Leslie Spann Jr. (May 23, 1932 – January 24, 1989) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

guitarist and flautist. As a sideman he recorded with

Nat Adderley Nathaniel Carlyle Adderley (November 25, 1931 – January 2, 2000) was an American jazz trumpeter. He was the younger brother of saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, whom he supported and played with for many years. Adderley's composition ...

Benny Bailey Ernest Harold "Benny" Bailey (August 13, 1925 – April 14, 2005) was an American jazz trumpeter. Biography A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Bailey briefly studied flute and piano before turning to trumpet. He attended the Cleveland Conserva ...

, Bill Coleman,

Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis Edward F. Davis (March 2, 1922 – November 3, 1986), known professionally as Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. It is unclear how he acquired the moniker "Lockjaw" (later shortened in "Jaws"): it is either said that ...

Curtis Fuller Curtis DuBois Fuller (December 15, 1932May 8, 2021) was an American jazz Trombone, trombonist. He was a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and contributed to many classic jazz recordings. Early life Fuller was born in Detroit on December ...

Red Garland William McKinley "Red" Garland Jr. (May 13, 1923 – April 23, 1984) was an American modern jazz pianist. Known for his work as a bandleader and during the 1950s with Miles Davis, Garland helped popularize the block chord style of playing in jaz ...

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing". From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His conce ...

, Sam Jones,

Abbey Lincoln Anna Marie Wooldridge (August 6, 1930 – August 14, 2010), known professionally as Abbey Lincoln, was an American jazz vocalist, songwriter, and actress. She was a civil rights activist beginning in the 1960s. Lincoln made a career out of deli ...

Charles Mingus Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz upright bassist, pianist, composer, bandleader, and author. A major proponent of collective improvisation, he is considered to be one of the greatest jazz musicians an ...

Duke Pearson Columbus Calvin "Duke" Pearson Jr. (August 17, 1932 – August 4, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer. ''Allmusic'' describes him as having a "big part in shaping the Blue Note label's hard bop direction in the 1960s as a record produ ...

Jerome Richardson Jerome Richardson (November 15, 1920 – June 23, 2000) was an American jazz musician, tenor saxophonist, and flute player, who also played soprano sax, alto sax, baritone sax, clarinet, bass clarinet, alto flute and piccolo. He played with Ch ...

Charlie Shavers Charles James Shavers (August 3, 1920 – July 8, 1971) was an American jazz trumpeter who played with Dizzy Gillespie, Nat King Cole, Roy Eldridge, Johnny Dodds, Jimmie Noone, Sidney Bechet, Midge Williams, Tommy Dorsey, and Billie Holiday. H ...

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, and

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. As a leader he recorded only once, the album ''

Gemini Gemini may refer to: Space * Gemini (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac ** Gemini in Chinese astronomy * Project Gemini, the second U.S. crewed spaceflight program * Gemini Observatory, consisting of telescopes in the Northern ...

'' in 1961.

Career

Les Spann was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, United States. From 1950 to 1957, he studied music at

Tennessee State University Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tenness ...

. At the end of that time he worked with Phineas Newborn Jr. and in 1958 with

Ronnell Bright Ronnell Lovelace Bright (July 3, 1930 – August 12, 2021) was an American jazz pianist. He made cameo appearances in the TV shows ''The Jeffersons'' and ''Sanford and Son'', also working on ''The Carol Burnett Show''. Career Bright played piano ...

. The following year, he joined a quintet in New York City led by Dizzy Gillespie, performing solos on flute and guitar and appearing on two of Gillespie's albums for

Verve Records Verve Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Founded in 1956 by Norman Granz, the label is home to the world's largest jazz catalogue, which includes recordings by artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simon ...

. After a year with Gillespie, he went to Europe as a member of

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...

's big band. Two more albums followed, this time with Spann joining a sextet that included

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was ba ...

Johnny Hodges Cornelius "Johnny" Hodges (July 25, 1907 – May 11, 1970) was an American alto saxophonist, best known for solo work with Duke Ellington's big band. He played lead alto in the saxophone section for many years. Hodges was also featured on sopran ...

, and

Harry "Sweets" Edison Harry "Sweets" Edison (October 10, 1915 – July 27, 1999) was an American jazz trumpeter and a member of the Count Basie Orchestra. His most important contribution was as a Hollywood studio musician, whose muted trumpet can be heard backi ...

. He recorded with Hodges again in 1967. Around 1970, he played flute in a quartet led by the guitarist Kenny Burrell. He died in New York City in 1989.

Discography

As leader

* ''

'' (Jazzland, 1961)

As sideman

With Bill Coleman * ''From Boogie to Funk'' (1960) * ''The Great Parisian Session'' (1960) With

* '' Side by Side'' ( Verve, 1959) with

* '' Back to Back: Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges Play the Blues'' (Verve, 1959) * ''

Paris Blues ''Paris Blues'' is a 1961 American musical romantic drama film directed by Martin Ritt, starring Sidney Poitier as expatriate jazz saxophonist Eddie Cook, and Paul Newman as trombone-playing Ram Bowen. The two men romance two vacationing America ...

