Les McCann is probably the only jazz musician whose cover of a pop song was a bigger hit than the original version. Of course, he had the help of the amazing Eddie Harris on tenor and Benny Bailey on trumpet for the bestselling live Montreux Jazz Festival recording of “Compared to What.” As a longtime Pacific Jazz artist, you would have thought a lot of TV shows and films would have recruited McCann for his soul-jazz sound, but Police Woman is one of the few dramatic shows to feature the man and his music. In light of the news of his recent passing, fans can check out McCann in the episode “Wednesday’s Child.”
Les McCann’s name is right there in the secondary credits for the February 6, 1976 episode: “Les McCann at the piano.” It is actually an electric piano, but it is definitely Les McCann. He is playing himself, apparently half-headlining and half backing-up vocalist and police informant Linda Summers, played by Paula Kelly. Thanks to Summers, Sgt. “Pepper” Anderson is about to bust cat-burglar Billy Dodge, but first they snuggle and chill to McCann and Kelly’s rendition of “Stormy Monday.”
It is not enough to bust Dodge. Anderson and her boss Lt. Bill Crowley want to get to Dodge’s boss and his boss’s boss. So, they flip Dodge to set-up the slimy Paul Nicastro, positioning Sgt. Pepper as his next mark. Playing Nicastro might have been one of Robert Loggia’s more memorable gigs at this point of his career, because at least he got to wine and dine Angie Dickinson (who, as usual, is filmed at least once wrapped in a towel, coming to and from the shower).
Hollywood was really sleeping on McCann, a popular crossover jazz artist right in their backyard. It is not like they had never heard of him, considering “Compared to What” was licensed for several soundtracks, including Casino and The Ice Storm. It turns out Dickinson’s Pepper Anderson was hip, because she was digging McCann. Recommended as nostalgia, the “Wednesday Child” episode of Police Woman is available on DVD.
