Best known for his funk-jazz work of the 70s, particularly with his classic teaming with George Benson, organmeister Ronnie Foster returns to his jazz roots and original Blue Note label for a swinging soul fest of deep grooves and pulses. He mixes and matches with Michael O’Neill/g, Jim Branly-Chris Foster/dr, Lenny Castro/con, Luis Conte/-timb-perc and guest flamenco guitarist Jerry Lopez for an acoustic to rocking electric guitar Latinized tribute to Carlos Santana on the dynamic “Carlos”. Foster even adds some hip voice to the swampfest of “Hey Good Looking Woman” with O’Neill plugging in and rocking out. As for Foster himself, he does some wonders on the humming Hammond, delivering a churchlike meditation on his solo outing of “J’s Dream”, swirling like a dervish over Branly’s relentless cymbals on “Swinging” and digging into some R&B grit with synthysounds on ”After Chicago” while pulling out the plugs for a lithe read of Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely”. Foster even reminds us that he’s a first rate pianist, closing things out with a reflective solo original, “After Conversation with Nadia”, making you want to go back into his catalogue and remember what you liked about him way back when, with his days of Benson and beyond.