LA Brea

Talkin' Verve collects 16 of the funkiest tracks Les McCann recorded for Verve. Of course, funky can be a relative term – McCann was the coolest pianist this side of Horace Silver, and his laid-back style may not sit well with the hipsters who are this disc's intended audience. If they keep in mind that the pianist never led a small organ combo, they'll be pleased by this swinging soul-jazz and its warm, friendly atmosphere. Some of the songs are a little slight, but even those are given appealing, coolly funky arrangements that are quite engaging, and that's what makes this a welcome sampler.

Late-seventies Los Angeles was rampant with killers and shady characters, but all the go-getters at Space Matters saw was possibility. Richard Kasparov was handsome and charismatic; his younger associate, Jerry Schneiderman, brilliant and nerdy. When the pair hired a veteran contractor to oversee construction, the space planning firm they operated out of a hip mansion in LA's Miracle Mile district appeared poised to transform the boundless skyline into their jackpot.

Talkin' Verve collects 16 of the funkiest tracks Les McCann recorded for Verve. Of course, funky can be a relative term – McCann was the coolest pianist this side of Horace Silver, and his laid-back style may not sit well with the hipsters who are this disc's intended audience. If they keep in mind that the pianist never led a small organ combo, they'll be pleased by this swinging soul-jazz and its warm, friendly atmosphere. Some of the songs are a little slight, but even those are given appealing, coolly funky arrangements that are quite engaging, and that's what makes this a welcome sampler.