An early musical success for McCann was his winning of a Navy talent contest for singing; this led to an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.McCann's main career began in the early 1960s when he recorded as a pianist with his trio for Pacific Jazz Records.
In 1969, Atlantic Records released Swiss Movement, a recording of McCann with frequent collaborator, saxophonist Eddie Harris, and guest trumpeter Benny Bailey at that year's Montreux Jazz Festival.The album contained the song "Compared to What", and both the album and the single were huge Billboard pop chart successes. "Compared to What" featured political criticism of the Vietnam War. The song was not written by McCann; fellow Atlantic composer/artist Eugene McDaniels wrote it years earlier. "Compared to What" was initially recorded and released by soul vocalist Roberta Flack. Her version appeared as the opening track on her debut recording, First Take (1969).
After the success of Swiss Movement, McCann — primarily a piano player — began to emphasize his rough-hewn vocals more. He became an innovator in the soul jazz style, merging jazz with funk, soul and world rhythms; much of his early 1970s music prefigures theStevie Wonder albums of that decade. He was among the first jazz musicians to include electric piano, clavinet, and synthesizer in his music.
In 1971, he and Harris were part of a group of soul, R&B, and rock performers — including Wilson Pickett, The Staple Singers, Santana and Ike & Tina Turner — who flew to Accra, Ghana for a historic 14-hour concert before more than 100,000 Ghanaians. The March 6 concert was recorded for the documentary film Soul To Soul. In 2004 the movie was released on DVD with an accompanying soundtrack album.
Les McCann discovered Roberta Flack and obtained an audition which resulted in a recording contract with Atlantic Records.
A mild stroke in the mid 1990s sidelined McCann for a while, but in 2002 he released a new album, Pump it Up. McCann has also exhibited as a painter and photographer
Having studied Art and Zoology in Morehouse College,Atlanta, he moved on to be the first recipient ofHoward University's MFA degree. in 1963. In 1964-5, he did further study inLithographyat Paris'L'Ecole Nationale Des Beaux Arts. During his residence in France, he spent a considerable amount of time withPablo Picassoand his wife,Jacquelinein Cannes. He has also studied music composition privately with the composerHale Smith, music theory and flute technique with the jazz musicianEric Dolphy, and classical flute technique and repertoire withHarold Jones. McNeill taught at several institutes of higher education, and is Professor Emeritus ofMason Gross School of the Arts, at Rutgers University, New Jersey, having retired in 2001.Through the 1970s, and in addition to his position in Art, McNeill also taught Afro-American Music History, private flute lessons, and was instrumental in launching the Jazz Studies Program at Rutgers University.
McNeill has exhibited his paintings and drawings at several galleries and colleges in the U.S. Northeast. He published two volumes of poems: Blackline: A Collection of Poems, Drawings and Photographs and After the Rain: A Collection of New Poems. In 2007, Lloyd McNeill was chosen by the USPS to design a postage stamp for the celebration of Kwanzaa 2009.
Discography
1969: Asha (with Gene Rush, Steve Novosel, Eric Gravatt, Paul Hawkins)
1969: Tanner Suite (duo with bassist Marshall Hawkins)
Transport yourself back nearly thirty years to the Bay Area. You are checking out a jazz funk collective that describes their sound as a mix of African rhythms, Latin flavors and Far Eastern textures. Sounds interesting? Then read on . . .
Formed in Oakland in the early 1970s the Sons and Daughters of Lite released an album called "Let The Sunshine In" - a record which has recently become a hugely collectable item. Packed with soul, funk and heavy percussion, this 100% righteous re-issue will please collectors and fans of the Luv n' Haight series. Featured in the album is "Darkuman Junktion" , a downtempo funky nugget that appeared on the Luv n' Haight compilation "Soulful". Also included is the outrageously funky title track which became a jazz dance classic this past year, courtesy of heavy play by top UK DJ Gilles Peterson. No one-hit wonder, the album makes for a solid listen beginnning-to-end and will appeal to fans of Oneness of Juju, blaxploitation soundtracks and early 1970s Roy Ayers.
