McCann’s deep roots in gospel and the blues gave his music a gritty, earthy quality and a large supply of soulful licks.
Pianist Les McCann, Soul-Jazz Standard-Bearer, Dies at 88
Les McCann, a jazz pianist and vocalist who helped soul-jazz keep a foothold in mainstream pop music — in the process becoming a seemingly bottomless sampling resource for hip-hop artists — died Dec. 29 at a hospital in Los Angeles. He…
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Much powerful and resonant music has emanated from South Africa and, in part due to the reprehensible cultural scatter and exile caused by apartheid, only occasionally has the…
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Once upon a time, a tiny handful of early jazz critics wrote about rare old jazz records like priests talking about the Bible when most of the world couldn’t even read. Like the…
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Texas tenorist Geof Bradfield’s playing possesses a steely grandeur and deep sophistication. He’s grown a formidable rep in Chicago, the town where he performs consistently…
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BY Ed Enright
Last summer, guitarist Dave Stryker’s rock-solid trio got together in the studio with the adventurous saxophonist Bob Mintzer to record an album of new music in advance of a weeklong gig at Birdland in New York. To no one’s surprise, the session was a…
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BY Frank Alkyer
There are times when a good, hard-charging, swinging big band hits the spot on a cold Chicago morning. That’s exactly what happened when we dropped the needle on CT!, Adam Schroeder & Mark Masters Celebrate Clark Terry. The pitfalls of such an endeavor are…
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BY Michael J. West
Alto and soprano saxophonist Greg Osby’s first album in 15 years is, as the title suggests, an understated affair. It offers a renewed focus on clear, uncluttered melody — both thematically and improvisationally — and on spaciousness for Osby as well as…
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BY Ed Enright
New York Hammond B-3 organist Gregory Lewis has spent a substantial portion of his career delving into the music of Thelonious Monk, a practice that has taken him to concerts halls and clubs in faraway locations and led to opportunities to connect with top…
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BY Frank Alkyer
If you are not familiar with the bass work of Gerald Cannon, now’s a good time to get hip. A disciple of the great Milt Hinton, Cannon knows how to walk a bass line, as he does with elegant swing on “EJ’s Blues,” the opening track to his latest…
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Légère Reeds has introduced the French Cut, a highly refined, synthetic symphonic reed that gives players a richness and stability in tone without sacrificing to response. With a completely reimagined profile, the French Cut has been designed for a dark, centered tone that allows for a deep range…
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Palmer has expanded its PWT series of universal 9-volt power supplies for guitar and bass effects on pedalboards. The new PWT 08 MK2 model offers a total output of 2,000 milliampere across eight outputs, each with an isolated transformer. With two of the outputs offering variable voltage switching,…
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by Martin Williams // October/8/1964
A few weeks ago an unfounded rumor scurried through New York’s music circle: DownBeat’s coverage was going to go 60 percent pop music and 40 percent jazz. Not a chance, the editor assures us. Where did such nonsense get started?
While it was still being rumored, I overheard a fellow saying that he wouldn’t mind so much reading about Tony Bennett…
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