Thirsty?
Cordy Swope | Blue Hill, Maine | 02/23/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Much is made of firsts in jazz. For example, "Miles Davis was the first to"...well, the rest is well documented. However less is made of those who take time to master a particular facet of it. In July of 1967 Les McCann recorded this in New York. That does not matter. In 2001, I continue to use this music to live by. By that I don't mean emulating the behavior of some musician. I mean, I cook to it. I drive to it. I listen to it on trains and planes. I work to it. I vacation to it. I listen to it without doing anything in at all. This music is restrained, swinging and makes almost everyone within earshot of it lighten up. Les didn't invent the birth of cool, or blues, or swing or any other music that historians can identify and ruminate about. But somehow, he has designed a perfect, timeless music for people to live by. This CD is as essential as water."