b. Eau Claire, Wisconsin, USA. A talented guitarist from the Midwest, McCann studied with Jack Peterson at the University of North Texas, from where he attained his degree cum laude. He also taught there and appeared on several albums by the university’s acclaimed One O’Clock Lab Band (Lab ’87, Lab ’88 andLab ’89). In 1988, McCann studied with Dave Holland and Kevin Eubanks while attending the Banff Summer Jazz Workshop in Canada. After graduation, he settled in New York where he formed his own groups, usually either a quartet or trio, and also worked with Maria Schneider’s big band, Bobby Watson’s Electric Band and with Jack Walrath And The Masters Of Suspense. Among many other musicians with whom McCann has performed and sometimes recorded are Randy Brecker, Jon Faddis, the Fast Down Septet, Danny Gottlieb, Pat LaBarbera, Dave Liebman, James Moody, Adam Nussbaum, Pete Petersen, Bobby Previte, oboist Emmanuelle Somer, Ed Thigpen, saxophonist Erwin Vann and Kenny Wheeler. Equipped with virtuoso skills, McCann has consistently displayed an affinity with contemporary jazz trends. While his earlier playing displayed some evidence of other guitar influences, Pat Metheny and John Scofield for example, his constant searching for self expression through his playing and composing, ensured that at the end of the century he was a force to be reckoned with. His signing, in 1999, to Palmetto Records opened up a wider world than that in which McCann had hitherto performed. Original, advanced, but at the same time conscious of the roots of his music, McCann is a major talent.