Pianist and singer Les McCann, precursor of soul jazz, dies at 88

Known for his song “Compared To What”, performed in 1969 at the Montreux Jazz Festival, singer and musician Les McCann died on Friday December 29. A gold record, fifty albums and hundreds of covers… He contributed to the development of soul jazz around the world.

Singer and musician Les McCann died Friday, December 29 in a Los Angeles hospital at age 88, reported his longtime producer, Alan Abrahams. The McCann therefore takes with him the secrets of a hit, one which helped create and define the genre of soul jazz: Compared To What has inspired more than one, from Ray Charles to Cypress Hill or De La Soul.

Leslie Coleman McCann was born in 1935 in Lexington, Kentucky’s second largest city. He discovered singing on the benches of a church, accompanied by his brothers and his sister. All regularly participate in the choir which will influence the singer’s voice. Piano, tuba, saxophone or drums… Les McCann’s youth was punctuated by the learning of numerous instruments. As he approached his majority, he joined the French Navy for a time and by chance participated in a singing competition. This first victory propelled him onto the stage of the most important national variety program: the “Ed Sullivan Show”. A show that presents live performances by many artists, including the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley and James Brown.

Gold disc certified

After leaving the Navy, Les McCann moved to Los Angeles where his practice of music and singing would solidify. He decided to study music, but also journalism, at Los Angeles City College. By chance, while he was performing in a jazz club in the city, Pacific Jazz Records offered him a contract. A dozen albums were born from this union with the label specializing in “cool jazz”. Notably his first: Les McCann Ltd. Play the Truthreleased in 1960. This period also marked his entry into the industry alongside, among others, Blue Mitchell, Stanley Turrentine and Ben Webster.

Les McCann’s success is above all linked to the title Compared To What, written in 1966 by his friend and composer Gene McDaniels. The latter creates protest music, critical of the Vietnam War and the president then in power, Lyndon B. Johnson. Before being performed by Les McCann, the music was recorded by soul and jazz singer Roberta Flack in February 1969. Four months later, Les McCann performed it on vocals and piano at the Montreux Jazz Festival. in Swiss. He is accompanied by trumpeter Benny Bailey as well as saxophonist Eddie Harris, with whom he will form a trio. Worldwide success.

Covers of Snoop Dogg, the Notorious BIG, Cypress Hill…

This piece, eight minutes long, opens the album Swiss Movement (under the Atlantic Records label), born following the Swiss festival. It reached number 35 on the Billboard R&B chart for the year and was certified gold in the United States. In total, 270 artists will be inspired by this work, including Brian Auger, Ray Charles, Cypress Hill, the Notorious BIG, Sean Combs, Snoop Dogg… A success which led Les McCann to become the first artist in residence within of the “Learning From Performers” program of the American Harvard University where a series of lectures, teaching and interactions with students. Furthermore, the singer and musician also practiced painting and photography, mediums which he always linked with the culture of jazz.