Lambert, Hendricks & Ross With the Less McCann Trio – Live at Antibes – July 21, 1961 – Radio France Musique –
Just in time to celebrate, the sensational Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, teaming up with Les McCann and his trio at the 1961 Antibes Jazz Festival.
As says John Bush of Allmusic:
The premier jazz vocal act of all time, Lambert, Hendricks & Ross revolutionized vocal music during the late ’50s and early ’60s by turning away from the increasingly crossover slant of the pop world to embrace the sheer musicianship inherent in vocal jazz. Applying the concepts of bop harmonies to swinging vocal music, the trio transformed dozens of instrumental jazz classics into their own songs, taking scat solos and trading off licks and riffs in precisely the same fashion as their favorite improvising musicians. Vocal arranger Dave Lambert wrote dense clusters of vocal lines for each voice that, while only distantly related, came together splendidly. Jon Hendricks wrote clever, witty lyrics to jazz standards like “Summertime,” “Moanin’,” and “Twisted,” and Annie Ross proved to be one of the strongest, most dexterous female voices in the history of jazz vocals. Together Lambert, Hendricks & Ross paved the way for vocal groups like Manhattan Transfer while earning respect from vocalists and jazz musicians alike.
Leslie Coleman “Les” McCann is an American soul jazz pianist and vocalist whose biggest successes came as a crossover artist into R&B and soul. Winning a Navy singing contest led to an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. Les McCann’s main career began in the early 1960s when he recorded as a pianist with his trio for Pacific Jazz. In 1969, Atlantic released Swiss Movement, album recorded with saxophonist Eddie Harris and 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 reached the Billboard pop charts. “Compared to What” criticized the Vietnam War. The song was written by Eugene McDaniels years earlier and recorded and released as a ballad by McCann in 1966 on his album Les McCann Plays the Hits. Roberta Flack’s version appeared as the opening track on her debut album First Take (1969).
Relax and enjoy the show.
