EP 23: Les McCann; He Introduced Soul to Jazz and Jazz to Soul and Soul To Soul.

In 1971 the African country of Ghana hosted a musical celebration called the “Soul to Soul Festival.” It is often referred to as the “Woodstock of Africa.” Although the festival was to honor the tenth anniversary of an independent Ghana, the Festival not only introduced American soul, R&B and modern jazz to the African continent, but the concert had a profound effect on the American musicians who played there that weekend; including jazz pianist and vocalist Les McCann, accompanied by saxophonist Eddie Harris. They had recently crossed over to success with a politically tinged soul music hit. And a young singer recently discovered by McCann, who was on the cusp of having her first major hit, Roberta Flack.Both McCann’s and Flack’s unreleased early work has been issued in the past two years to glowing reviews from the music press. (More on Roberta Flack’s two early albums and her music in Season 2 Episode 12 coming soon) But along with fronting a very traditional modern jazz trio, McCann was starting to explore jazz mixed with soul and politics. With a concert at a Swiss jazz festival he turned the jazz world upside down and created an anthem of 1960s protest that is still relevant today.