Soul Jazz Piano Arrives, Fully Formed
McCann announces himself as a force in soul jazz, confident and swinging from the opening note.
Early in his career, Les McCann made McCann / Wilson (1964) a statement of intent. This is McCann as a young pianist staking his claim in soul jazz, a space between hard bop and R&B that fewer pianists were exploring with genuine conviction. He surrounds himself with serious players — Teddy Edwards on tenor saxophone, Dennis Budimir on guitar, Victor Gaskin on bass, and Paul Humphrey on drums — and the group moves through these tracks with a relaxed, bluesy swagger that feels lived-in rather than rehearsed.
The album sits between the cerebral and the soulful. McCann's touch on the keyboard is rhythmic and percussive; he thinks like a funk musician trapped in a jazz body, and it works. Edwards brings warmth and clarity to his lines, while Budimir's guitar playing avoids flash and instead settles into the pocket, letting the rhythm section breathe. Gaskin and Humphrey lock in tight, giving the whole session a sense of forward momentum that never quite loosens its grip.
What matters here is that McCann sounds like no one else on the bandstand. He's not copying Art Tatum or Oscar Peterson or any of the piano establishment. He's building something from soul, blues, and jazz foundations that feel entirely his own. This record would become important to his trajectory — the blueprint for the kind of accessible, soulful playing that would define his best work over the next decade.
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