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Les McCann, the trailblazing US pianist and singer who helped found the soul-jazz genre, has passed on at the age of 88.
McCann’s manager, Alan Abrahams, disclosed his passing on Monday.
According to Abrahams, McCann passed away on Friday at a Los Angeles hospital after being treated with pneumonia, as reported by NBC News.
McCann was raised in a household of musicians and was born in Lexington, Kentucky in 1935.
When he was in the US Navy in the 1950s, he took first place in a singing competition, which launched his career. He also appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” the most popular variety show at the time, while serving in the navy.
After he was discharged, McCann formed a trio — with saxophonist Eddie Harris and trumpeter Benny Bailey — in Los Angeles. He signed with the Pacific Jazz label and first rose to fame with his 1960 albums ‘Les McCann Plays the Truth’ and ‘The Shout.’
The musician later signed to Atlantic in 1968 and dropped a cover of Gene McDaniels’ ‘Compared to What’ in 1969, marking one of the biggest releases of his career.
The song condemned war, greed, and injustice.
McCann released more than 60 albums from 1960 to 2018. Some of his albums included ‘Swiss Movement’ (1969), ‘Talk to the People’ (1972), ‘Layers’ (1973) and ‘Another Beginning’ (1974). The most recent being a deluxe reissue of his ‘Never a Dull Moment! Coast to Coast Live 1966-67’ album last month.
McCann was a pioneer in merging jazz with soul and funk.
His music has been sampled by hip-hop artistes such as Eric B. & Rakim, A Tribe Called Quest, Cypress Hill, Nas, De La Soul, Snoop Dogg, the Notorious B.I.G., and Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs.
