McCoy Tyner
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| McCoy Tyner | |
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 McCoy Tyner in 1973
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | McCoy Tyner |
| Born | December 11, 1938 |
| Origin | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Genre(s) | Hard bop Modern Creative Cuban jazz Modal jazz Mainstream jazz Post bop |
| Occupation(s) | Musician Composer Bandleader |
| Instrument(s) | Piano |
| Label(s) | Impulse! Blue Note Milestone Telarc |
| Associated acts | John Coltrane |
| Website | http://mccoytyner.com |
Alfred McCoy Tyner (born 11 December 1938[1]) is a jazz pianist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet and a long solo career.[2]
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Tyner was born in Philadelphia as the oldest of three children. He was encouraged to study piano by his mother. He began studying the piano at age 13 and within two years, music had become the focal point in his life. His early influences included Bud Powell, a Philadelphia neighbor.
His brother, Jarvis Tyner, became vice presidential candidate of the American Communist Party.
[edit] Early career
Tyner's first main exposure came with Benny Golson, being the first pianist in Golson's and Art Farmer's legendary Jazztet (1960). After departing the Jazztet, Tyner joined Coltrane's group in 1960. (Coltrane had known Tyner for a while, and featured one of the pianist's compositions, "The Believer", as early as 1958.) He appeared on the saxophonist's popular recording of "My Favorite Things" for Atlantic Records. The Coltrane Quartet, which consisted of Coltrane on tenor sax, Tyner, Jimmy Garrison on bass, and Elvin Jones on drums, toured almost non-stop between 1961 and 1965 and recorded a number of classic albums, including Live at the Village Vanguard, Ballads, Live at Birdland, Crescent, A Love Supreme, and The John Coltrane Quartet Plays ..., on the Impulse! label.
Tyner has recorded a number of highly influential albums in his own right. While in Coltrane's group, he recorded a series of important albums (primarily in the piano trio format) for Impulse! Records.[1]
The pianist also appeared as a sideman in many of the highly acclaimed Blue Note Records albums of the 1960s, although was often credited as 'etc.' on the cover of these albums (when listing the sidemen on the album) in order to respect his contractual obligations at Impulse Records.[1]
[edit] Post-Coltrane
After leaving Coltrane's group, Tyner produced a series of post-bop albums released on Blue Note Records from 1967 to 1970 which included The Real McCoy (1967), Tender Moments (1967), Expansions (1968) and Extensions (1970). Soon thereafter he moved to the Milestone label and recorded many influential albums, including Sahara (1972), Enlightenment (1973), and Fly with the Wind (1976), which featured flautist Hubert Laws, drummer Billy Cobham, and a string orchestra. His music for Blue Note and Milestone often took the Coltrane quartet's music as a point of departure and also incorporated African and East Asian musical elements. On Sahara, for instance, Tyner plays koto, in addition to piano, flute, and percussion. These albums are often cited as examples of vital, innovative jazz from the 1970s that was neither fusion nor free jazz. Trident (1975) is notable for featuring Tyner on harpsichord (rarely heard in jazz) and celeste, in addition to his primary instrument, piano.
Tyner still records and tours regularly and played from the 1980s through '90s with a trio that included Avery Sharpe on bass and Aaron Scott on drums. He made a trio of solo recordings for Blue Note, starting with Revelations (1988) and culminating with Soliloquy (1991). Today Tyner records for the Telarc label and has been playing with different trios, one of which has included Charnett Moffett on bass and Eric Harland on drums. In 2008, Tyner toured with his quartet, which featured legendary jazz saxophonist Gary Bartz with Gerald Cannon (bass) and Eric Kamau Gravatt (drums).
McCoy was also a judge for the 6th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers. [3]
[edit] Style
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This section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (June 2009) |
Among many other things, Tyner's playing can be distinguished by a low bass left hand, in which he tends to raise his arm relatively high above the keyboard for an emphatic attack; the fact that Tyner is left-handed may contribute to this distinctively powerful style. Tyner's unique right-hand soloing is recognizable for a detached, or staccato quality, and descending arpeggios, both of a triadic shape and in other patterns. His unique approach to chord voicing (most characteristically by fourths) has influenced a wide array of contemporary jazz pianists.
[edit] Discography
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: McCoy Tyner |
- NEA Jazz Masters video biography narrated by Billy Taylor
- McCoy Tyner Official Homepage
- McCoy Tyner at Jazz Resource Center
- McCoy Tyner Sessionography
- NEA Jazz Masters Biography
- McCoy Tyner recent live concert review
- The McCoy Tyner Discography
