Les McCann, a jazz titan best known for his performance with musical partner Eddie Harris of the protest song "Compared to What," has died at age 88, his manager said Sunday.
Cause and manner of death were unavailable, but manager Alan Abrahams said the piano player and singer died Friday at a Los Angeles-area hospital after developing pneumonia roughly one week ago.
McCann was an architect of the soul-jazz sound, helped jazz connect with the counterculture's protest music and provided a wellspring of material for sample-crazed hip-hop stars, including Notorious B.I.G., Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth, Warren G., Slick Rick, Dr. Dre and A Tribe Called Quest.
"He brought something from the Black church to jazz," said Abrahams, a prolific producer of gospel albums.
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For the September release of "Never A Dull Moment! – Live from Coast to Coast (1966-1967)," a vinyl collection of live performances and accompanying essays, super-producer Quincy Jones said, "Les McCann has been a musical force of nature since he burst on the scene in the early 60’s. Whenever I heard him live or on record, he always did the unexpected."
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