Comment

Les McCann’s second solo album for Atlantic is a showcase for the pianist’s singing voice, a supple, humble baritone that proved to be the musician’s secret weapon. Comment is a family affair, utilizing longtime friends and associates of McCann. The album features four selections from Helen and Kay Lewis, the Detroit songwriters that were given their first record deal by McCann in 1958. The Lewises had already delivered “Baby, Baby” and “Can’t We Be Stranger Again” to the Motown label, where they were recorded by the Miracles and Edwin Starr, respectively — but the songs find their true home in McCann’s hands. He handles them not as pop songs but as hymns, giving them a naturalistic, soulful reading that gets straight to their core. The other major participant here is Roberta Flack, who duets with McCann on “How Many Broken Wings” and “Baby, Baby.” Though Flack is undoubtedly a more virtuosic singer than McCann, they are completely attuned in terms of emotion. Their voices are as empathic as they are world weary, and they sing not only from a shared view of music, but of humanity.