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P age B3
T he P ortland O bserver • J une 23, 1993
IM r tlA K H IM
Les McCann To Be Featured
Artist At Jazz Festival
trouble. B u t I knew w h a t it was th a t
m any a ccla im e d E uro pe an tours. In
I w a n te d to do It w as fro m th a t
p o in t on I started p la y in g se rio u sly.”
T in a T u rn e r, W ils o n P icke tt, S antana,
w ith a place to p ra c tic e h is new
R oberta F la ck, and others. Les n a r­
rated the f ilm Soul to S o u l’ w h ic h
love, pian o, and e v e n tu a lly he entered
was m ade as a re su lt o f th a t tour.
A la dy o ffic e r th e n p ro v id e d h im
Les McCann
1970 he w e n t to A fr ic a w ith Ike &
the A ll N a vy T a le n t Show . “ It was
Les M c C a n n is a m an o f m any
the N a vy and the A rm y , the w h o le
talents. He is an a cco m p lish e d p h o ­
m ilita r y com p etin g. W e a ll got to go
to g ra p h e r whose ph otog rap hs have
on the E d S u liv a n Show. A n d I w on
appeared on several a lb u m covers as
it ! ”
w e ll as to p rated T V shows such as
W h i lc at tend i ng Lo s A ngeles C ity
“ T h e Steve A lle n S h o w ,’ ‘ T h e M ik e
C o lle g e Les helped to create the ja z z
D o u g la s S h o w ’ and ‘ T h e B il l Cosby
coffeehouse c ir c u it and before lo n g
S p e c ia l.’ H is lo ve o f life and people
h is re p u ta tio n attra cte d the lik e s o f
has m ade h im a p o p u la r guest on ta lk
M ile s D a vis and C a n n o n b a ll A d d e rly .
show s w h e re his q u ic k w it a nd ea rth y
T h is new p ia n o p la y e r was b e g in n in g
h u m o r are as s tim u la tin g as h is m usic.
to re v o lu tio n iz e ja z z . L e s ’ m u sic can­
He is also an a cco m p lish e d p a in te r
not be easily categorized in to any single
w h o has re ce n tly had sev eral one m an
type since o ve r the years he has ‘ fused’
Les M c C a n n w ill be the featured
so m an y d iffe re n t fo rm s o f m usic in to
e x h ib itio n s .
T h e o n ly con stant in his m usic is
ja z z a rtis t a m o ng others at the C a th e­
h is o w n style. “ Just w h e n you th in k
Les’ e ve r-cha nging con tro versial style,
d ra l Park Jazz F estival on Ju ly 18th at
y o u ’ve hca rd it a ll,” he says. “ I ’ m gonna
w h ic h is alw ays new and f u ll o f sur­
6pm .
Les M c C a n n was b o rn in L e x in g ­
surp rise you again. T h e re ’ s alw ays
prises. D iverse exa m ples are ‘ C o m ­
m ore Les.” H is re c o rd in g o f ‘ C o m ­
pared to W h a t’ on the best s e llin g
to n , K e n tu c k y w h ere he was raised
pared to W h a t’ in tro d u c e d m an y ro ck
‘ L iv e at M o n tre a u ’ a lbu rn w ith E d d ie
on the ric h sounds o f the B a p tis t
lo vers to a fo rm o f m u sic the y had
H a rris , ‘ L o v e rs ’ on h is ‘ In v ita tio n to
C h urch . T a k in g the advice o f a teacher
never heard as w e ll as b rin g in g ‘ja z z ’
O penness’ a lb u m , a h a u n tin g fre e ­
w h o to ld h im “ I f y o u w a n t to be
fo llo w e rs in to a new m usic they never
fo rm exp ression; ‘ B at Y a m ’ in s p ire d
som ebody, y o u ’ ll have to get o u t o f
th o u g h t they w o u ld lik e . F o r th is rea­
by a recent to u r in Israel and in c lu d e d
L e x in g to n ,” Les jo in e d the N a v y at
son, Les has been c a lle d the ‘ F athe r o f
in th is a lb u m , ‘ Les M c C a n n ’ s M u s ic
School o f M u s ic . “ B u t I d id n ’ t k n o w
F u s io n .’
