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41 of 42 humans found the following review helpful.
Ages well
By Tyler Smith
This is one of those recordings that seemed always to be on someone's stereo when I went to college. Lots of persons who normally didn't listen to much jazz had it and loved it is mixture of funk, soul and jazz improvisation.
Sometimes these recordings don't age well, and I picked up this CD with just a bit of wariness, thinking it is hipness might have gone the way of tie-dyed shirts and bottles of Mateus. I'm happy to report that the 1969 concert still packs a great deal of punch.
This 30th anniversary edition in peculiar is worth buying because it holds elaborate notes on how pianist McCann, saxophonist Harris and trumpeter Benny Bailey came to be on the same stage that night in Montreux. Turns out it was very impromptu -- to the point that Bailey didn't even know most of the tunes and had to follow Harris's lead as he searched for the changes.
Given that, Bailey's performance is in particular impressive. His solos not only are crisp, they crackle. He's specially effective on the date's best known tune, "Compared to What," on which he delivers a very sharp plunger mute solo that adds spice to an already very hot performance.
Harris is in fine form throughout, delivering a great deal of unforced soulfulness on each track, peculiarly "You Got It in Your Soulness." His solos have a fluidity that makes the tunes sound rehearsed, even though they genuinely weren't.
The date is not long on compositional surprises (there's no way it could have been; bassist Leroy Vinegar's "The Generation Gap," was so new it didn't even have a title on that night), and that makes it a four-star release for me. McCann's piano is funky but not peculiarly inspired -- though his vocal on "Compared to What" is -- but overall the group displays some authenti fire that I think a heap of listeners will find just as pleasurable as I did when I introductory heard it.
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful.
The album that turned me on to jazz
By Michael J Edelman
I was a 14 year old rock and roller when this album came out, and it changed me forever. The opening track showed me that jazz may have as much or more energy than rock, and when I initial heard the dissonant harmonies of Harris' solo on "Kathleen's Theme", I started to perceive the harmonic future prospects or potentials of jazz.
The newly remastered edition is a wondrous treat for those of us who have been listening to the basi LP and CD versions of this for 30 years. Even if you have the original, buy this one.
15 of 15 humans found the following review helpful.
Very cool
By Mark R. Van Wagenen
It's a good thing there are still a few radio stations in the country, such as WXRT in Chicago, that dig up outstanding nuggets like "Compared to What", the leadoff track on this great CD. I'd never heard the number before, but liked it so much when I heard it in my car I ordered the CD as soon as I got home that day. If you like cool '60s-era jazz, the kind of music your folks might have listened to if they were hip; this is your album. This impromptu collaboration of the Les McCann Trio and horn players Eddie Harris and Benny Bailey, taken from a live performance at the Montreaux Jazz Festival in 1969, holds up well. OK, the sardonic lyrics in "Compared to What" are dated, but the music still packs a wallop. McCann's piano playing compares favorably to Ramsey Lewis', and that's saying something. Throw in Eddie Harris' tenor sax, Benny Bailey's trumpet, Leroy Vinnegar's bass and the uptempo beat of most of the tracks, and you have a nice, tight package here that will not disappoint. This is not "new age" jazz; this is straight-ahead music that you may move to. Very highly recommended.
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