Layers (Les McCann album)

Layers
Layers
Studio album by Les McCann
Released	1973
Recorded	November 1972; Regent Sound Studios, New York
Genre	Jazz, Groove
Length	44:02
Label	Atlantic; SD 1646 , 32 Groove
Producer	Joel Dorn
Les McCann chronology

Layers is an album by pianist Les McCann recorded in 1972 and released on the Atlantic label.^[1]^[2]

Reception[]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[3]

AllMusic gives the album 4½ stars, stating "This groundbreaking jazz synthesizer record is really unlike any other Les McCann ever made. Aside from a three-man percussion section and electric bassist Jimmy Rowser, Layers is entirely electronic, one of the first jazz albums with such an emphasis. ...this music is truly forward-looking and ahead of its time".^[3]

The song "Sometimes I Cry" has been sampled in several other songs, most notably in Slick Rick's "Behind Bars" and its drum beat in Massive Attack's "Teardrop" and "Bullet Boy".^[4]

Track listing[]

All compositions by Les McCann

"Sometimes I Cry" - 5:22
"Let's Gather" - 1:13
"Anticipation" - 0:52
"The Dunbar High School Marching Band" - 6:07
"Soaring (At Dawn) Part I"- 5:54
"The Harlem Buck Dance Strut" - 5:55
"Interlude" - 0:33
"Before I Rest" - 3:43
"Let's Play ('til Mom Calls)" - 4:26
"It Never Stopped in My Home Town" - 1:54
"Soaring (At Sunset) Part II" - 8:03

Personnel[]

Les McCann - piano, electric piano, synthesizer, clavinet, drums, timpani
Jimmy Rowser - bass, electric bass, bells, percussion
Donald Dean - drums, bells, percussion
Buck Clarke - congas, drums, bongos, blocks, bells, percussion
Ralph MacDonald - congas, bells, percussion

References[]

^ Atlantic Records Catalog: 1600 series accessed March 8, 2016
^ Freed., R. Les McCann Discography accessed March 8, 2016
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Huey, Steve. Layers – Review at AllMusic. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
^ http://www.whosampled.com/Les-McCann/Sometimes-I-Cry/sampled/

[1] Atlantic Records Catalog: 1600 series accessed March 8, 2016

[2] Freed., R. Les McCann Discography accessed March 8, 2016

[Allmusic-3] Jump up to: ^a ^b Huey, Steve. Layers – Review at AllMusic. Retrieved March 8, 2016.

[4] ttp://www.whosampled.com/Les-McCann/Sometimes-I-Cry/sampled/

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show v t Les McCann
Years given are for the recording(s), not first release, except where noted. As Les McCann Ltd is often used in the titles for the albums up to 1964, this has been omitted.
Albums as leader or co-leader	It's About Time (with Teddy Edwards, 1959) The Truth (1960) The Shout (1960) In San Francisco (1960) From the Top of the Barrel (1960) Groove (with Richard "Groove" Holmes and Ben Webster, 1961) In New York (1961) Plays the Shampoo (1961) New from the Big City (1961) Pretty Lady (1961) Les McCann Sings (1961) Somethin' Special (with Richard "Groove" Holmes, 1962) On Time (1962) The Gospel Truth (1963) Soul Hits (1963) Jazz Waltz (with The Jazz Crusaders, 1963) A Bag of Gold (1963–64) McCanna (1964) Spanish Onions (1964) McCann/Wilson (with Nancy Wilson (1964) But Not Really (1964) Beaux J. Pooboo (1965) Live at Shelly's Manne-Hole (1965) Les McCann Plays the Hits (1966) Bucket O' Grease (1966) Live at Bohemian Caverns - Washington, DC (1967) Much Les (1968) Swiss Movement (and Eddie Harris, 1969) Comment (1969) Invitation to Openness (1971) Second Movement (with Eddie Harris, 1971) Layers (1972) Live at Montreux (1972) Talk to the People (1972) Another Beginning (1974)
With others	Tell It Like It Tis (Richard "Groove" Holmes, 1962) Stormy Monday (with Lou Rawls, 1962) That's Where It's At (Stanley Turrentine, 1962) Straight Ahead (Stanley Turrentine, 1984) Go Tell It on the Mountain (The Blind Boys of Alabama, 2003)
Soundtracks	Soul To Soul (1971)