Lonnie Liston Smith

“I came to London in the 70s and was so pleasantly surprised to see the kids dancing to ‘Expansions’,” recalled Lonnie Liston Smith to me back in 2004.

“‘Expansions’ was the first time I really thought about writing lyrics,” he revealed. “I said well, okay, let’s come up with some really enlightening lyrics and at the same time the people can dance to it if they want to.” Regarded as his signature song, ‘Expansions’ – which features lead vocals from Smith’s younger sibling, Donald, over an intoxicating bass-propelled groove – was quickly adopted as an anthem by the UK jazz-funk club scene and appropriately kicks off BGP’s new anthology focusing on the Virginia keyboard player’s Flying Dutchman output.