Les McCann Rip

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

Les McCann just passed. Not a big name perhaps but a name for anyone (like me) who became aware of jazz with the Adderleys, Jimmy Smith, Ray Charles, Horace etc. Soul clichés galore, but he really did kick it along.

"Them Golden Gates" from Live in San Francisco, Contemporary c 1960?

https://youtu.be/L_B5scNx18s?feature=shared

[Serial_Apologist]

Yes, and he was a forerunner of Fusion, to which he adapted without problems.

[Ian Thumwood]

Yes, and he was a forerunner of Fusion, to which he adapted without problems.

It is odd how history seems to have forgotten that there were other influences in the creation of Fusion other than the likes of Miles, Corea, Hancock , etc. The Soul influence strikes me as often being ignored and the likes of Les McCann are almost airbrushed out. It is as if the Black popular music element which was such a key component is deemed somewhat unworthy because it was more commercial but you could probably make a strong case for this kind of influence starting off with the many organ-based groups of the 1960s which evolved in to a more funky sound in the 1970s. It is almost as if there were other changes which were running parallel at the same time so that you ended up with groups like The Crusaders and Earth, Wind & Fire which ultimately were considered to be "pop" yet has started off firmly rooted in jazz. There was a concert by the latter that I saw before Christmas where they were playing jazz solos over a simple vamp that was not a million miles away from what Miles was doing at the same time. If EW&F arrived on the scene today, they would be considered to be a jazz act. I think the likes of Les McCann made this possible and also anchored their approach down to the kind of principles which appealed to the mass audience that Miles had probably alienated by that time. I would have to say that I find EW&F more appealing than Miles' later offerings in 70s / 80s where he could often missfire / seem behind the curve.

[Serial_Apologist]

Miles' work from Silent Way onwards has been acknowledged by many in hip hop, ambient, drum'n'bass and so on as having been hugely influential on the direction of those genres by those at the forefront of them, and hence their huge following, irrespective of whether or not we like all or some of it. Miles's recordings from the early 70s have frequently been harvested for samples, I believe. Otherwise I agree, especially as regards the Soul/Gospel influence on Funk and Funk's presence in a lot of Fusion. I rather think Herbie and Joe Zawinul would be in agreement too - others such as McLaughlin might downplay that side, putting more emphasis on Indian classical music's non-Western scales and complex time structures.