Les Spann

Leslie Spann, Jr. (May 23, 1932 - January 24, 1989) was an American jazz guitarist and flautist.

Spann was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, United States.

He studied flute and music education at Tennessee State University from 1950 to 1957. He then played with Phineas Newborn (1957), Ronnell Bright (1958), and Dizzy Gillespie, with whom he performed on two Verve Records albums. Spann toured Europe in 1959-61, playing with Quincy Jones, Abbey Lincoln, Ben Webster, Duke Ellington, and Johnny Hodges. He led a quintet for a recording in 1960; his sidemen for the session included Julius Watkins and Tommy Flanagan. He also recorded with Nat Adderley, Benny Bailey, Randy Weston, Curtis Fuller, Charlie Shavers, Red Garland, Jerome Richardson, Wild Bill Davis, Charles Mingus, Duke Pearson, Sonny Stitt, and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis.

Discography

With Nat Adderley

• That's Right! (Riverside, 1960)

With Benny Bailey

• Big Brass (Candid, 1960)

With Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis

• Lock, the Fox (RCA Victor, 1966)

With Duke Ellington

• Side by Side (Verve, 1959) - with Johnny Hodges
• Back to Back: Duke Ellington and Johnny Hodges Play the Blues (Verve, 1959) - with Johnny Hodges
• Paris Blues (United Artists, 1961)

With Curtis Fuller

• The Magnificent Trombone of Curtis Fuller (Epic, 1961)

With Red Garland

• Solar (Jazzland, 1962)

With Dizzy Gillespie

• The Ebullient Mr. Gillespie (Verve, 1959)
• Have Trumpet, Will Excite! (Verve, 1959)

With Quincy Jones

• The Birth of a Band! (Mercury, 1959)
• The Great Wide World of Quincy Jones (Mercury, 1959)
• I Dig Dancers (Mercury, 1960)
• Newport '61 (Mercury, 1961)

With Sam Jones

• The Chant (Riverside, 1961)
• Down Home (Riverside, 1962)

With Abbey Lincoln

• Abbey Is Blue (Riverside, 1959)

With Charles Mingus

• The Complete Town Hall Concert (Blue Note, 1962 [1994])

With Phineas Newborn, Jr.

• Phineas Newborn, Jr. Plays Harold Arlen's Music from Jamaica (RCA Victor, 1957)

With Duke Pearson

• Honeybuns (Atlantic, 1965)

With Sonny Stitt

• The Matadors Meet the Bull (Roulette, 1965)
• What's New!!! (Roulette, 1966)
• I Keep Comin' Back! (Roulette, 1966)

With Billy Taylor

• Kwamina (Mercury, 1961)

With Ben Webster

• Ben Webster and Associates (Verve, 1959)

With Randy Weston

• Uhuru Afrika (Roulette, 1960)

References

"Les Spann", Grove Jazz online.