Les McCann
Encyclopedia
Les McCann is an American
soul jazz piano player and vocalist whose biggest successes came as a crossover artist into R&B and soul.
.
In 1969, Atlantic Records released Swiss Movement
, a recording of McCann with regular collaborator and saxophonist Eddie Harris
and guest trumpeter Benny Bailey
at that year's Montreux Jazz Festival
. The album contained the song "Compared To What," and both the album and the single were huge Billboard pop chart successes. "Compared To What" featured political criticism of the Vietnam War. The song was not actually written by McCann; fellow Atlantic composer/artist Eugene McDaniels (A Hundred Pounds of Clay) wrote it years earlier. "Compared To What" was initially recorded and released by soul vocalist Roberta Flack
. Her version appeared as the opening track on her debut recording, First Take
(1969).
After the success of Swiss Movement, McCann — primarily a piano player — began to emphasize his rough-hewn vocals more. He became an innovator in the soul jazz
style, merging jazz with funk, soul and world rhythms; much of his early 1970s music prefigures the great Stevie Wonder
albums of the decade. He was among the first jazz musicians to include electric piano, clavinet, and synthesizer in his music.
In 1971, he and Harris were part of a group of soul, R&B, and rock performers — including Wilson Pickett
, The Staple Singers
, Santana
and Ike & Tina Turner
— who flew to Accra
, Ghana
for a historic 14-hour concert before more than 100,000 Ghanaians. The March 6 concert was recorded for the documentary film Soul To Soul
. In 2004 the movie was released on DVD with an accompanying soundtrack album.
McCann discovered Roberta Flack
and obtained an audition which resulted in a recording contract with Atlantic Records.
A stroke
in the mid 1990s sidelined McCann for a while, but in 2002 he released a new album, Pump it Up.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
soul jazz piano player and vocalist whose biggest successes came as a crossover artist into R&B and soul.
Biography
McCann's main career began in the early 1960s when he recorded with his trio for Pacific Jazz RecordsPacific Jazz Records
Pacific Jazz Records was a Los Angeles-based record label best known for releasing cool jazz or West coast jazz. It was founded by Richard Bock and drummer Roy Harte in 1952....
.
In 1969, Atlantic Records released Swiss Movement
Swiss Movement
Swiss Movement is a live jazz album recorded on June 21, 1969 at The Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland by the Les McCann trio, Eddie Harris, and Benny Bailey.The song "Compared to What" became a pop music hit.-Track listing:...
, a recording of McCann with regular collaborator and saxophonist Eddie Harris
Eddie Harris
Eddie Harris was an American jazz musician, best known for playing tenor saxophone and for introducing the electrically amplified saxophone. He was also fluent on the electric piano and organ...
and guest trumpeter Benny Bailey
Benny Bailey
Benny Bailey, born Ernest Harold Bailey , was an American bebop and hard-bop jazz trumpeter.-Biography:...
at that year's Montreux Jazz Festival
Montreux Jazz Festival
The Montreux Jazz Festival is the best-known music festival in Switzerland and one of the most prestigious in Europe; it is held annually in early July in Montreux on the shores of Lake Geneva...
. The album contained the song "Compared To What," and both the album and the single were huge Billboard pop chart successes. "Compared To What" featured political criticism of the Vietnam War. The song was not actually written by McCann; fellow Atlantic composer/artist Eugene McDaniels (A Hundred Pounds of Clay) wrote it years earlier. "Compared To What" was initially recorded and released by soul vocalist Roberta Flack
Roberta Flack
Roberta Flack is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who is notable for jazz, soul, R&B, and folk music...
. Her version appeared as the opening track on her debut recording, First Take
First Take (album)
First Take is the debut album by the Jazz singer Roberta Flack. It was released in 1969 on Atlantic Records. After a track from this album, "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" was included by Clint Eastwood in his 1971 film Play Misty for Me with the song becoming a #1 hit in the United States,...
(1969).
After the success of Swiss Movement, McCann — primarily a piano player — began to emphasize his rough-hewn vocals more. He became an innovator in the soul jazz
Soul jazz
Soul jazz is a development of jazz incorporating strong influences from blues, soul, gospel and rhythm and blues in music for small groups, often an organ trio featuring a Hammond organ.- Overview :Soul jazz is often associated with hard bop. Mark C...
style, merging jazz with funk, soul and world rhythms; much of his early 1970s music prefigures the great Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
albums of the decade. He was among the first jazz musicians to include electric piano, clavinet, and synthesizer in his music.
