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Les McCann

Already established on the soul jazz scene of the 1960s, Les McCann became an international jazz superstar with the release of “Swiss Movement,” recorded at the 1968 Montreux Jazz Festival with the late Eddie Harris. The album generated a multi-million selling hit single, "Compared To What," and placed McCann and Harris in the forefront of the jazz market. There was a lot more to Les McCann than that show in Switzerland,both before and after. As a musician, he moved comfortably from one jazz style to the next, demonstrating impressive chops from bop to fusion, from vocals to virtually any kind of keyboard he puts his hands to.

Born in 1935 in Lexington, Kentucky, Les is a self-taught musician. In the early fifties, he left the South and joined the Navy. While stationed in California, he took every opportunity to visit San Francisco's jazz clubs, where he first experienced Miles Davis and his music. His first major influence though, was pianist Erroll Garner, who shared the same exuberance and bursting vocalizations. After his discharge from the military, McCann moved to Los Angeles and formed a trio, Les McCann Ltd., which became a favorite on the Sun Strip in the late fifties.

Les McCann was recommended by Miles Davis to play with Cannonball Adderly, but turned it down in order to form his own band. In 1960, McCann was signed to the L.A.-based Pacific Jazz, where he became the label's top-selling artist, debuting with “Plays the Truth.” (1960) He also co-headed albums with label mates such as organist Richard "Groove" Holmes, saxman Ben Webster, The Jazz Crusaders and the Gerald Wilson Orchestra.

McCann's laid-back personality has always been an opening for musicians to perform together. 1960/2 Antibes Jazz Festival was a hit as he shared the stage with Ray Charles and Count Basie. The following year he toured Europe with Zoot Sims and Charlie Byrd. He would move constantly, playing in countless sessions with the greatest names in jazz. He co-produced the debut album from Lou Rawls, “Stormy Monday,” (1960) and appeared on records with Stanley Turrentine, who played sax on McCann's “In New York,” (1960) and McCann on Turrentine's “That's Where It's At.” (1960) In the early seventies, McCann heard Roberta Flack for the first time at a nightclub in Washington D.C., and immediately became her champion, as he did similarly with Mahalia Jackson and Nancy Wilson. After a brief stint on the Limelight label (subsidiary of Mercury Records), McCann signed to Atlantic Records in 1967, his first major label deal. His perfect marriage of church and swing captured the spirit of the times in the same way that Ray Charles' mixture of gospel and blues heralded the arrival of soul.

Les is best known for his work in the late 60s and early 70s with partner/saxman Eddie Harris, whom he first encountered at the Montreux Jazz Festival. The resulting album, “Swiss Movement,” (1960) was a top selling jazz record, and the single "Compared to What," went platinum. The same year, Much Les, without Harris, hit hard with the ballad "With These Hands." “Second Movement,” (1971), reunited McCann and Harris, and acclaimed recordings such as “Invitation to Openness,” (1972), the double-record “Live at Montreux,” (1973), and “Layers,” (1973) followed. The latter was a revolutionary, improvisational experiment that included 15 musicians and one 27-minute song. Les McCann helped pioneer the use of electric piano, clavinet, and synthesizer, starting with this work which was one of the earliest electronic jazz albums.

The early eighties saw the creation of McCann's Magic Band, which has recorded a number of independently- released albums and featured Jeff Elliott, Keith Anderson, Tony St. James, and Abraham Laboriel. His release, “On the Soul Side” (MusicMasters 1994), featured his Magic Band and once again reunited him with Eddie Harris and Lou Rawls.

When his ability to play was devastated by a crippling stroke and carpal tunnel syndrome, McCann's creative drive went on. He returned to the stage as a leader while still limited to the use of a single finger, moved by his ever present desire to communicate the love that inspires his music.

Les McCann is an inspiration, not only as an artist but because he is not afraid of anything. He comments, "I never plan the future," which leaves him with nothing to fear, and more space in which to create. His teaming with producer Alan Abrahams and the musicians on “Listen Up!” is brilliant and healing as well ... he remembers favorably the spontaneous energy created in the 1995 recording session and notes that "it was evidently meant to be, thanks to the people who have helped me, including the musicians, the hospitals, the incredible amount of angels in my life."