'' (

United Artists United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stu ...

, 1961) With Dizzy Gillespie * '' The Ebullient Mr. Gillespie'' (Verve, 1959) * '' Have Trumpet, Will Excite!'' (Verve, 1959) With

* ''A Smooth One'' (1960) * '' Blue Hodge'' (Verve, 1961) * ''

Triple Play In baseball, a triple play (denoted as TP in baseball statistics) is the act of making three out (baseball), outs during the same play. There have only been 733 triple plays in Major League Baseball (MLB) since 1876, an average of just over five ...

'' (

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Ar ...

, 1967) With

* '' The Birth of a Band!'' ( Mercury, 1959) * ''Swiss Radio Days Jazz Series, Vol. 1'' 1960 * '' I Dig Dancers'' (Mercury, 1960) * ''At Basin Street East'', Billy Eckstine/Quincy Jones (1961) * '' Newport '61'' (Mercury, 1961) * ''

The Great Wide World of Quincy Jones ''The Great Wide World of Quincy Jones'' is an album by Quincy Jones that was released by Mercury.

'' (Mercury, 1961) With Sam Jones * ''

The Chant The Chant is an indie rock band from South Florida that relocated to Atlanta. The band formed in 1984 and was originally composed of Walter Cz on vocals, guitars and mandolin, James "Bing" Johnson on vocals and bass, Todd Barry on drums, and ...

'' ( Riverside, 1961) * '' Down Home'' (Riverside, 1962) With

* ''

The Matadors Meet the Bull ''The Matadors Meet the Bull'' is an album by saxophonist Sonny Stitt recorded in 1965 and released on the Roulette label.Edwards, D. & Callahan, MRoulette Album Discography, Part 1accessed January 7, 2013 The album was Stitt's first for the label ...

'' (

Roulette Roulette is a casino game named after the French word meaning ''little wheel'' which was likely developed from the Italian game Biribi''.'' In the game, a player may choose to place a bet on a single number, various groupings of numbers, the ...

, 1965) * ''

What's New!!! ''What's New!!!'' (subtitled ''Sonny Stitt Plays the Varitone'') is an album by saxophonist Sonny Stitt recorded in 1966 and released on the Roulette label. The album represents Stitt's first recorded use of the varitone, an electronic amplificati ...

'' (Roulette, 1966) * '' I Keep Comin' Back!'' (Roulette, 1966) With others * ''

Phineas Newborn, Jr. Plays Harold Arlen's Music from Jamaica ''Phineas Newborn Jr. Plays Harold Arlen's Music from Jamaica'' is an album by American jazz pianist Phineas Newborn Jr. recorded in 1957 and released on the RCA Victor label.

'', Phineas Newborn Jr. (RCA Victor, 1957) * ''

Abbey Is Blue ''Abbey Is Blue'' is the fourth album by American jazz vocalist Abbey Lincoln featuring tracks recorded in 1959 for the Riverside label.

'',

(Riverside, 1959) * '' Ben Webster and Associates'',

(Verve, 1959) * '' Big Brass'',

( Candid, 1960) * '' That's Right!'',

(Riverside, 1960) * '' Uhuru Afrika'',

(Roulette, 1960) * '' The Magnificent Trombone of Curtis Fuller'',

( Epic, 1961) * ''

Kwamina ''Kwamina'' is a musical with the libretto by Robert Alan Aurthur and music and lyrics by Richard Adler. Production The musical opened in out of town tryouts in Toronto, where, as noted by Ken Mandelbaum "The reviews were promising",Mandelbaum ...

'',

(Mercury, 1961) * ''Going to the Movies''

(1962) * ''One More Time'',

Wild Bill Davis Wild Bill Davis (November 24, 1918 – August 17, 1995) was the stage name of American jazz pianist, organist, and arranger William Strethen Davis. He is best known for his pioneering jazz electric organ recordings and for his tenure with t ...

(1962) * '' Solar'',

( Jazzland, 1962) * ''

The Complete Town Hall Concert ''The Complete Town Hall Concert'' is a live album by the American bassist, composer and bandleader Charles Mingus, recorded at The Town Hall in New York City and first released on the United Artists label in 1962 as ''Town Hall Concert''.

'',

(

Blue Note In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical c ...

, 1962

994 Year 994 ( CMXCIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * September 15 – Battle of the Orontes: Fatimid forces, under Turkish gener ...

* ''

Honeybuns ''Honeybuns'' is the seventh album by American pianist and arranger Duke Pearson featuring performances by Pearson's nonet recorded in 1965 and released on the Atlantic label in 1966.

'',

(

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

, 1965) * '' Lock, the Fox'',

(RCA Victor, 1966)

References

*"Les Spann", '' Grove Jazz'' online. {{DEFAULTSORT:Spann, Les 1932 births 1989 deaths Tennessee State University alumni American jazz guitarists American jazz flautists Guitarists from Arkansas 20th-century American guitarists Jazz musicians from Arkansas 20th-century flautists