As soon as it became public knowledge that Luv n' Haight owned the rights to this album our phones rang off the hook. Record companies called wanting to license tracks from the album - check the top notch "Incredible Sounds" and "Jazz Biznizz "compilations. But here are all the tracks, available for the first time on CD and LP, remastered and subtley re-packaged to keep the integrity and spirit of the original album in check.
Also included is a special LP-size poster insert comprised of superfly pictures, handbills, and memorabilia from gigs played nearly 30 years ago. Infact the Sons and Daughters of Lite energetic sounds earned them stage appearances with the likes of Sun Ra, Fela Kuti, Freddie Hubbard and Stanley Turrentine.
The term Sons of Lite comes from the Ancient Egyptian Mystery System, a center of organized culture, not unlike Universities. The Egyptians had 3 grades of Mystery System students: Mortals (probationary students who were instructed, but who had yet experienced the inner vision) Intelligences (those who had attained inner vision) and The Creators or Sons of Lite (those who had experienced true spiritual consciousness).
Many members of the band enjoyed solo music careers and are still recording now. Original band leader Basuki Bala is currently a member of the Afro-Carribean Allstars, and percussionist Babatunde is recording a new jazz record for Ubiquity. Trumpet player Marty Payne doubled up as a producer for the quintessential experimental jazz label, Strata East, and vocalist Aisha Kahlil.
1960s San Francisco was very much a place that made history. In the Bay Area psychedelic rock came together in a flurry of loud music, free love, anti-war demonstrations and all the fashions associated with the period. While that sounds like a recipe that wouldn’t attract the average BGP customer, the Bay Area held far more than rock. Since the early 50s the Berkeley-based Fantasy label had released jazz and its Galaxy subsidiary soul and rhythm and blues. In the late 60s it had been home to Creedence Clearwater Revival, one of the biggest rock bands of the era, and the company invested the profits made from this success into the creation of one of the finest jazz and funk catalogues ever assembled. They purchased the Prestige and Riverside catalogues and, using the Prestige, Milestone and Fantasy imprints, issued scores of great albums at a period when many thought that jazz was, if not dead, at least on its final legs. In addition to signing jazz musicians from all over the United States, including superstars such as Cannonball Adderley, they recorded artists such as Luis Gasca, part of the local musical scene.
Luis Gasca was born on 23 March 1940 in Houston, Texas, his family originating from Guanajuato, Mexico. Gasca learned to play trumpet and gravitated to Boston’s Berklee College of Music. This prestigious college was popular with jazz musicians. It was situated close enough to New York to enable the students to make quick trips to hear the current hot bands if they weren’t playing dates in the Boston area. Gasca was fascinated by the sounds of Afro-Cuban Jazz, then at their peak. He saw performances by Tito Puente, Cal Tjader and Machito, as well as more straight-ahead artists such as Miles Davis and John Coltrane. After his marriage broke up he moved away from the east coast and settled down in San Francisco in the early part of the 1960s. He worked in the bands of Stan Kenton and Mongo Santamaria, among others. In 1968 his growing reputation led to him making first album as a leader. “The Little Giant” on Atlantic featured a stellar line-up of Herbie Hancock, Joe Henderson, Hubert Laws and Bernard Purdie, as well as several members of Mongo Santamaria’s band. It included a great version of the old spiritual ‘Motherless Child’ and a take on Coltrane’s ‘Afro-Blue’. He became well known as a versatile player and began to play with some of San Francisco’s hottest acts, hooking up with Carlos Santana, and working on Janis Joplin’s debut solo album “I Got Dem Ol’ Kozmic Blues Again Mama!” He was the trumpet player of choice for West Coast rock royalty, appearing on “Ace” by Bob Weir from the Grateful Dead, “Ace” and with Marty Balin from Jefferson Airplane’s “Bodacious” project. The trumpet on Van Morrison’s “Tupelo Honey” album is also his work. In addition he was also