

Curtis Mayfield helped set the template for disco with music that could be symphonic in scale yet extraordinarily supple when it came to groove and the emotion he conveyed with his ache-filled falsetto. He makes it look (and sound) so easy with this romantically inclined set from 1977: Mayfield eschewed the more aggressive rhythms of the era’s dance-floor fillers for a slinkier feel on “Just Want to Be with You” and the effortlessly gorgeous soul fantasia “Show Me Love.”