In 1971, he and Harris were part of a group of soul, R&B, and rock performers — including Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett was an American R&B/Soul singer and songwriter.A major figure in the development of American soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, and frequently crossed over to the US Billboard Hot 100...
, The Staple Singers
The Staple Singers
The Staple Singers were an American gospel, soul, and R&B singing group. Roebuck "Pops" Staples , the patriarch of the family, formed the group with his children Cleotha , Pervis , Yvonne , and Mavis...
, Santana
Carlos Santana
Carlos Augusto Alves Santana is a Mexican rock guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered rock, salsa and jazz fusion...
and Ike & Tina Turner
Ike & Tina Turner
Ike & Tina Turner were an American rock & roll and soul duo, made of the husband-and-wife team of Ike Turner and Tina Turner in the 1960s and 1970s. Spanning sixteen years together as a recording group, the duo's repertoire included rock & roll, soul, blues and funk...
— who flew to Accra
Accra
Accra is the capital and largest city of Ghana, with an urban population of 1,658,937 according to the 2000 census. Accra is also the capital of the Greater Accra Region and of the Accra Metropolitan District, with which it is coterminous...
, Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
for a historic 14-hour concert before more than 100,000 Ghanaians. The March 6 concert was recorded for the documentary film Soul To Soul
Soul To Soul (film)
Soul To Soul was a concert held in Accra, Ghana on March 6, 1971 by an array of American R&B, soul, rock, and jazz musicians. It is also the name of a 1971 documentary film recording the concert.-Concert:...
. In 2004 the movie was released on DVD with an accompanying soundtrack album.
McCann discovered Roberta Flack
Roberta Flack
Roberta Flack is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who is notable for jazz, soul, R&B, and folk music...
and obtained an audition which resulted in a recording contract with Atlantic Records.
A stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
in the mid 1990s sidelined McCann for a while, but in 2002 he released a new album, Pump it Up.
Discography
- Plays The Truth, 1960, Pacific Jazz
- The Shout, 1960, Pacific Jazz
- Groove 1961, Pacific Jazz, with Richard "Groove" Holmes and Ben Webster
- In San Francisco 1961, Pacific Jazz
- Les McCann in New York, 1961, Pacific Jazz
- Stormy Monday, 1962, Capitol, with Lou Rawls
- Somethin' Special, 1962, Pacific Jazz, with Richard "Groove" Holmes
- In New York, 1962, Pacific Jazz, with Stanley TurrentineStanley TurrentineStanley William Turrentine, also known as "Mr. T" or "The Sugar Man", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.-Biography:Turrentine was born in Pittsburgh's Hill District into a musical family...
- On Time, 1962, Pacific Jazz
- The Gospel Truth, 1963, Pacific Jazz
- Soul Hits, 1963, Pacific Jazz
- Plays The Shampoo At The Village Gate, 1963, Pacific Jazz
- Jazz Waltz, 1964, Pacific Jazz, with the Jazz Crusaders
- New From The Big City, 1964, Pacific Jazz
- Spanish Onions, 1964, Pacific Jazz
- McCanna, 1964, Pacific Jazz
- McCann/Wilson, 1965, Pacific Jazz, with the Gerald Wilson Orchestra
- But Not Really, 1965, Limelight RecordsLimelight RecordsLimelight Records was a subsidiary label of Mercury Records. Originally headed by Quincy Jones, its activities were directed by the producer Jack Tracy...
- Plays The Hits, 1967, Limelight
- Django, 1968, Sunset Records (a product of Liberty Records)
- Live At Shelly's Manne Hole, Limelight
- Beaux J. Pooboo, Limelight
- Bucket O' Grease, Limelight
- Live At The Bohemian Caverns, Washington, DC, Limelight
- Poo Boo, Limelight
- Much Les, 1969, Atlantic
- Swiss MovementSwiss MovementSwiss Movement is a live jazz album recorded on June 21, 1969 at The Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland by the Les McCann trio, Eddie Harris, and Benny Bailey.The song "Compared to What" became a pop music hit.-Track listing:...
