McCoy Tyner

Alfred McCoy Tyner ( born December 11, 1938 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American jazz pianist and composer, he is the brother of communist politician and former candidate for the vice- president of the United States Jarvis Tyner.

Life and work

At the urging of his mother, he began playing the piano at the age of 13. In Philadelphia he met regularly with his friends Mickey Roker and Lee Morgan to jam sessions in the apartments. Since he was 15, Tyner performs with jazz groups. Early influences were the brothers Bud and Richie Powell, who lived in the neighborhood. Around this time he was for a short time the Sunni faith, during this time he called himself Sulaimon Saud, but always worked under his real name later. In Philadelphia he first met John Coltrane, with whom he performed in the local club Red Rooster.

In 1959, he played for six months in Jazztet by Art Farmer and Benny Golson before 1960 John Coltrane joined, with whom he recorded the same year, Coltrane Plays the Blues. In 1962, the classic John Coltrane Quartet with Coltrane, Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones, in which he played a supporting role until 1965. During this time, Tyner appeared on albums like A Love Supreme (1964, Impulse! ), And Crescent (1964, Impulse! ) With, as well as a sideman with Joe Henderson's debut album Page One in June 1963. According to Ian Carr was the John Coltrane Quartet, the most influential quartet in jazz history and Tyner played an important role.

In addition, Tyner has also played with saxophonist Wayne Shorter on Blue Note Records, as in the album Night Dreamer 1964, and from 1962 record under his own name on the label Impulse! published, in which Elvin Jones, Art Davis and Jimmy Garrison participated. In 1966, Tyner performed as a soloist or with a Trio or Quartet own in the United States, Europe and Japan. During this time, Tyner also worked with Ike and Tina Turner, Jimmy Witherspoon and other artists. In 1967 he published his epochal album The Real McCoy on the Blue Note Records label, with Joe Henderson, Ron Carter and Elvin Jones again. With larger ensembles ( among others with Lee Morgan and Joe Chambers ) Tyner recorded the album Tender Moments (1967 ), the first title to John fashion he dedicated to the recently deceased John Coltrane.

In the early 1970s changed Tyner to Orrin Keepnews ' Label Milestone for which he recorded albums like Sahara ( 1972), the solo album Echoes of a Friend (1972 ), Enlightenment (1973, with Azar Lawrence) and Fly With The Wind (1976 ). In 1978 he played with the Milestone Jazz Stars (including with Sonny Rollins, Ron Carter and Al Foster). 1988 was the big-band production Uptown / Downtown, including with Kamau Muata Adilifu, Howard Johnson, Robin Eubanks and Steve Turré. 1989 Tyner returned back to the Blue Note label and took the album Ellington Things Is not That What They Used to Be ( partially duet with George Adams and John Scofield ) and the duo album Manhattan Moods (1993 ) with Bobby Hutcherson on. After two albums for Impulse! joined Tyner 1998 Telarc label. One of his rare appearances as a sideman in the 1980s and 1990s include the participation in the album David Murray Special Quartet, formed in 1990.

His music

In addition to the Powell brothers Tyner was influenced early on by Thelonious Monk and Art Tatum, but developed during his time in the Coltrane Quartet and his own stylistic identity. The saxophonist praised its independent piano playing: "His greatest gift is his melodic ingenuity, (...) the clarity of his ideas. He also has a very personal sound on the piano - a sound that is because of the cluster which it has used, and the manner in which he distinguishes them individually, very clear and bright is ( ... ) In addition, McCoy has an unusual sense of form ( ... ) He never plays conventional stereotypes. And finally: McCoy has taste. He can take what he wants and make something wonderful of it, " After Coltrane 's biographer Bill Cole succeeded Tyner early, " a synthesis of Garland, Monk and shape Wynton Kelly. "; " He has a strong left hand, and he shows early on his strong ability to join with extremely imaginative harmonies. " His colleague Richie Beirach emphasizes the stylistic element of the stride piano of Tatum School, " McCoy took the stride piano as a its main stylistic elements - with the fifths in the bass and the chords in the middle of the keyboard. This is what I call innovation, if you take something from the past and incorporated into the vocabulary of the present. "

