While the singer who wields a guitar – Curtis, Bobby, Terry – has pride of place in the soul music canon the vocal stylist hovering over a piano – Ray, Aretha, Stevie – is also an essential touchstone. The latter instrument also has an arguably closer association with jazz. All of the members of the second holy trinity, and others for that matter, played Broadway standards in their early years, making the point that the harmonic challenges of African-American art music played a part in the development of its populist strain. That much can be clearly heard in the discography of Donny Hathaway, who is something of a revered figure among soul disciples, and for the same reason they lionise his onetime Howard University roommate and songwriting partner, Leroy Hutson, as well as Wonder – the beauty of the singer is matched by the finesse of the songwriter. This handsomely packaged 4CD set presents an excellent overview of Hathaway's body of work for Atlantic, the peak of which was the early part of the 1970s, when he cut the albums Everything Is Everything, Donny Hathaway and Extension Of A Man. Originals such as ‘Little Ghetto Boy’, ‘Voices Inside (Everything Is Everything)’, and above all ‘Someday We'll All Be Free’ still remain heart-stopping moments such is the melodic guile and grace of Hathaway's voice, which has all the power of a gospel performer tempered with the gossamer subtlety of a Nat King Cole. Like Cole, also a key role model for Marvin Gaye, Hathaway was an excellent pianist as well as a singer, as can be heard on the scorching bluesiness he draws from a Wurlitzer on the live cut of ‘The Ghetto’. That is featured here in studio and stage versions, the second being part of a previously unreleased set at The Bitter End. The rest of the music comprises further newly recovered studio material of which the highlights are the charming country stomp ‘A Lot Of Soul’ while the 20-minute ‘ZYXYGY Concerto’ makes the point that, like Wonder, Hathaway also had a serious interest in classical music. Completing the package is an entire disc of duets of Hathaway and his most simpatico partner, Roberta Flack, but it is the pieces in which his voice is left to soar against the rich landscape of his own piano playing that take the breath away. Tragically Hathaway, a paranoid schizophrenic, passed away at the age of 33, but the quality of his relatively small body of work has assured him long life by way of his lasting influence: Omar, Noel McKoy, Keith Ailer and above all Frank McComb are all extensions of the man.