Les McCann, acclaimed jazz pianist and vocalist whose greatest commercial success came with the 1969 song “Compared to What”, from his album Swiss Movement, criticizing the Vietnam War, has died. His longtime manager Alan Abrahams confirmed to multiple media outlets that McCann died Friday at a hospital in Los Angeles where he had been admitted with pneumonia. He was 88.
Born in Lexington, Kentucky, McCann grew up in a musical family of four. Largely self-taught as a pianist, McCann won a singing contest during his service in the U.S. Navy, which led to an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. After moving to California with his own trio, he turned down an offer to join Cannonball Adderley’s band so that he could dedicate himself to his own music.
McCann’s career began to take off when he recorded as a pianist with his trio for Pacific Jazz Records. His album Swiss...
Born in Lexington, Kentucky, McCann grew up in a musical family of four. Largely self-taught as a pianist, McCann won a singing contest during his service in the U.S. Navy, which led to an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. After moving to California with his own trio, he turned down an offer to join Cannonball Adderley’s band so that he could dedicate himself to his own music.
McCann’s career began to take off when he recorded as a pianist with his trio for Pacific Jazz Records. His album Swiss...
- 1/1/2024
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Burt Bacharach was one of the most distinguished and successful composers of the last century.
Working most fruitfully with the lyricist Hal David, his addictively intelligent songs embodied unconventional time signatures, shifting chords and a fusion of pop and rock, jazz, and Latin elements. With Bacharach’s adventurous song structures married to David’s words, often bittersweet lyrics as though from a cinematic school of realism, the duo were like the personification of New York’s Brill Building hit factory.
Although not all these songs were with David, Bacharach, who has died aged 94, enjoyed more than 50 UK Top 40 hits, and more than 70 in his native US. A remarkable 38 of these tunes were with the classically trained former gospel singer Dionne Warwick with whom the pair began working in 1962. Several of Bacharach’s compositions were bigger hits in the UK than in America.
The pair first hit the charts in 1957 with...
Working most fruitfully with the lyricist Hal David, his addictively intelligent songs embodied unconventional time signatures, shifting chords and a fusion of pop and rock, jazz, and Latin elements. With Bacharach’s adventurous song structures married to David’s words, often bittersweet lyrics as though from a cinematic school of realism, the duo were like the personification of New York’s Brill Building hit factory.
Although not all these songs were with David, Bacharach, who has died aged 94, enjoyed more than 50 UK Top 40 hits, and more than 70 in his native US. A remarkable 38 of these tunes were with the classically trained former gospel singer Dionne Warwick with whom the pair began working in 1962. Several of Bacharach’s compositions were bigger hits in the UK than in America.
The pair first hit the charts in 1957 with...
- 2/11/2023
- by Chris Salewicz
- The Independent - Music
PBS’ “American Masters” series will chronicle the life and work of Dr. Anthony Fauci in the documentary “Tony – A Year in the Life of Dr. Anthony Fauci,” PBS president/CEO Paula Kerger announced on Wednesday. The doc, which the public broadcaster revealed during its portion of the Television Critics Assn. press tour, will air in spring 2023.
According to PBS, the doc followed Fauci for 14 months, starting with Inauguration Day 2021 — nearly a year into the Covid-19 pandemic, gaining access “in his office and in the corridors of power as he battles the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the political onslaught that upends his life and calls into question his 50-year career as the United States of America’s leading advocate for public health.”
“Tony – A Year in the Life of Dr. Anthony Fauci” will air on PBS after a planned theatrical release.
That was one of several announcements made on a virtual TCA panel by Kerger,...
According to PBS, the doc followed Fauci for 14 months, starting with Inauguration Day 2021 — nearly a year into the Covid-19 pandemic, gaining access “in his office and in the corridors of power as he battles the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the political onslaught that upends his life and calls into question his 50-year career as the United States of America’s leading advocate for public health.”
“Tony – A Year in the Life of Dr. Anthony Fauci” will air on PBS after a planned theatrical release.
That was one of several announcements made on a virtual TCA panel by Kerger,...
- 7/27/2022
- by Michael Schneider
- Variety Film + TV
PBS on Wednesday revealed its programming plans for the coming year, including a second season of Native America and the premiere of the American Masters documentary about Anthony Fauci.
Native America is returning for four new episodes in 2023. Having first premiered in 2018, Season 2 presents stories of Native Americans who are carrying forward Indigenous values to transform the world.
PBS will launch a new documentary series next summer called Southern Storytellers, which celebrates creatives from across the south. It’s from filmmaker Craig Renaud.
The Bigger Picture, a new series from the Wnet Group, will bow August 9 on the PBS YouTube Channel. It’s hosted by Harvard University Historian Dr. Vincent Brown.
Tony – A Year in the Life of Dr. Anthony Fauci will premiere in spring 2023 on PBS. It follows Fauci for a year and offers a behind-the-scenes look at his career, his struggles and successes during the Covid pandemic
American...
