The coherent potential approximation (CPA) is extended to describe satisfactorily the motion of particles in a random potential which is spatially correlated and smoothly varying. In contrast to existing cluster-CPA methods, the present scheme preser
ves the simplicity of the conventional CPA in using a single self-energy function. Its accuracy is checked by a comparison with the exact moments of the Greens function, and with the spectral function from numerical simulations. The scheme is applied to excitonic absorption spectra in different spatial dimensions.
