McCoy Tyner does a mid tempo version of George & Ira Gershwin's love song. Something for parents and others who will be shepherding witchs, goblins, monsters, and ghosts on 10/31. Have a wonderful time, especially after the kids are asleep...and you're headed for Adult Halloween!
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In late 1988, producer Michael Cuscuna and Jazz pianist McCoy Tyner began a solo piano recording project at Merkin Hall in New York City. This cover of the Joseph Cosma/Jacques Prevert/Johnny Mercer Pop standard not only changes colors, but dances in the wind!
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One day in 1989, I was browsing at Tower Records when I came across this "Classical piano recording" and found the CD interesting enough to play on the work computer. I played it a bit too often on this level 1 multimedia Windows 3.x unit, and ended up with a burned out disk. Years later, I found it at Borders, and it's been off and on the computer and digital music player over the years.Here's...
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Total mastery here. He's stretching the form like taffy. Tyner played this many times with John Coltrane, the "Giant Steps" composer, during the early days of the Coltrane Quartet. The only recordings that were made, though, were in-the-club bootlegs that I've never heard. If anyone knows how to get a listen to those, please let me know."Giant Steps" performances can sound like cars racing aro...
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A while back, I featured Bruce Hornsby in a Sunday Under the Covers post. In that post, I mentioned that Hornsby's modal harmonies in that song are reminiscent of McCoy Tyner, and it occurs to me that some folks might not know what that means.The problem is that it's difficult to explain without getting into boring conversations about scales, triads and chords based on fourths rather than thir...
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Wow, it's been a while since I've posted anything so here's a good start. For the past year or so I've been getting heavily into non-jazz artists, mostly hip-hop but also some indie stuff. Lately however, I've been getting bored with all of my music and have been buying a ton of new stuff on iTunes; None of which has sated my desire for good music. So this morning I decided to plug my external ...
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McCoy Tyner, Guitars (Half-Note). This is one of the most engaging Tyner collaboration projects since he teamed with the late tenor saxophonist Michael Brecker to record Infinity in 1995 and with Wayne Shorter the following year in the session that produced Extensions. For this release, the pianist set up in a studio with stalwart rhythm companions, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Jack DeJohnett...
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This record bowls me over every time I listen to it. The line-up is a dream: McCoy Tyner, piano; Alice Coltrane, harp; Wayne Shorter, tenor sax, soprano sax; Gary Bartz, alto sax; Ron Carter, acoustic bass; Elvin Jones, drums. The melodies are so left of center but still so listenable...Four tracks, about 40 minutes of music. I'll serve up about half, focusing on the track with Alice Coltrane....
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All Music Guide says,"...Pianist McCoy Tyner's 1974 quintet consisted of the talented youngster Azar Lawrence on tenor and soprano...bassist Joony Booth, drummer Wilby Fletcher and percussionist Guilherme Franco. As is accurately stated in the new liner notes by Neil Tesser, Atlantis was the final recording from Tyner's last band to be based on the music of his former boss, John Coltra...
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Man, what a prolific time this was for McCoy Tyner...in the space of a few months he laid down the sessions that would become The Real McCoy, Time for Tyner, Tender Moments and Expansions - all with a ton of original compositions.This record gets cited most often for McCoy's take on the standard "The Surrey With the Fringe on Top"...for my money, the track you want is McCoy's own "May Street",...
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On January 13th, legendary jazz label Blue Note Records celebrated its 70th anniversary. To help commemorate the occasion, the label is releasing Mosaic: A Celebration of Blue Note Records ., an eight track album performed by an all-star line-up who've dubbed themselves The Blue Note Seven . The septet includes pianist, musical director, and current Blue Note recording artist Bill Charlap wit...
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I don't love this record. A lot of reviewers do, though. It is pretty sophisticated for such a young bandleader, featuring a nonet. Maybe it will grow on me...the large group makes it is a little claustrophobic for my liking...McCoy is joined by trumpeter Lee Morgan, trombonist Julian Priester, altoist James Spaulding, Bennie Maupin on tenor, the French horn of Bob Northern, Howard Johnson on ...
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You could not find a more appropriate title for this record, McCoy's first as a leader for Blue Note. This record is the real deal, the real McCoy!Teamed with Joe Henderson, Elvin Jones and Ron Carter this album hums from beginning to end. Speaking of apt titles, the first track (included here) is Passion Dance and it starts the record with a real spirited swing from the whole ensemble. What I...
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The young lions were able to show some respect! Recorded in late 1964 these sessions were respectful but not staid. The trio of McCoy, Elvin Jones and Jimmy Garrison were aided and abetted by some crisp Latin percussion, which added a distinctive flair to this release. As with all of McCoy's initial Impulse! output, his unique sound is still coming together but already evident in his strong rh...
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This, like pretty much all of McCoy's first solo releases on Impulse!, are great fodder for debate amongst jazz heads. One most of the tracks on his Impulse! albums McCoy often sounds like a different player than the propulsive dynamo who occupied the piano bench for Coltrane. His first few sides were piano trio line-ups and he finally started asserting himself, through his own compostions, on...
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