f Ronnie Foster had never recorded anything but the spaced-out, frank and funky soul of 1972’s (recently re-released) and 1973’s , his place in the history of organ jazz would be a given. His dreamy ambience and diggable groove made him essential listening throughout the 1970s—and essential sampling in the ’90s, as A Tribe Called Quest turned Foster’s then-22-year-old “Mystic Brew” into their “Electric Relaxation.” But the last album he made as a leader came out in 1986; his long absence from the scene only made the (Blue Note), his long-overdue return to the studio.
