Jump to content

Les McCann Blindfold Test


Jim Alfredson

Recommended Posts

Get all the albums with this lineup - some under Horace's name, some under Stanley's. The Parlan Mosaic is recommended!

That rhythm section really tells a story and works hard. George Tucker was a physically strong bassist in the Mingus manner; one of my favorites.

Hey, old Les is hard to please, isn't he? Very stingy with his "stars". What would you have to do to get 4, let alone 5?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

3. Roland Kirk. "Our Love Is Here To Stay" (from Introducing Roland Kirk, Argo). Kirk, manzello; William Burton, piano; Don Garrett, bass; Sonny Brown, drums.

The instrument sounded like a soprano saxophone. I don't know if it was Steve Lacy or a guy I read about who plays about three or four instruments.

He projected a lot of feeling. At first, the rhythm section wasn't quite together. In spite of that, he was saying what he had to say right along. Through him, I think maybe I could learn to like this sound. He had a lot of control, and a soprano sax is a very hard instrument to play, especially trying to keep it in tune.

I don't really know if it was a soprano, but I liked it - his part. If it wasn't a soprano, it was an oboe. For the soloist, two stars. No, he was better than that. Let me add one. Three stars.

so, soprano, oboe????

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3. Roland Kirk. "Our Love Is Here To Stay" (from Introducing Roland Kirk, Argo). Kirk, manzello; ...

The instrument sounded like a soprano saxophone. I don't know if it was Steve Lacy or a guy I read about who plays about three or four instruments.

[...] I don't really know if it was a soprano, but I liked it - his part. If it wasn't a soprano, it was an oboe.

so, soprano, oboe????

Joe Manzello

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe it's just that there was so much great music out in that time, but I actually think McCann was WAY overly critical. Christ, we're talking about glory period ART PEPPER and the freshness of the young ROLAND KIRK here, Les...clean the wax out!

Actually, I'm just kiddin', he's certainly more than entitled to his opinion, knows his stuff and expresses himself well. It's both funny and kind of true to talk about some of the more boppish stuff as sounding "nervous" as he puts it. Clearly he's more a fan of laid back, soulful jazz - not surprising given his own style!

But Pepper and Kirk, hey, we're talkin' about 2 of my favorites there. All I can say is if I'm at home "rating" those records alongside anything by Les McCann (not much of his stuff really floats my boat), I know who's going to come out WAY ahead! :P

Edited by DrJ
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...