If any bridged the gap between the soul and funk of　Earth, Wind & Fire　and the post-bop of John Coltrane,McCoy Tyner　and 　　Pharoah Sanders, it was Lonnie Liston Smith. Like those post-boppers--and likeEarth, Wind & Fire's founder/leader　Maurice White--Smith had a deeply spiritual, eastern-influenced outlook. He never lost his love of classic 1960s post-bop, and it continued to influence his writing and playing even when he was recording an album as commercial as Exotic Mysteries. This LP had a minor soul/funk hit in &Space Princess& (a Marcus Miller tune that features Donald Smith on vocals and isn't unlike something EWF would have done), but most of the album consists of fusion/crossover instrumentals that fuse elements of post-bop's more mellow side (think of Charles Lloyd's work or Coltrane's &Central Park West&) with a big dose of soul, funk and pop. To be sure, pieces like &Mystical Dreamer (A Tribute to Miles Davis)& and the enchanting &Quiet Moments& aren't straight-ahead jazz; rather, they meet soul and pop fans half way and do so with some integrity. Exotic Mysteries isn't among Smith's essential albums, although its plusses outweigh its minuses.