Les Mcann LTD. — But Not Really (USED)

Used vinyl is Good plus with a handful of marks and scratches throughout. The record is still listenable. / Artwork is Very Good plus with heavy gatefold textured design and extensive booklet inside the gatefold / Original Limelight Mono first pressing 1965 / "But Not Really" is a solid, straight-ahead swinging soul-jazz session from Les McCann Ltd., his trio with bassist Victor Gaskin and drummer Paul Humphrey. Released in 1965, the eight-track date was recorded over two evenings. McCann wrote all but two of the tunes here, including the burning "We're on the Move Now" and the groove-drenched "Little Freak" (the latter is a tune Ramsey Lewis would kill to have composed at the time). While two chords in its vamp come from "The 'In' Crowd," a tune made famous by Lewis, it's the rest, beginning with a dark deft turn on the second voicing, that takes it deeper into the blues and makes it such a stunner. Another highlight is the spirited reading of Tadd Dameron's "Our Delight," with a fine solo by McCann and some very funky swing drumming by Humphrey. For fans of McCann's piano work, there are few recordings that showcase it better -- in the studio at least -- than But Not Really.