In 1993, Blue Note looked back on Bobby Lyle's late-'70s output for Capitol with this collection, which draws on the pianist/keyboardist's first three albums: The Genie, New Warrior and Night Fire. Though the CD contains three straight-ahead jazz offerings that find Lyle playing unaccompanied solo piano (I Didn't Know What Time It Was, What Is This Thing Called Love and Blues for Scott Joplin), most of the material is exploratory, chance-taking fusion and crossover. Jazz purists had no use for the electric R&B/soul rhythms heard on instrumentals like the haunting Night Breeze (a quiet storm favorite that Ronnie Laws had recorded in 1976), the North African-influenced Mother Nile and the George Duke-ish Star Traveler, but the fact is that much of Lyle's early output was quite creative. The Best of Bobby Lyle takes us back to a very memorable period in jazz -- a time before NAC stations were encouraging artists to play knee-jerk elevator muzak and before many Young Lions did everything in their power to turn straight-ahead jazz into a predictable repertory music. The thing that brings the CD's rating down a bit is the omission of The Genie's classic title song -- a glaring omission, to be sure. But even so, this collection paints an impressive picture of Lyle's early work. ~ Alex Henderson, Rovi

1		Pisces
2		Night Breeze
3		Mother Nile
4		New Warrior
5		Star Traveler
6		What Is This Thing Called Love
7		For Love
8		Blues for Scott Joplin
9		I Didn't Know What Time It Was

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