One wouldn't have to be familiar with the recordings of the legendary John Coltrane quartet, or even with jazz music, to appreciate the musical gift of pianist McCoy Tyner. Tyner, slated to perform a solo piano concert in the Memorial Chapel this Saturday, made a name for himself by combining a rare degree of technical virtuosity for any pianist with a frank, visceral approach to the piano. Tyner is explicit where others are understated, heavy where others are dainty. As Coltrane appealed to many by his unabashed honesty and quasi-religious veneration for the creative spirit, MyCoy Tyner plays the piano with uncensored emotion: sometimes bombastically, other times tenderly, always assertively, and never formulaically.
Tyner's self-made music career saw its beginnings when he chose to pursue piano instead of voice at age thirteen. His mother, proprietor of a beauty salon in west Philadelphia, saw to it that young McCoy receive three years of formal instruction, and in short order McCoy showed promise as a jazz musician, having listened carefully to precursors Thelonious Monk, Art Tatum, and Bud Powell. Two years later, McCoy began organizing his own group, which rehearsed in his mother's salon. Soon after, Tyner began playing regularly in Atlantic City clubs with musicians like Lee Morgan.
By 1959, the year McCoy graduated from high school, his prodigious talent had garnered the attention of fellow Philadelphian Benny Golson, who organized the Jazztet the same year, inviting McCoy to join him and trumpeter Art Farmer in New York City. The Jazztet was instrumental in developing McCoy's fledgling career, because their acclaim in New York got McCoy noticed almost immediately. Their first studio record, "Meet The Jazztet," was McCoy's second recording date.
Tyner's longtime acquaintance with John Coltrane began when the latter invited then seventeen year-old Tyner to go on the road with his group. Tyner's approach to the piano was, at that time, mostly diatonic and triadic. The album "Coltrane's Sound," which followed the monumental "Giant Steps," was Tyner's first with the Coltrane group. McCoy's playing on "Sound" reveals a musician in transition. Tyner had already begun to experiment with the voicing and texture that would earn him so much distinction in years to come. By the release of "My Favorite Things," McCoy's pianism had taken on an unprecedented character. Discarding triads almost altogether, Tyner instead used open intervals (fourths and fifths) and pentatonic (five note) scales. Tyner's voicing approach was not only instrumental to Coltrane's evolving modal compositions, but, in the opinion of this reviewer, defined the very art form Coltrane's quartet was seeking to create. Perhaps no other pianist before or since the Coltrane quartet has developed so immediately recognizable a style.
Tyner continued to develop as a musician even after leaving the Coltrane quartet in 1966, creating such monumental recordings as "The Real McCoy" with bassist Ron Carter and his old band member, drummer Elvin Jones. Tyner's latest trio, which includes bassist Avery Sharpe and drummer Aaron Scott, recently won a Grammy for their performance of Coltrane's "Impressions" with saxophonist Michael Brecker on the ground-breaking album "Infinity." The last several years have also witnessed a recording project with the trio of saxophonist Joshua Redman, joined by trumpeter Roy Hargrove. Entitled "Prelude and Sonata," the album is said to document the more "straight ahead" aspect of Tyner's playing than that showcased on "Infinity," an album with which this reviewer is rather familiar. As such, I can recommend the album to anyone seeking an "impression" of Tyner's current style, which is more...vociferous...than his playing of old. Also on my mandatory listening list to anyone seeking to gain a handle on Tyner's sound before Saturday night's concert (don't walk, run) is "A Love Supreme," a beautiful album.
Those smart enough to get their tickets while they still can are in for a potentially mind-altering and, at the very least, thoroughly musical experience.
Tyner will perform in the Memorial Chapel this Saturday at 8 p.m. Tickets are $18 and $16 for adults, $16 and $14 for senior citizens, $12 and $10 for students, and $7 and $6 for Lawrence students.--------