In 1997 Les teamed up with Joja Wendt, Europe's hottest pianist, resulting in the outstanding recording “Pacifique.” In 1998, 32 jazz released "How's your Mother?" a classic live performance recorded at the Village Vanguard in 1967.

Rhino/Atlantic has recently re-released “Swiss Movement,” featuring a new track and some new arrangements. This reasserts the recording as being one of the most popular in the history of jazz record sales, and has crossed over into the digital age as well.

In 2002 Les McCann was back in action and offered a new release “Pump it Up,” and on this one he called on a little help from friends as Billy Preston, Diane Reeves, Maceo Parker, Marcus Miller, and Bonnie Raitt.

As if a lifetime of musical success is not enough, Les' creations go beyond the keys. His personal relationships with jazz legends such as Miles Davis, Art Blakey, and Duke Ellington, have been documented in a collection of more than 8000 photographs that Les has taken over the years. As a serious photographer, Les has built a darkroom in his home, and has sold a significant number of pieces. A large exhibition of his work was exhibited at the Montreux Jazz Festival.

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Les McCann: Never Say No Again

by Chris M. Slawecki
January 2, 2024

"Be who you are and not who you ain't. Because when you are who you ain't, you're not who you are." Keyboardist, vocalist, bandleader, songwriter and photographer Les McCann really talks like this. About his music, about musicians, about his career--about everything. I learned this during the following interview, scheduled to discuss Omnivore Records' March 2015 reissue of McCann's improvisational landmark Invitation to Openness, generally out of print since its original 1972 Atlantic Records' release; this reissue was ...

Interview

A Conversation With Les McCann

by AAJ Staff
January 2, 2024

Les McCann has a new release on Joel Dorn's 32 Records entitled How's Your Mother?. I had an opportunity to chat with the pianist/vocalist from his home about the release, his humble beginnings in Kentucky, his distaste for the current trends in music, and about the highly successful album with Eddie Harris, Swiss Movement, recorded live at the 1968 Montreux Jazz Festival. All About Jazz: Growing up in Kentucky, what made you want to play jazz music?

Radio & Podcasts

New Releases + Some Soul, Electric Funk and a Hot California set of '50s Cool

by David Brown
September 20, 2022

This week new releases from Chad Taylor and James Brandon Lewis, a soulful set of Ramsey Lewis (RIP), getting funky with the Electric Eddie Harris, Les McCann and Yusef Lateef, then a shift to a hot California set of '50s cool, and more. Playlist Thelonious Monk “Esistrophy (Theme)" from Live at the It Club-Complete (Columbia) 00:30 Don Byas Quintet “All The Things You Are" from Americans ihn Europe vol. 2 (Impulse! ) 02:00 Chad Taylor Trio “Subterfuge" from ...

Radio & Podcasts

Free Association - Vol. 2 with Michael Blake

by Ludovico Granvassu
March 18, 2020

Free Association is a series of collaborative mixtapes curated by Mondo Jazz in association with musicians and selectors of various origins. Free Association mixtapes develop as a conversation. The first selector sends a tune cherry-picked to suit, and ideally surprise, the second selector who then, in turn, returns the favor. An hour or so into this exchange, after unexpected turns and joyful revelations, the two look back at the results of this game of ...

1,099

Building a Jazz Library

Funk Jazz: '60s-'70s

by Douglas Payne
June 4, 2015

Somewhere between the soul-jazz of the early sixties (often called “funk" in its day) and the disco of the mid-seventies, funk jazz was born. Rock was already crossing over into jazz. And it just made sense that rock would inject soul jazz with a greater sense of urgency and a stronger feel for the groove. Funk had that thing that made soul and any other kinds of dance music what it was--a deep, true conviction to getting you ...

Album Review

Les McCann: Invitation to Openness

Read "Invitation to Openness" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey

by C. Michael Bailey
March 6, 2015

It is a simple matter of acid-base stoichiometry like that learned in any quantitative chemical analysis or medicinal chemistry course. If one treats the acid element of Parliament Funkadelic's Maggot Brain (Westbound, 1971) with the sweet bass of Leroy Vinnegar, then infuse as with juniper with gin, with honey and morphine: Les McCann's monumental Invitation to Openness would result. Ornette Coleman may have detonated a nuclear music device with Free Jazz; A Collective Improvisation (Atlantic, 1961), but it was McCann ...