a founder member of Jorge Santana’s latin rock group Malo and appeared on their self-titled debut album. With his star on the rise he made an album for Tommy LiPuma’s Blue Thumb label. “For Those Who Chant” also had a stellar line-up of jazz fusion masters including Lenny White, Stanley Clarke and Joe Henderson, and the big draw of Carlos Santana and Mike Shrieve from Santana, then one of the biggest rock bands in the country. Released in 1972 it was Gasca’s only album for the label, before he signed to Fantasy where he issued two albums. The first, “Born To Love You” made with producer Orrin Keepnews, served up a classy blend of latin-fusion. Although there were no big names from the rock world on the sessions the calibre of the jazz players was very high. They included Joe Henderson, Julian Priester, Eddie Henderson, George Duke together with Jack DeJohnette and Dave Holland, both former members of Miles Davis’ electric groups. Gasca’s second LP, “Collage”, was also produced by Keepnews but it was decided that the music would be far more arranged than it had been before. In an interview for Jazzreview.com Gasca commented “all creative musicians need to go through a freedom trip, and they need to do things that are highly-arranged, highly sophisticated like the “Collage” album.” Don Menza was brought in to arrange the sessions. He had worked in the bands of Maynard Ferguson and Buddy Rich and by this point was in demand for all sorts of session work. On “Collage” he built a lush soundscape that complements the tunes and the soloists. The line-up of musicians was a little less stellar than on previous Gasca albums, probably because of the highly arranged nature of the recording. The soloists are still of the very highest quality, including Bobby Hutcherson (vibes), Patrice Rushen (electric piano) and Hadley Caliman (reeds), whilst the rhythm section is kept together by the regimented drumming of Harvey Mason, at the time probably the most in-demand session drummer on the west coast. The album’s opener and title track sets the album up perfectly. Gasca’s trumpet plays over an eight-piece string section that creates a rhythmic intensity, through a brash arrangement. ‘The Way I Feel Sometimes’ is the most straightforward funk track on the album, with Harvey Mason reprising a groove he pioneered on Herbie Hancock’s million-selling “Headhunters” album. ‘Patrice’ is a romantic mood piece, where Gasca’s playing is supported by the string section and the song’s writer Joe Gallardo’s piano. The first side ends with the Afro-Cuban rhythm of ‘Kathy’. Gasca’s trumpet is especially agile on this number and Bobby Hutcherson’s vibe-playing stands out. ‘Sara’ opens Side Two; beautiful lilting jazz, with a great combination of melodic trumpet and Hadley Caliman’s flute. ‘Night People’ with its bossa beat, wordless vocal and big strings feels like a Luis Bonfa movie theme and the whole track is filled out with a wonderful vibes solo from Bobby Hutcherson. The bossa nova returns on the mid-tempo ‘Invitation To Love’ which has flute lead from Caliman. The album ends with an uptempo take on Stevie Wonder’s ‘Visions’. Gasca performs a breathless solo, over an inspired rhythm arrangement. It would be a fitting end to any album. By the time “Collage” was released Luis Gasca was burned out. San Francisco was perhaps a little too much fun, and he retired from the music business, hardly picking up his horn for the next twenty years. He wandered around America, exploring the country and getting to know himself. He returned to the spotlight in the late 90s and continues to play to great acclaim.
In 2002, Purim was the recipient of one of Brazil's highest awards, the 2002 Ordem do Rio Branco for Lifetime Achievement. She has been called "The Queen of Brazilian Jazz".
The band played a few live shows between July and September that year, and gained their first record contract with Virgin Records with the 'Sinclair cousins'...as Steve Miller was replaced by Dave Sinclair (from Matching Mole and Caravan), the band soon changed their name to Hatfield and the North.
The Delivery line-up reunited for a BBC session in November 1972 with Steve Miller, Phil Miller, Lol Coxhill, Roy Babbington (bass), Pip Pyle, and Richard Sinclair on vocals. (Steve Miller went on to release a couple of duo albums with Coxhill in 1973/74.)