Native America is returning for four new episodes in 2023. Having first premiered in 2018, Season 2 presents stories of Native Americans who are carrying forward Indigenous values to transform the world.
PBS will launch a new documentary series next summer called Southern Storytellers, which celebrates creatives from across the south. It’s from filmmaker Craig Renaud.
The Bigger Picture, a new series from the Wnet Group, will bow August 9 on the PBS YouTube Channel. It’s hosted by Harvard University Historian Dr. Vincent Brown.
Tony – A Year in the Life of Dr. Anthony Fauci will premiere in spring 2023 on PBS. It follows Fauci for a year and offers a behind-the-scenes look at his career, his struggles and successes during the Covid pandemic
American...
- 7/27/2022
- by Lynette Rice
- Deadline Film + TV
Les McCann & Eddie Harris - Swiss Movement (Atlantic, 1969)
I don't profess to have the deepest critical knowledge of jazz, especially with managing editor Steve Holtje being our resident expert, but I definitely have a deep appreciation. Regardless, Swiss Movement by Les McCann and Eddie Harris remains of one of my favorite live jazz albums. I just picked up a super-clean used copy of it at one of my favorite vinyl shops in Akron, Ohio.
The above track -- "Compared to What," written by Gene McDaniels, recorded live at the Montreux Jazz Festival in1969 -- was one of my favorite soul jazz tunes when I was just getting into jazz. And I still never tire of this timeless classic, nor the album. The rest of the set burns with the same ferocity sans vocals. And while I thought I knew everything about this album, I recently discovered that saxophonist Eddie Harris...
I don't profess to have the deepest critical knowledge of jazz, especially with managing editor Steve Holtje being our resident expert, but I definitely have a deep appreciation. Regardless, Swiss Movement by Les McCann and Eddie Harris remains of one of my favorite live jazz albums. I just picked up a super-clean used copy of it at one of my favorite vinyl shops in Akron, Ohio.
The above track -- "Compared to What," written by Gene McDaniels, recorded live at the Montreux Jazz Festival in1969 -- was one of my favorite soul jazz tunes when I was just getting into jazz. And I still never tire of this timeless classic, nor the album. The rest of the set burns with the same ferocity sans vocals. And while I thought I knew everything about this album, I recently discovered that saxophonist Eddie Harris...
- 8/20/2016
- by Dusty Wright
- www.culturecatch.com
My summer has been filled with deep loss. My younger brother David succumbed to major injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident on June 1st. Along with the comfort and love from my family and friends, music was a necessary daily elixir. Many nights I would listen to vinyl in my mother's home, albums I'd left there years ago, or a handful of new/used pieces I picked up at one of my favorite Akron, Oh vinyl shops.The ritual of cleaning each piece, placing it on the turntable, dropping the needle, studying the album art, reading the liner notes... it was a much-needed distraction. Here are three new pieces that have aided me in my latest life's journey.
Nick Cave - Push The Sky Away (Bad Seed Ltd)
Mr. Cave lost his teenage son in a tragic accident last July and is set to release Skeleton Key in September, his...
Nick Cave - Push The Sky Away (Bad Seed Ltd)
Mr. Cave lost his teenage son in a tragic accident last July and is set to release Skeleton Key in September, his...
- 8/1/2016
- by Dusty Wright
- www.culturecatch.com
December is a month that increasingly sees few releases of new albums, so the closer this list gets to the present day, the fewer albums of importance there are to discuss, and most of those are hip-hop albums.
1967
Traffic: Mr. Fantasy Aka Heaven Is in Your Mind (Island)
Shortly after Steve Winwood quit the Spencer Davis Group (of which he was the lead singer and organist), he formed Traffic with some guys he'd jammed with at a club in Birmingham: guitarist/vocalist Dave Mason, saxophonist/flutist Chris Wood, and drummer/lyricist Jim Capaldi. After a couple of hit singles, they convened at a country cottage and put together the debut album by Traffic, titled Mr. Fantasy in their native country. By the time it was released, Mason had already quit.
The English and American editions were rather different. Not only did the U.S. LP (on United Artists) have...
1967
Traffic: Mr. Fantasy Aka Heaven Is in Your Mind (Island)
Shortly after Steve Winwood quit the Spencer Davis Group (of which he was the lead singer and organist), he formed Traffic with some guys he'd jammed with at a club in Birmingham: guitarist/vocalist Dave Mason, saxophonist/flutist Chris Wood, and drummer/lyricist Jim Capaldi. After a couple of hit singles, they convened at a country cottage and put together the debut album by Traffic, titled Mr. Fantasy in their native country. By the time it was released, Mason had already quit.
The English and American editions were rather different. Not only did the U.S. LP (on United Artists) have...
- 12/19/2012
- by SteveHoltje
- www.culturecatch.com
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