, 1969, Atlantic, with Eddie Harris - Comment, 1970, Atlantic
- Second Movement, 1971, Atlantic, with Eddie Harris
- Invitation To Openness, 1972, Atlantic
- Talk To The People, 1972, Atlantic
- Fish This Week, 1973, Blue Note/United Artists
- Layers, 1973, Atlantic
- Live at Montreux, 1973, Atlantic
- Another Beginning, 1974, Atlantic
- Hustle To Survive, 1975, Atlantic
- River High, River Low,1976, Atlantic
- Change Change Change; Live At The Roxy, 1977, ABC
- The Man, 1978, A&M
- Tall, Dark & Handsome, 1979, A&M
- The Longer You Wait, 1983, JAM
- McCann's Music Box, 1984, JAM
- The Butterfly, 1988, Stone
- More Of Les, 1989
- Relationships: The Les McCann Anthology, 1993, Rhino/Atlantic
- On The Soul Side, 1994, MusicMasters
- Piano Jazz, 1996, NPR Piano Jazz Series, featuring Marian McPartland
- Listen Up!!, 1996, Music Masters
- Pacifique, 1998, Music Masters, with Joja Wendt
- How's your mother?, 1998, 32JAZZ
- Pump it up, 2002, France
- Jazz Legend Project, 2004, Megaphon
Samples
- "Compared to What" was featured in "LockdownLockdown (Lost)"Lockdown" is the 42nd episode of Lost. It is the 17th episode of the second season. The episode was directed by Stephen Williams, and written by Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof. It first aired on March 29, 2006 on ABC...
", the season two episode of LostLost (TV series)Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
. - The live version of "Compared to What" was featured in the Martin ScorseseMartin ScorseseMartin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
film CasinoCasino (film)Casino is a 1995 crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Nicholas Pileggi, who also co-wrote the screenplay for the film with Scorsese...
, during the scene where the organizational hierarchy of the casino is being explained. - "Compared to What", has been a featured song in the 2007 tour of American IdolAmerican IdolAmerican Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
Season 5 winner Taylor HicksTaylor HicksTaylor Reuben Hicks is an American singer who achieved fame in 2006, when he won the fifth season of American Idol. Hicks got his start as a professional musician in his late teens and performed around the Southeastern United States for well over the span of a decade, during which he also released...
. - McCann's song "Valllarta(Skit)" was sampled by the late rapper The Notorious B.I.G.The Notorious B.I.G.Christopher George Latore Wallace , best known as The Notorious B.I.G., was an American rapper. He was also known as Biggie Smalls , Big Poppa, and The Black Frank White .Wallace was raised in the Brooklyn borough...
in the song "The Ten Crack Commandments) off his album Life After DeathLife After DeathLife After Death is the second and final studio album by American rapper The Notorious B.I.G., released March 25, 1997 on Bad Boy Records. A double album, it was released posthumously following his death on March 9, 1997 and serves as his final studio album...
. - The song "Roberta" was sampled on Afu-RaAfu-RaAaron Phillip better known by his stage names, Afu-Ra & Afu is a New York-based American underground rapper. Afu, born Aaron Phillip, is a devout student of the Martial arts, as well as Chess...
's "Whirlwind Thru Cities". - The beginning of "Sometimes I Cry" was sampled by Massive AttackMassive AttackMassive Attack are an English DJ and trip hop duo from Bristol, England consisting of Robert "3D" Del Naja and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. Working with co-producers, as well as various session musicians and guest vocalists, they make records and tour live. The duo are considered to be of the trip...
to create their song "TeardropTeardrop (song)"Teardrop" is a song by Massive Attack, which was first released on their 1998 album Mezzanine. It was released as a single on 27 April 1998. The song became another UK hit for the group, peaking at number 10 on the UK Singles Chart...
". - "Behind Bars" by Slick RickSlick RickRichard Walters , better known by his stage name Slick Rick is a Grammy-nominated English-American rapper...
also samples "Sometimes I Cry". - "The song "Music lets me be" was used in the intro of Gang starrGang StarrGang Starr was an influential East Coast hip hop duo that consisted of the late MC Guru and DJ/producer DJ Premier. Their style combined elements of New York jazz and hip hop.-Background:...
's "You know my steez" - The beginning of the song "The Harlem Buck Dance Strut" is used in the Daddylonglegs (Howie B) song "Giddy up"
- McCann's song "Benjamin" (1969) was sampled by french rap band IAM (band)IAM (band)IAM is a French hip hop band from Marseille, created in 1989, and composed of Akhenaton , Shurik'n , Khéops , Imhotep , and Kephren . 'IAM' has several meanings, including 'Invasion Arrivée de Mars'...
in the song "C'est donc ça nos vies"
External links
- http://www.lesmccann-officialwebsite.com/biography.html
- http://www.cyberstars.com/jazz/les-mccann/
- http://www.lesmccann-officialwebsite.com/disco.html