Hammond -B3 organ master Dr. Lonnie Smith has teamed up with rock icon Iggy Pop on the new single “Sunshine Superman,” a funky soul jazz version of the 1966 Donovan hit that is one of two studio collaborations by the two legends that bookend Smith’s forthcoming album Breathe, which will be released March 26th on Blue Note Records. Check out “Sunshine Superman” below…
“I was playing with my trio at Arts Garage in Delray Beach in Florida,” says Smith, who lives in Ft. Lauderdale. “Iggy would come by and say he wanted to play with me. I let him play slaparoo and he loved it. He enjoyed playing with us. We thought about recording a few songs, so we went in with my trio backing us up, and it worked.”
Pop and Smith headed into a Miami studio with the organist’s steady trio of guitarist Jonathan Kreisberg and drummer Johnathan Blake plus percussionist Richard Bravo and discovered a unique chemistry that resulted in two striking performances including the album’s opening track “Why Can’t We Live Together,” a 1972 R&B hit by Timmy Thomas, and the album closer “Sunshine Superman.”
Produced by Don Was, Breathe is a dynamic eight-song set, the middle six tracks of which were recorded during Smith’s 75th birthday celebration at the Jazz Standard in New York City in 2017. The live tracks feature both Smith’s trio as well as an expanded septet with John Ellis on tenor saxophone, Jason Marshall on baritone saxophone, Sean Jones on trumpet, and Robin Eubanks on trombone that can be heard on the album’s buoyant lead single “Bright Eyes.”
The track listing for Breathe is as follows:
- Why Can’t We Live Together featuring Iggy Pop (Timmy Thomas)
- Bright Eyes – Live(Dr. Lonnie Smith)
- Too Damn Hot – Live(Dr. Lonnie Smith)
- Track 9 – Live(Dr. Lonnie Smith)
- World Weeps – Live(Dr. Lonnie Smith)
- Pilgrimage – Livefeaturing Alicia Olatuja (Dr. Lonnie Smith, lyrics by Lynne Meryl Koenigsberg)
- Epistrophy – Live(Thelonious Monk)
- Sunshine Supermanfeaturing Iggy Pop (Donovan)