Les D iscovere d R oberta F lack
B o x .’ L e s ’ latest release, B u tte r fly ,’
how to read m usic,” he says, “ 1 c o u ld n ’t
s in g in g in a clu b in W a s h in g to n , D C.
facet o f the a rtis t. “ M y m u sic is in ­
even fa k e it.
age seventeen to try o u t fo r the N a v y
is an a lb u m s h o w in g yet a d iffe re n t
I w as m a r c h in g in
and recorded and produced her firs t
spired by m y fa ith in pe op le—people
fo rm a tio n one day and as I passed the
a lbu m w h ic h in clu d e d “ T h e F irs t T im e
c h a n g in g fo r the b e tte r.”
PX
It was
E v e r I Saw Y o u r Face. ’ D e te rm in e d to
Les w i ll c o n tin u e to change b u t
E r r o ll G a rn e r p la y in g ‘ L u lla b y o f
he lp new tale nt, Les also co-produced
h is m usic w i ll alw ays be fille d w ith the
B ir d la n d ,’ and I got so e x c ite d -I’d
never heard a n y th in g lik e i t —I stepped
L o u R a w ls ’ firs t album .
Les w as the fir s t m u s ic ia n ever to
o f h is voice, and a lw ays the richness o f
out o f fo rm a tio n , w a lk e d rig h t in to
teach at H a rva rd in the le a rn in g F rom
h is soul. H is m u sic grabs you, hugs
the place, and g o t in to a w h o le lo t o f
P e rfo rm e rs p ro g ra m . He has had,
you, and m akes you feel good a ll o ve r!
I
h e a rd
t h is
m u s ic .
Reel Time Entertainm ent
Presents
Thomas Meloncon’s
WHAT EVER
HAPPENED TO
■
L o v e O n T r ia l I n T h e B la c k C o m m u n ity
m a g ic o f h is p la y in g , w ith the w a rm th
nwTHiBiP.Hnipr
SISKEL & EBERT
-THIS IS
A POWERFUL
FILM."
‘ONE TERRIFIC ROUE!
IXPI.OSIVE ROTH
M l’SICALLY AND
EMOTIONALLY!*
Roger Ebert. SISKEL & EBERT
AN EXTREMELY
POWERFUL
(IW PF.I.1.IM ,
BIOGRAPHY.*’
G ene Siskel SISKEL & EBERT
SNEAK
a heart
32nd & E. BURNSIDE
231-8926
- Jeffrey Lyons
PREVIEWS CNBC
IT P IT S SIZZLE
INTO SUMMER.*
1I7 k ) needs
M U S IC
M IL L E N N IU M
Peter Travers
ROLLING STONE
when a heart
I 23rd & NW JOHNSON
248-0163
Concerts At The Zoo
C oncerts at the Z o o are presented
in c o o p e ra tio n w ith O rego n P u b lic
can he broken?
B ro a d ca stin g . T h e p o p u la r Y o u r Z oo
A n d A l l T h a t Jazz series, con tinu es
What’s love
got to do with it
W ednesday e ve nings th ro u g h A ug ust
18.
T h e R h y th m and Z o o scries, c o n ­
tin u e s T h u rs d a y e ve n in g s th ro u g h
A u g u s t 19.
C o nce rts b e g in at 7pm . P lan d in ­
The true life story o f Tina Turner
n e r at the zo o -p izza o r barbecued
ftsWwtM ty B O M B PCTKS WSTWBUTt« MC S TOUCHSTONE RCWS
fw « -
c h ic k e n kabobos Food proceeds go
d ire c tly to the zoo A lc o h o l con sum p­
Now S howing A t T hese T heatres
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pmsenho
in
'o O tflT STT RE □ ' '
tio n is re stricte d to th a t purchased on
zoo g ro un ds A free sh u ttle n m s be­
tw een the zoo and the S ylva n Business
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D is tr ic t, w h ere o v e rflo w p a rk in g is
JUNE 26
ava ila b le .
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Back By Popular Demand
Â
Fourth of July Concert
st r a te ?
(/'/(V /C
Pack a Picnic and Come Enjoy a
Free Concert at
Laurelhurst Park, SE 35th & Oak
¿I
Sunday, July 4, 6:00pm
()O 7 /C (7 7
The Granite Youth Symphony Orchestra,
a 90-member band from
Salt Lake City public high schools,
will follow the
Cultural Recreation Band,
Portland elementary school performers,
under the baton of Greg McKelvey,
Music Director at Wilson High School.
c/ia//
For Information Call
(503) 224-4400
Tickets Available at
ALL TICKETMASTER LOCATIONS
For more information on concerts in the parks
call Portland Parks and Recreation, 823-2223 v/tt
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