Les McCann, innovative jazz musician best known for ‘Compared to What,’ dies at 88

By The Associated Press

Les McCann, a prolific and influential musician and recording artist who helped found the soul-jazz genre and became a favorite source for sampling by Dr. Dre, A Tribe Called Quest and hundreds of other hip-hop performers, has died. He was 88. McCann was best known for “Compared to What,” a funky protest song on which he first teamed up with his future musical partner, saxophonist Eddie Harris. “Compared to What” blends jazzy riffs and McCann’s gospel-style vocals. The song condemns war, greed and injustice with such couplets as “Nobody gives us rhyme or reason/Have one doubt, they call it treason.”