Layers (Les McCann album)

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

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
Live at Montreux (1972) Layers (1973) Another Beginning (1974)

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

1. "Sometimes I Cry" - 5:22
2. "Let's Gather" - 1:13
3. "Anticipation" - 0:52
4. "The Dunbar High School Marching Band" - 6:07
5. "Soaring (At Dawn) Part I"- 5:54
6. "The Harlem Buck Dance Strut" - 5:55
7. "Interlude" - 0:33
8. "Before I Rest" - 3:43
9. "Let's Play ('til Mom Calls)" - 4:26
10. "It Never Stopped in My Home Town" - 1:54
11. "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

1. Atlantic Records Catalog: 1600 series accessed March 8, 2016
2. Freed., R. Les McCann Discography accessed March 8, 2016
3. Huey, Steve. Layers – Review at AllMusic. Retrieved March 8, 2016.