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Wayne Shorter: Night Dreamer
by John Kelman
By the time he made this recording, a few short months before he was to join Miles Davis' groundbreaking second quintet, saxophonist Wayne Shorter had already earned a reputation as a player combining heady intellectualism with a more visceral approach as a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. He'd also released four records for the Vee-Jay label that demonstrated how, while he'd learned a great deal with Blakey, he was developing his own voice, albeit still in the hard bop ...
Continue ReadingMcCoy Tyner Trio at Yoshi's
by Bret Primack
On the last Saturday night in January, during the first week of McCoy Tyner's annual two week residency at Yoshi's, I made the trip from Tucson to hear a Tyner Trio featuring Stanley Clarke and Billy Cobham. That sort of lineup, all too infrequent, was cause of celebration, and worth the thousand mile journey.I've heard McCoy Tyner live a dozen or so times in the last thirty-five years, all good, but three standout:September 12, 1971: A John Coltrane ...
Continue ReadingMcCoy Tyner: Shadows and Pulse at the Blue Note
by Dr. Judith Schlesinger
Driving down to see McCoy Tyner at the Blue Note, listening to his Grammy-nominated Illuminations along the way, I wondered what new thing I could possibly say about this jazz icon. Of course the CD is terrific, as already documented on AAJ, and I knew his performance would be masterful. I figured I could always discuss the difference in the band -- it would be Billy Cobham and Stanley Clarke that night, rather than the CD's constellation of Gary Bartz, ...
Continue ReadingMcCoy Tyner: Counterpoints
by AAJ Staff
McCoy Tyner has basically been making the same insanely luscious and gorgeously dense modal music for nearly 40 years now. Which means that Counterpoints , which consists of five unreleased live tracks from a 1978 Tokyo concert (others were issued in 1979 on the currently unavailable Passion Dance ), is unlikely to offer anything new to anybody who's got more than a passing familiarity with the legendary pianist's work. That said, the sound is clear, Tyner is in ...
Continue ReadingMcCoy Tyner: Illuminations
by Joel Roberts
McCoy Tyner's latest, Illuminations, shows that at 65, the iconic pianist is still a force to be reckoned with, still an artist looking for new challenges--even if it the terrain he covers here is more traditional than some of his past explorations. Tyner leads a truly all-star quintet (trumpeter Terence Blanchard, saxophonist Gary Bartz, bassist Christian McBride and drummer Lewis Nash) through a set that includes four Tyner originals, three standards and tunes by three of his ...
Continue ReadingA Fireside Chat with McCoy Tyner, Revisited
by AAJ Staff
While McCoy Tyner has certainly benefited from his allegiance to John Coltrane, his legacy (right or wrong) continues to be eclipsed by the beloved icon. But by virtue of juxtaposition, Tyner remains a dominant influence on modern jazz. All About Jazz: After the quartet recording with Bobby Hutcherson, Eric Harland, and Charnett Moffett (Land of Giants), Illuminations features a new lineup (Gary Bartz, Terence Blanchard, Lewis Nash, and Christian McBride). McCoy Tyner: Gary Bartz is a ...
Continue ReadingMcCoy Tyner: Tender Moments
by Norman Weinstein
This is the first, and arguably, the finest big band album the distinguished pianist ever recorded. Six horns are utilized, with the neglected James Spaulding alternating on flute and alto sax along with tenor saxophonist Bennie Maupin, trombonist Julian Priester, trumpeter Lee Morgan, and the exotic horns, with Bob Northern on French horn and Howard Johnson on tuba. There are six Tyner originals gracing the frustratingly brief album (38 minutes). But repeated listening reveals something very subtle and seductive about ...
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