Dave Sinclair left in January 1973, shortly after the band's appearance (with Robert Wyatt on guest vocals) on the French TV programme "Rockenstock", and was quickly replaced by Dave Stewart (from Egg) before the band's first recordings were made.
The band recorded two albums, Hatfield and the North and The Rotters' Club.[1]Backing vocals on the two albums were sung by The Northettes: Amanda Parsons, Barbara Gaskin and Ann Rosenthal. On the Autumn 1974 "Crisis Tour", which Hatfield co-headlined withKevin Coyne, the opening act was a duo of Steve Miller and Lol Coxhill (also previously of Delivery) and Coxhill usually guested with Hatfield on the jamming sections of "Mumps".
After disbanding, Dave Stewart formed National Health with Alan Gowen from Gilgamesh; Phil Miller was a member throughout the band's existence, and Pyle joined in 1977. (Richard Sinclair also sat in on a couple of gigs and a BBC radio session that year.) Hatfield and the North and Gilgamesh had played a couple of shows together in late 1973, including a joint "double quartet" set, in some ways the prototype for National Health. Miller, Stewart, Pyle and Sinclair also worked together in various combinations on other projects.
The name of the band was inspired by the road signage on the main A1 road heading north from London, where the a succession of signs referred to the first major town, and the overall direction, as 'A1 Hatfield & the North'. This style of sign from the 1970s has now been replaced by a slightly different variant, as shown in the current picture to the right.
Blood, Sweat & Tears (also known as "BS&T") is a contemporary jazz-rock American music group, active throughout the later part of the 20th century and still into the 21st. They are well known for their music throughout the late 1960s to early 1970s, and they are noted as well for their combination of brass and rock band instrumentation. The group recorded songs by rock/folk songwriters such as Laura Nyro, James Taylor, The Band, the Rolling Stones, as well as Billie Holiday and Erik Satie. They also incorporated music from Thelonious Monk and Sergei Prokofiev into their arrangements.
They were originally formed in 1967 in New York City. Since their beginnings, the band has gone through numerous iterations with varying personnel and has encompassed a multitude of musical styles. What the band is most known for, from its start, is the fusing of rock, blues, pop music, horn arrangements and jazz improvisation into a hybrid that came to be known as "jazz-rock". Unlike "jazz fusion" bands, which tend toward virtuostic displays of instrumental facility and some experimentation with electric instruments, the songs of Blood, Sweat & Tears merged the stylings of rock, pop and R&B/soul music with big band, while also adding elements of 20th Century Classical and small combo jazz traditions.
Paulinho da Costa born on May 31, 1948) is a Brazilian percussionist born in Rio de Janeiro, considered one of the most recorded musicians of modern times. Playing over two hundred percussion instruments, he has participated in thousands of recording sessions, Grammy Award-winning albums, hit songs, soundtracks, radio and television commercials.
Wilson das Neves (Born June 14, 1936, Rio de Janeiro) is a Brazilian percussionist. He is a key figure in the history of Brazilian music having played with many of Brazil's greatest musicians across many decades and featured on numerous important recordings.
In 1964 Wilson das Neves recorded with Os Ipanemas, a band with Astor Silva (trombone) Marinho, Rubens Bassini (percussion) and Neco (guitar). They released only one album in the 1960s which has achieved cult status. It was released in 1964 and features a mix ofbossa nova, Brazilian samba, African rhythms and jazz.
Wilson das Neves released his first album in 1968 Juventude 2000 and went on to record Som Quente É o Das Neves (1969 and 1976), Samba-Tropi - Até aí Morreu Neves (1970) and his first real solo album O Som Sagrado de Wilson das Neves (1997).
Back Home (1975, OPA's demo tape recorded with a four-track Teac 3440 by Larry Rosen in July-August 1975 at 'Holly Place Studio' (NY), released in 1996)
