Many times in jazz the personnel that comes together in a special way is the result of second choices or just plain serendipity. So too with the pairing of Javon Jackson and Les McCann who have been performing together at clubs and festivals, including a recent concert at the Cape May Jazz Festival. Seeing the two mesh onstage, it would be hard to imagine that the legendary McCann was originally a sub or fill-in.
About three years ago, Jackson had an upcoming performance for his soul-jazz group scheduled at John Lee Hooker’s Boom Boom Room in San Francisco and his organist, the great Dr. Lonnie Smith, was unable to make it. Acting on a whim as much as anything, Jackson called Eddie Harris’s widow and mentioned that he was in a bind and did she think Les McCann might be interesting in subbing for Smith in that gig in the Bay area.
She encouraged him to call McCann at his home in Southern California and, as Hooker himself sang, “Boom Boom Boom” the two hit it off onstage and were soon performing other shows together and connecting across generations. Since that show in 2007, they’ve done about fifty shows together and jazz audiences are getting another look at the 75-year-old McCann, who appears rejuvenated by the collaboration.
Maybe that serendipity is fitting given that the McCann and Harris pairing that produced the Swiss Movement performance and recording was also a somewhat chance pairing. As Les McCann wrote in his Farewell tribute piece to Joel Dorn for JT, it was the producer Dorn who suggested that the two get together. “He’s the guy who told me, ‘When you go to Switzerland, there’s a guy over there that I like very much named Eddie Harris,” wrote McCann.
Javon Jackson and Les McCann Live at Anthology San Diego
“Why don’t you guys see if you can get together and come up with something?’ And that’s how Swiss Movement came about. It was Joel’s idea. My trio was scheduled to play there at the Montreux Jazz Festival and Eddie’s band was supposed to play there as well, and since we were both on Atlantic Records Joel suggested that we get together for one set of music. He had already discussed it with [Montreux promoter] Claude Nobs and the higher-ups at Atlantic and they all thought it was a great idea. We never had a rehearsal. I did get together with Eddie ahead of time to discuss the tunes, but that record was almost 90-percent spontaneous on the stage. Between songs, I had to sing the chorus into the guys’ ears and remind them of the changes. And that’s how we did it. It was another case of divine intervention.”
Jackson acknowledges that he had absorbed that particular McCann & Harris album by osmosis. “I heard that recording my whole life and I always liked it,” he recalls. “My mother played that particular recording a lot in the house, so I’ve heard that as long as I can remember.” Jackson’s group performs a few songs from that album, including “Compared to What” and “Cold Duck Time,” and Jackson had no problem stepping into the Harris role, in part because of his personal relationship with the late saxophonist and in part because of his own identity forged as a sideman with Art Blakey and other greats, and established as a bandleader all his own. Growing up in Denver, Jackson would check out Harris when he came to town and over the years the two developed a close bond, both musically and personally.
“I’ve known Eddie my whole life so actually it’s an honor to be in the role,” Jackson says. “I don’t look at it as a particular challenge but I do come from that spirit anyway so when we play a song like “Compared to What” or “Cold Duck Time” or we do any of those kinds of songs that have that spirit on there, there may be some references to how he would attack a particular piece of music.”
To be fair, there is plenty of Javon Jackson in the way he plays tenor while leading his group that features McCann; he isn’t simply going up there and recycling Eddie Harris riffs. Also influenced strongly by John Coltrane and Wayne Shorter, Jackson established himself as a formidable player playing with another legendary bandleader—Art Blakey—who demanded that his sidemen play like themselves.
Jackson would go on to his own solo career with over a dozen records as a leader on Criss Cross, Blue Note and Palmetto Records. He also has performed with several other legendary elders of jazz, including Freddie Hubbard, Cedar Walton, Elvin Jones and, most recently, Freddie Redd. But it’s Blakey who seems to have had the greatest impact on Jackson, at least when it comes to the nuances of leading a band.
Asked about how people perceive Les McCann these days, Jackson quickly cites Blakey and his advice about keeping out there in front of audiences. “He would say, ‘If people don’t hear you, they forget about you,’” Jackson explains. “So, it’s good, because people haven’t seen his [McCann’s] name and he’s been kind of inactive largely due to the stroke he had about ten years ago. He’s starting to get back out again and we’ve been having a lot of fun. People are saying about Les, ‘Hey, wow, we want to see you again.’ It’s a win for him, it’s a win for me, it’s a win for the audience. When everyone wins, it’s even more special.”
