Further distanced in time from John Coltrane's spiritual new-jazz and the influential second Miles Davis quintet, Doug Carn showed a close affinity with R&B when recording his fourth and final Black Jazz album Adam's Apple. Sharing his interest in R&B was a platoon of committed, resourceful jazz musicians including young star-in-the-making Ronnie Laws, who had worked with Earth, Wind & Fire before that band's big commercial breakthrough. Of the others, ace guitarists Nathan Page and Calvin Keys had acquired intimacy with the soulful properties of African-American music of the time, performing with the premier jazz organist Jimmy Smith