Pat Thomas, editor of "Invitation to Openness"

Today's "Five Questions" is going to talk a slightly different route and discuss the phototgraphy of jazz musician Les McCann. McCann's recently released book Invitation to Openness:The Jazz & Soul Photography Of Les McCann 1960-1980 collects his photographs of legendary musicians and documented the vibrant cultural life of jazz and soul between 1960 and 1980. Joining the discussion is Pat Thomas, who curated this collection and is also the author of Listen, Whitey! The Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DUKE ELLINGTON

AMB: This seems to me to such a sad portrait of Duke Ellington. It’s beautifully composed but your eye can’t help to wander to the two people in the background, who look utterly bored. I distinctly remember Les’ text for this one that said

“I was quite disturbed with the fact that in watching his band play Carnegie Hall, they were all talking to each other, reading books, looking at the newspaper. I thought it was the most disgraceful thing I’d ever seen. I was young and I was quite disappointed at theprofessionalism….he had no control with the band.”

Am I reading too much into this? Is that what we’re seeing here, or do you think Duke is just immersed in his work, while the hangers on just pass the time?

PT: While I don’t know the exact date of this photo – I’m guessing it’s towards the end of Duke’s life – his span was impressive – decades of great composing, band-leading, touring, and recording. In my opinion – he’s tired. Studio work can be tedious – some musicians love it, many don’t.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EDDIE HARRIS

AMB: Eddie Harris, of course, played with Les McCann at the Montreux Jazz Festival and that album, Swiss Movement, would become legendary. Les called Harris “a possessed genius.” Here’s a picture where I REALLY want to know what ‘s going on inside. It could be any emotion here. Les also talks about a wall or a door you had to navigate to really get to know Eddie and I’m struck by the framing of the two people in the foreground that kind of create that “alone in the crowd” feeling. A really beautiful and moody shot.

PT: The moodiness you’re seeing is probably because Eddie is inside the Cook County Jail in Chicago (circa 1970) waiting to play for the incarcerated men. It was an all-day affair with many other jazz and soul artists participating. Despite the inspired music they made together – Eddie and Les had very much a strained relationship at times – Eddie was a more schooled musician than Les – but they did share a perverse sense of humor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ROBERTA FLACK

AMB: It’s beautiful, intense and so sharp in its detail. It’s also very soulful, very quiet. It’s also very “black” and, during that period, would have made an incredible album cover. Come to think of it, I wonder if Funkadelic didn’t crib this in their own way for Maggot Brain.

PT: Les discovered Roberta playing in a club in Washington DC and brought her to the attention of Atlantic Records – despite this big favor – and her smashing success – she remains ungrateful – Les has felt snubbed for decades – but proud of the part he played in her success.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TINA TURNER

AMB: Tina’s so timeless that it’s hard to tell when this might be from, but it’s got to be early on, say River Deep, Mountain Highmaybe? Another coulda/shoulda been an album cover. Some might quibble that it’s out of focus, but that movement and energy absolutely captures Tina in her element. There’s clearly some kind of wax pencil crop marking; any idea what that’s for? Was this ever used commercially? I’d MUCH rather see this that a studio portrait! I have to include the following as a bonus. It’s all about the legs with Tina, isn’t it? Pretty funny that Les took the shot of what every male in the audience was focused on!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PT: This is early on for Tina — she’s still with Ike — it’s their golden age — during the 1960’s — in fact — more likely mid-60’s before they crossed over to a rock audience (they opened for the Stones in ’69 at Madison Square Garden) — when they still mainly played smaller R&B venues.  Any wax pencil markings were Les “thinking out loud” about what might make a good 8x10 print – which he normally did for his own pleasure — sometimes passing one or two prints onto the artist themselves. 99% of the photos in this book never saw the light of the day — ever!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BUSTER WILLIAMS & RAY BROWN

AMB: I love this shot. It says so much and certainly invites you to speculate about what’s going on here. Wikipedia says “According to Williams, he was ‘the number one sub for Ray Brown"’”…perhaps this is teacher/student moment?

PT: Good guess! I can’t speak to this one — because I never discussed it with Les — and I don’t think he knew them particularly well — but I must say — the collection of photos in this book is just the tip of the iceberg – I found about 20,000 negs with no contact sheets (from the early 1960s) — I found hundreds of photos from Mexico, Africa, and other places Les visited during the 1960s and 70’s — and about a thousand photos of exotic women from around the globe that Les met on his travels (1960-1980) — some of them sensuous, some of them ‘girl next door,’ some of them like high-fashion shots. He always shot in B&W and always did his own prints. Amazing.

 

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