Complete on >> http://jazztimes.com/sections/tangents/articles/26854-javon-jackson-les-mccann-two-for-the-road
About three years ago, Jackson had an upcoming performance for his soul-jazz group scheduled at John Lee Hooker’s Boom Boom Room in San Francisco and his organist, the great Dr. Lonnie Smith, was unable to make it. Acting on a whim as much as anything, Jackson called Eddie Harris’s widow and mentioned that he was in a bind and did she think Les McCann might be interesting in subbing for Smith in that gig in the Bay area.
She encouraged him to call McCann at his home in Southern California and, as Hooker himself sang, “Boom Boom Boom” the two hit it off onstage and were soon performing other shows together and connecting across generations. Since that show in 2007, they’ve done about fifty shows together and jazz audiences are getting another look at the 75-year-old McCann, who appears rejuvenated by the collaboration.
Maybe that serendipity is fitting given that the McCann and Harris pairing that produced the Swiss Movement performance and recording was also a somewhat chance pairing. As Les McCann wrote in his Farewell tribute piece to Joel Dorn for JT, it was the producer Dorn who suggested that the two get together. “He’s the guy who told me, ‘When you go to Switzerland, there’s a guy over there that I like very much named Eddie Harris,” wrote McCann.
Javon Jackson and Les McCann Live at Anthology San Diego
“Why don’t you guys see if you can get together and come up with something?’ And that’s how Swiss Movement came about. It was Joel’s idea. My trio was scheduled to play there at the Montreux Jazz Festival and Eddie’s band was supposed to play there as well, and since we were both on Atlantic Records Joel suggested that we get together for one set of music. He had already discussed it with [Montreux promoter] Claude Nobs and the higher-ups at Atlantic and they all thought it was a great idea. We never had a rehearsal. I did get together with Eddie ahead of time to discuss the tunes, but that record was almost 90-percent spontaneous on the stage. Between songs, I had to sing the chorus into the guys’ ears and remind them of the changes. And that’s how we did it. It was another case of divine intervention.”
Jackson acknowledges that he had absorbed that particular McCann & Harris album by osmosis. “I heard that recording my whole life and I always liked it,” he recalls. “My mother played that particular recording a lot in the house, so I’ve heard that as long as I can remember.” Jackson’s group performs a few songs from that album, including “Compared to What” and “Cold Duck Time,” and Jackson had no problem stepping into the Harris role, in part because of his personal relationship with the late saxophonist and in part because of his own identity forged as a sideman with Art Blakey and other greats, and established as a bandleader all his own. Growing up in Denver, Jackson would check out Harris when he came to town and over the years the two developed a close bond, both musically and personally.
“I’ve known Eddie my whole life so actually it’s an honor to be in the role,” Jackson says. “I don’t look at it as a particular challenge but I do come from that spirit anyway so when we play a song like “Compared to What” or “Cold Duck Time” or we do any of those kinds of songs that have that spirit on there, there may be some references to how he would attack a particular piece of music.”
To be fair, there is plenty of Javon Jackson in the way he plays tenor while leading his group that features McCann; he isn’t simply going up there and recycling Eddie Harris riffs. Also influenced strongly by John Coltrane and Wayne Shorter, Jackson established himself as a formidable player playing with another legendary bandleader—Art Blakey—who demanded that his sidemen play like themselves.
Jackson would go on to his own solo career with over a dozen records as a leader on Criss Cross, Blue Note and Palmetto Records. He also has performed with several other legendary elders of jazz, including Freddie Hubbard, Cedar Walton, Elvin Jones and, most recently, Freddie Redd. But it’s Blakey who seems to have had the greatest impact on Jackson, at least when it comes to the nuances of leading a band.
Asked about how people perceive Les McCann these days, Jackson quickly cites Blakey and his advice about keeping out there in front of audiences. “He would say, ‘If people don’t hear you, they forget about you,’” Jackson explains. “So, it’s good, because people haven’t seen his [McCann’s] name and he’s been kind of inactive largely due to the stroke he had about ten years ago. He’s starting to get back out again and we’ve been having a lot of fun. People are saying about Les, ‘Hey, wow, we want to see you again.’ It’s a win for him, it’s a win for me, it’s a win for the audience. When everyone wins, it’s even more special.”
Complete on >> http://jazztimes.com/sections/tangents/articles/26854-javon-jackson-les-mccann-two-for-the-road
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