is the latest jazz-funk icon to be tempted back into the studio by 's and . His 1970s recordings with offered a different approach to the jazz-rock fusion of the time. Deeply interested in Eastern and African spirituality, the keyboardist created a sweetly soulful brand of jazz fusion where R&B and funk held sway over rock. Before , he hadn't released an album since 1998's underrated . The musically savvy partnership of talked him into headlining their live Black History Month series in February 2020, before COVID locked down the planet. The duo re-enlisted him in 2022 for this nine-track set at their studio. plays Fender Rhodes and acoustic piano; plays bass guitar and Rhodes; and appears on electric guitars, bass, synth, clavinet, vibraphone, and Hammond B-3. Drums are handled alternately by . Soul and gospel singer appears on four tracks. Opener "Love Brings Happiness" is one of the showcases. 's acoustic piano provides the modal frame as paints it with Fender Rhodes. sets up behind , playing fuzzy, bright, shard-like guitar fills that recall those of . Synths, clavinet, and vibes all appear in the dense mix. find their way onto another musical plane, pushing each other into the improv stratosphere. "Dawn" is a breezy, soulful instrumental wherein electric guitars, piano, synths, and saxes (played by ) meet bass and breaking, syncopated drums. also appears on "Cosmic Changes." , , and offer an approach akin to the one employed on jazz and blues singer ' . An open modal chord sequence introduces , who claims the poetic lyric, makes it soar, and meets the instrumentalists for mutual discovery. 's last appearance is on "Love Can Be," which juxtaposes funky, cracking tom-toms, syncopated snares, 's gorgeous Rhodes playing, and 's B-3, synths, guitars, and horns. This is spiritual soul music at its best. 's control and range naturally rise above the band's intimate, instinctual interplay. "Fete" is Latinized jazz fusion with a killer Rhodes solo from and a bumping bassline from , while buoys the proceedings on tenor and soprano saxophones and brings the syncopation and funk. "What May Come" is a dramatic exercise in modal fusion with 's Rhodes framed by B-3, guitars, saxes, and synths, while keeps them anchored and moving simultaneously. In "A New Spring," 's wordless hovering, swooping vocals are framed by Mellotron, Rhodes piano, and bubbling, syncopated drums and bass. So many of the composer/pianist's stylistic trademarks are on display that may be the best series entry in capturing the most important, recognizable elements of the artist's influential core sound and showcasing them as quite relevant. It's a lovely, affirming album that is well worth seeking out. ~ Thom Jurek