The “gifted” composer, pianist and singer discovered Roberta Flack.
(Source billboard):
Leslie “Les” McCann, an exceptional jazz pianist, composer and vocalist who discovered a young Roberta Flack, and whose own works have been sampled by countless hip-hop artist, died last Friday (Dec. 29) at the age of 88.
Born into a musical family Sept. 23, 1935 in Lexington, Kentucky, McCann would become one of jazz music’s most gifted and influential artists,” reads a statement from Kevin Gore, president of Global Catalog, Recorded Music for Warner Music Group.
A self-taught pianist,, McCann was an innovator in the soul jazz style, fusing jazz with funk, soul and world rhythms. He mastered all instruments before him, and enjoyed an unusual breaking through, by winning a Navy talent contest, opening the door to an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.
An early hit came with “The Shampoo,” the 1963 instrumental cut with his trio for Pacific Jazz Records.
McCann would enjoy a fruitful relationship wit Atlantic Records, releasing a dozen albums on the label from the late-60s through to the mid-’70.