Martin Kunzler analyzed the innovations Tyner: " He freed the harmony of their tonikalen form binding. The functional harmony he opposed a new modal ( ... ) founded harmonious concept. The pianist created with this transform linear Tonorganisation in the vertical and its extension considerable improvisational freedom for themselves and the soloists. " McCoy Tyner reflected his role in the Coltrane Quartet: " The group worked primarily as a cohesive unit. If I had to detach my function in it once and analyze, I can only say it was the orchestra. In other words, I had to give the quartet sonority. Or, as John used to say, the density and Volltönigkeit. Well a piano can actually be treated like an orchestra and that's what I try and gave the quartet a sound that was getting fuller, thicker, more comprehensive. "

After Ian Carr Tyner has always played a composer, with a forward-looking view for the music and a unwavering instinct for the moment when he can improvise when he has to play with the rhythm section to support the soloist. He calls him one of the most dynamic pianist playing; while Tyner never play "free", but prefer to play tonal and controlled. In an interview with Joachim -Ernst Berendt expressed Tyner, all music is " a journey of the soul into new, uncharted territory. ( ... ) I try going to hear the music from many different countries, from Africa, India, the Arab world, European classical music ... all kinds of music are interconnected " to feature his powerful game Tyner explained:". You have to become one with the instrument. You start to learn an instrument, but first the piano is nothing more than an object. But then you and your instrument one. " McCoy Tyner are influenced with his signature sound many subsequent pianists such as Hal Galper, John Hicks, Henry Butler, Joanne Brackeen and the German Joachim Kühn.

Tyner is also the composer of some well known titles such as "Passion Dance", " contemplation ", " Blues on the Corner ", " Land of the Lonely ", " Celestial Chant ", " Enlightement Suite" and "Desert Cry".

Honors

The recorded with McCoy Tyner Big Band Journey won the 1995 Grammy Award in the category " Best Large Jazz Ensemble Performance." Tyner 's album Infinity ( with Michael Brecker ) was established in 1996 won a Grammy in the category " Best Jazz Instrumental Performance ". In 2002 he received the Jazz Masters Fellowship of the state NEA Foundation.

In-house publications (selection)

Inception (1962, Impulse! )
Reaching Fourth (1962, Impulse! ) With Roy Haynes and Henry Grimes
Nights Of Ballads & Blues (1963, Impulse! )
Today and Tomorrow (1963, Impulse! )
McCoy Tyner Plays Ellington (1964, Impulse! )
The Real McCoy (1967, Blue Note ) with Joe Henderson
Tender Moments (1967, Blue Note )
Time for Tyner (1968, Blue Note )
Expansion (1968, Blue Note ) with piano versions of Coltrane compositions
Extensions (1970, Blue Note )
Asante (1970, Blue Note )
Sahara (1972, Milestone ) with, inter alia, Alphonse Mouzon and Sonny Fortune
Song For My Lady (1972, Milestone )
Echoes of a Friend (1972, Milestone )
Enlightenment (1973, Milestone )
Song of the New World (1973, Milestone )
Sama Layuca (1974, Milestone ) with, inter alia, Bobby Hutcherson and Gary Bartz
Atlantis (1974, Milestone )
Trident (1975, Milestone )
Fly With The Wind (1976, Milestone )
Focal Point (1976, Milestone )
Cosmos (1976, Blue Note )
Super Trio (1977, Milestone ) in two trio with Ron Carter (b) / Tony Williams ( d) and Eddie Gomez ( b) / Jack DeJohnette ( d)
Inner Voices (1977, Milestone )
The Greeting (1978, Milestone )
Horizon (1979, Milestone )
Together (1979, Milestone )
Uptown / Downtown (1988, Milestone )
New York Reunion ( 1990) with Joe Henderson, Ron Carter and Al Foster
Remembering John (1991, Enja )
Journey (1993, Birdology ) with Big Band
Infinity (1995, Impulse)
Autumn Mood (1997, Delta )
What The World Needs Now ( The Music Of Burt Bacharach ) (1997, Impulse! )
McCoy Tyner and the Latin All Stars (1999, Telarc )
With Stanley Clarke And Al Foster (2000, Telarc )
Land of Giants (2003, Telarc ) with Bobby Hutcherson
McCoy Tyner Quartet ( 2007) with Joe Lovano, Christian McBride and Jeff " Tain " Watts
Guitars (2008, Half Note ) with Marc Ribot, John Scofield, Béla Fleck, Derek Trucks and Bill Frisell

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