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Album Review

Les McCann: Invitation to Openness

Read "Invitation to Openness" reviewed by Germein Linares

by Germein Linares
April 25, 2005

Les McCann is an interesting figure in jazz. After winning a talent contest on the Ed Sullivan Show in '56, McCann turned down an opportunity to join Cannonball Adderley's group, deciding instead to form his own jazz trio in Los Angeles. Playing a popular blend of hard bop and soul jazz, he signed with Pacific Jazz in '60, produced several enjoyable albums, and continued to develop and define the sound he wanted. That sound, a restless brew of jazz, funk, ...

Obituary

Les McCann (1935-2023)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
January 9, 2024

Les McCann, a self-taught soul-jazz pianist and singer whose essence and feel were deeply rooted in the black church of his youth and the bars in black neighborhoods where jukeboxes were stocked with early soul-pop and blues singers such as Al Hibbler, Arthur Prysock, Ray Charles. Brook Benton, Clyde McPhatter and Floyd Dixon, died on December 29. He was 88. The freedom of McCann's playing and his earthy and original collaborations with saxophonist Eddie Harris led to seminal works that ...
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Music Industry

Les McCann: Live From Coast to Coast, 1966-1967

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
November 23, 2023

Prior to the 1969 release of pianist Les McCann's hit live album Swiss Movement, I was never much of a fan. In the 1960s, on studio LPs, he seemed a melange of pianists I liked better, including Red Garland, Gene Harris and Billy Taylor. The percussive, soul-jazz approach he favored seemed better articulated in the hands of the Cannonball Adderley Quintet. For me, McCann always sounded more dynamic live. In performance recordings, he came across as freer and spiritually present, ...
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Recording

Les McCann "Invitation To Openness" Reissued on Omnivore Recordings

Source: conqueroo
January 20, 2015

Through the chart-topping 1969 song “Compared To What, “ Les McCann became known to thousands of people as an inspirational “soul-jazz" pianist and vocalist. Since its first release in 1972, Les McCann's Invitation To Openness album (Atlantic Records) has remained a landmark statement in free-form improvisation mixed with soulful grooves, featuring a 26-minute continuous track with expressive instrumentation from the likes of Yusef Lateef, Ralph MacDonald, Cornell Dupree, Bernard Purdie, and Alphonse Mouzon. After years as an out-of-print collectible, Invitation ...
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Video / DVD

Les McCann: Stuttgart 2004

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
January 28, 2013

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Performance / Tour

Jazz This Week: Les McCann and Javon Jackson, Fran Landesman, Cooper-Moore, TKT Memorial Scholarship Concert, and More

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
October 23, 2008

There's lots going on in jazz and creative music this week in St. Louis, and so we bring you StLJN's weekly highlights post slightly earlier than usual to perhaps better help facilitate some advance planning.One of the week's major attractions is the team-up of pianist and singer Les McCann (pictured) and saxophonist Javon Jackson, who will perform Wednesday through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro. Both men previously have led their own bands at the Bistro, but their ...
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Video / DVD

STLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Les McCann and Javon Jackson

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
October 19, 2008

This week's videos feature keyboardist Les McCann and saxophonist Javon Jackson, who will be in St. Louis next week to perform Wednesday, October 22 through Saturday, October 25 at Jazz at the Bistro. Their team-up is billed as “Swiss Movement Revisited," a reference to McCann's collaboration with the late saxophonist Eddie Harris and the famous live album the two recorded in 1969 at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. In part because ...
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Festival

Les McCann & Javon Jackson to Replace McCoy Tyner at 2008 Telluride Jazz Celebration June 6 & 7

Source: MFA - Mitchell Feldman Associates
May 29, 2008

Acclaimed Jazz Pianist Withdraws On Physician's Advice As High Altitude of Festival In Colorado Mountain Resort Poses Threat To Tyner's Health

The Telluride Society For Jazz today announced that pianist McCoy Tyner has upon medical advice withdrawn from the 2008 Telluride Jazz Celebration (TJC) as his physician is concerned that the high altitude of the alpine resort in Colorado's San Juan Mountains where the festival takes place poses a threat to Tyner's health. The acclaimed pianist suffers from high blood ...
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TV / Film

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Les McCann

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