{"id":7523,"date":"2015-04-01T05:30:50","date_gmt":"2015-04-01T09:30:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=7523"},"modified":"2015-10-19T13:19:25","modified_gmt":"2015-10-19T13:19:25","slug":"back-to-school-with-les-mccann-part-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2015\/04\/01\/back-to-school-with-les-mccann-part-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Back to School with Les McCann (Part 3)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Continued from Part Two<\/a>…<\/em><\/p>\n

I make the (not at all original) observation that many American musical forms seem to get more respect in Europe than at home. \u201cThat’s all right,\u201d says Les McCann<\/strong>. \u201cNinety percent of the stations are playing the same thing every day. It’s about playing that number-one. And it’s songs<\/em>, not really music<\/em>. People talk about ‘rap music.’ I say, ‘Where’s the music?’ People have been talkin<\/em>‘ on records ever since they were first recorded. You ever heard The Ink Spots<\/strong>? Early Eddie Harris<\/strong>? Ever heard of Les McCann? I’m talkin’ on my records. I’ve even got a record called Talk to the People<\/em>. But every rapper I meet tells me they’re the greatest, they started all this. ‘I got the beat. These are my beats.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

When I point out that his work has been sampled by quite a few hip-hop artists, McCann bristles. \u201cThose guys who sample, they don’t know what they do. They’re not musicians; they’re technicians<\/em>. It takes it to another place. I’m not calling it right or wrong, because it goes where it’s got to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

I mention to McCann that a yard sale purchase of Cannonball Adderley<\/strong>‘s Somethin’ Else<\/em> LP changed my life. \u201cThat’s how it works,\u201d he observes. \u201cSome people say, ‘I just like what I heard when I was in high school.’ They hear something new that they enjoy, and it’s like, ‘What’s that?’ ‘It’s jazz.’ ‘Oh, I don’t like jazz.’ I say, don’t call it jazz. Just like<\/em> it, and take it home with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Something unclassifiable that many listeners liked and took home with them was the 1966 LP Freak Out<\/em>, the debut record from Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention<\/strong>. Inside the gatefold of the 2LP set, there’s a photo of \u2013 of all people \u2013 Les McCann with blues singer and harmonica player Paul Butterfield<\/strong>. The caption says the pair are \u201cfreaking out,\u201d but there’s no further explanation. McCann laughs heartily at the mention of this. \u201cNobody ever believes me when I tell them about that!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/center>\u201cIt was a moment that happened,\u201d McCann recalls. \u201cI didn’t really know [Zappa] but I knew there was something he was looking for. As we talk about Invitation to Openness<\/em>, it’s exactly the kind of thing that Frank Zappa did. He handed an instrument to everyone that walked into the room that day. There were more than three hundred people there, and he recorded it.\u201d I note that the instruments assigned had nothing to do with a person’s ability to actually play them. \u201cHalf of ’em weren’t even musicians!\u201d McCann laughs. \u201cAnd that was the beauty of it all; it was great. And I am sure that stuck in my mind as a great way to approach my music from a different angle, too. We’re all connected to each other. When something beautiful comes, expand on it. Take it to another place.\u201d<\/p>\n