by Phil Freeman
All this week, weâre looking at the 19 albums pianist McCoy Tyner recorded between 1970 and 1979. Here are Part 1 and Part 2.
This is McCoy Tyner's debut album, released in 1962. McCoy Tyner - piano Art Davis - bass Elvin Jones. Watch the video for Contemplation from McCoy Tyner's The Real McCoy for free, and see the artwork, lyrics and similar artists.
On August 31 and September 1, 1974, Tyner and his road bandâsaxophonist Azar Lawrence, bassist Juini Booth, drummer Wilby Fletcher, and percussionist Guilherme Francoâplayed at San Franciscoâs Keystone Korner. The gigs were recorded, and the highlights were released on the pianistâs second double live album in as many years, Atlantis. Like 1974âs Enlightenment, it can be a lot to take in; the bandmembers are soloing ferociously, particularly Lawrence, whoâs deep into a post-Coltrane calling-the-spirits zone. Fletcher is a hard-hitting, almost rock-like drummer, and Franco matches his energy level, throwing a constant clatter at him like heâs marching in a Carnival parade in Brazil. Boothâs extended solo on the 18-minute, album-opening title track is positively booming, and Tyner, of course, is tearing up the keyboard as always, spinning out long, elaborate lines while maintaining a serious hard bop groove at the same time. In addition to four Tyner originalsâI love the fact that he was using live gigs to premiere new materialâAtlantis features versions of Duke Ellingtonâs âIn a Sentimental Moodâ and the standard âMy One and Only Love.â The former is a wild, rippling solo performance that heads into Cecil Taylor territory, almost sounding like Tynerâs got four hands at times.
Tynerâs next album, 1975âs Trident, was his first trio set since 1964âs McCoy Tyner Plays Ellington, and that album featured two Latin percussionists, Willie Rodriguez and Johnny Pacheco, on four of its seven tracks. Trident is all trio, and features the return of the rhythm section from 1967âs The Real McCoy and 1970âs Extensions, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Elvin Jones. But Tyner canât help throwing some weirdness into the mix: in addition to piano, he plays harpsichord and celeste. Only half the pieces are new; the group also tackles Antônio Carlos Jobimâs âOnce I Loved,â John Coltraneâs âImpressions,â and Thelonious Monkâs âRuby My Dear.â The moments when Tyner plays harpsichord are fantastic, particularly on the albumâs first track, âCelestial Chant,â because he doesnât try for a baroque classical feel. Instead, he sounds like a â60s garage psych rocker. He pulls a similar trick with the celeste to kick off âOnce I Loved,â before allowing the bouncing bossa nova groove to draw him back to the piano. Hearing Tyner play a Monk composition is inherently fascinating, because I can think of few pianists with less in common. Monkâs deliberately clunky, off-time approach to the keyboard is almost the opposite of Tynerâs linear, high-energy, even frilly style. But Tyner clearly loves Monkâs musicâotherwise he wouldnât have recorded the pieceâand it does wind up bringing something out of him. Itâs well worth hearing, as is Trident as a whole.
In January 1976, Tyner made Fly with the Wind. The primary band included Hubert Laws on flute and alto flute, Ron Carter on bass again, and Billy Cobham on drums, but that core ensemble was augmented by 10 string players, a piccolo player, an oboe player, and a harpist. This could have been a pleasantly drifting dinner music album, except for one factor: Cobham. The Panamanian-American drummer, well known for his work with the Mahavishnu Orchestra, on the Carlos Santana/John McLaughlin album Love Devotion Surrender (and its subsequent tour), and as a solo bandleader, is an absolute monster behind the kit, blending military precision with blinding speed and a positively assaultive sense of swing. His barragesâthereâs no better wordâof percussion drive Tyner to ecstatic heights, especially since thereâs no saxophonist to fight him for time in the spotlight. The title track is eight and a half minutes long, and ends with a fade; this is music that feels like itâll sweep over you like a tsunami and just never stop. The strings are as big a part of that as Cobhamâs relentlessness; when they come in, they surge like something off a Barry White 12â³, adding a lush shimmer to already over-the-top tunes.
Seven months later, in August 1976, Tyner was back in the studio with an entirely different band to make Focal Point. This time, he was joined by three saxophonists: Gary Bartz on alto and soprano (and clarinet), Ron Bridgewater on tenor and soprano, and Joe Ford on alto and soprano (and flute). The rhythm section was Charles Fambrough on bass and Eric Gravatt on drums, with Guilherme Franco on percussion. Gravatt is an under-recognized drummer; he was in Weather Report early on, and played on Eddie Hendersonâs Inside Out, Joe Hendersonâs Canyon Lady, and Julian Priesterâs Love, Love, before leaving the music industry to become, of all things, a prison guard. But his work here is terrific, especially the way he makes the toms sound like plastic buckets. No, seriously, thatâs a good thing in context. On the aptly titled âMode for Dulcimer,â Tyner plays the dulcimer, getting a hillbilly twang out of it thatâs fantastic. When it becomes a conventional piano-horns-and-rhythm piece like so many others heâs recorded, though⦠Still, Gravattâs bucket drums and Francoâs tablas keep things exciting.
Come back tomorrow for two different trios, two live albums, and a session with singers.
The Real McCoy is the seventh album by jazz pianist McCoy Tyner and his first released on the Blue Note label. It was recorded on April 21, 1967 following Tyner's departure from the John Coltrane Quartet and features performances by Tyner with Joe Henderson, Ron Carter and Elvin Jones. Producer Alfred Lion recalls the recording session as a 'pure jazz session. There is absolutely no concession to commercialism, and there's a deep, passionate love for the music embedded in each of the selections'.
Reception[edit]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz selected this album as part of its suggested 'Core Collection' calling it 'A key album in Tyner's discography... Very highly recommended.'[6] The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow states that 'Tyner was entering a period of struggle, although artistically his playing grew quite a bit in the late '60s... easily recommended'.[7]
The pieces[edit]
In the liner notes, Tyner talks about the pieces selected for this album. The titles for 'Passion Dance' and 'Contemplation' came to the pianist only after he'd written the pieces. Whilst the former sounds like 'a kind of American Indian dance, evoking trance-like states', the latter has 'the sound of a man alone. A man reflecting on what religion means to him, reflecting on the meaning of life.' Tyner titled the fourth piece 'Search for Peace' because of its tranquil feeling; it 'has to do with a man's submission to God' and the 'giving over of the self to the universe'. The album closes with an upbeat, merry piece called 'Blues on the Corner', a reminiscent musical portrait of Tyner's childhood: 'When I was growing up in Philadelphia, some of the kids I knew liked to hang out on the corner [...] youngsters talking, kidding around, jiving.'[8]
Track listing[edit]
All compositions by McCoy Tyner
Personnel[edit]
References[edit]
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Real_McCoy_(album)&oldid=938473218'
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