Miller - bass
Paulinho Da Costa - tambourine, percussion, castanets
Leon "Ndugu" Chancler - percussion, timbales, cowbell
Dennis Davis, Steveland Morris (Stevie Wonder) - drums
Harvey Mason - drums, syndrums
Roy Ayers - vibraphone

Recorded at The Total Experience Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA.