Les McCann, Pianist, Singer and Soul Jazz Pioneer, Dies at 88

Alan Abrahams confirmed his death on Monday at a hospital in which he was admitted for pneumonia. Abrahams has been his manager and producer of many of his albums. McCann lived in a Van Nuys nursing home for the last four years.

McCann was raised in a religious family, which explains his earthy and uplifting music. His albums from 1960-2018, which emphasized his singing and electric keyboards more, influenced R&B and funk artists and provided a rich source of inspiration for hip-hop.

The greatest commercial success of his career came by pure chance in June 1969 at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland.

McCann, a veteran recording artist with albums released on Pacific Jazz and Limelight, as well as Atlantic’s most recent album, was attending the festival for the very first time. He and Eddie Harris, a tenor-saxophonist who is also an Atlantic artist, performed separate sets. Then, Mr. Harris, as well as the explanatory trumpeter Benny Bailey, joined Mr. McCann’s trio for an unscheduled concert.

There was no rehearsal time, as neither had ever played with McCann. The performance would be recorded and filmed for broadcast.

As Mr. McCann recalls in the liner note of the 1996 CD reissue of the 1969 concert album “Swiss Movement,” he smoked hash for the first time before going onstage.

He wrote: “I had no idea where I was when I got to the bandstand. I was completely disoriented. The other guys told me, “OK, man, play!” “I got myself together, and then everything took off.”

Eugene McDaniels’s protest song, “Compared to What,” was the highlight of this concert. The song “Compared to What,” which lasted more than eight minutes, featured the churchy vocals of Mr. McCann. It was released as a solo single and reached No. Billboard R&B chart, number 35. The song “Swiss Movement,” which was nominated for a Grammy Award, sold half a million copies.

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