Butterfly

With 1988’s Butterfly Les McCann settled comfortably into his dual role as jazz elder statesman and quiet storm balladeer. McCann’s signature deep-throated vocals serve as the album’s anchor. Like a tree with deeper roots, his voice has gotten stronger with accumulated years, and like a tree it wears its injuries proudly. When his voice breaks just slightly in the middle of “Everytime I See a Butterfly,” it is a moment not of weakness, but of deep character. McCann’s natural presence defies the artificial recording techniques of the era. Even adult-contemporary ballads and smooth-jazz numbers become soulful in McCann’s hands. “A Thousand Days,” “Once In a While” and “I Remember” are spellbindingly romantic — beneath their fragile sheer these songs contain big, beating hearts. McCann handles “My Funny Valentine” as only a 30-year veteran can, but the real gem is “You Had to Know,” a heartbreaking soul ballad by McCann’s long-lost brother Donny Hathaway.