MyCoy Tyner's The Real McCoy | Liner notes by Nat Hentoff

Republished with permission.


And beyond that authority, which comes from thorough musicianship, is an incisive individuality of expression. As for Tyner, Coltrane's remark about the clearness of his ideas is so well taken that anyone - whether he knows one chord or one time signature from another - ought to have no problem following the way Tyner's solo here is inexorably built.

"After writing the melody of 'Search for Peace,'" Tyner says, "I chose this title because the song has a tranquil feeling. Tranquil and personal. It's very difficult to verbalize about music; the important thing is what the listener himself gets from the act of listening. But insofar as I can verbalize about this piece, it has to do with a man's submission to God, with the giving over of the self to the universe."

McCoy Tyner & Freddie Hubbard Live in Stuttgart + Interview

McCoy Tyner and Freddie Hubbard in 1961

A torrent of notes on keyboard and flugelhorn. Three decades after the photograph above was taken, pianist McCoy Tyner and trumpeter Freddie Hubbard are back together, this time in Stuttgart, Germany.

Freshly digitized from a nearly disintegrating VHS tape (while the image remains amazingly intact, reminding us about the virtues of analogue formats that at least allow for some sort of extraction), this exciting concert is the complete TV broadcast of McCoy Tyner Trio featuring Freddie Hubbard and Ralph Moore.

Jazztage '90
Stuttgart, Germany
July 13, 1990

Freddie Hubbard (t, flugelhorn), Ralph Moore (ts, ss), McCoy Tyner (p), Avery Sharpe (b), Aaron Scott (d)

McCoy Tyner Big Band

McCoy Tyner Big Band
JazzFest Berlin, Philharmonie
November 3, 1990  

Fly With the Wind (M. Tyner)

Trumpets: Virgil Jones, Kamau Adilifu, Earl Gardner; French Horn: John Clark; Trombones: Frank Lacy, Clark Gayton; Tuba: Howard Johnson; Saxes/Flute: Joe Ford, Doug Harris; Tenor Sax: John Stubblefield; Piano: McCoy Tyner; Bass: Avery Sharpe; Drums: Aaron Scott.

Oh Lady Was Good: 6 Favorite Marian McPartland Piano Interviews

Marian McPartland, the first English lady of jazz piano from Windsor, died earlier this week at 95.

In the 1970s she hosted a show for NPR called Piano Jazz for which she interviewed and played along many musicians (mostly pianists, but not always' dominantly jazz, but also some notable pop instrumentalists). The format of the programme was an hour-long chat and piano playing, whether as solo or duet, and reminiscing about the musical life of each interviewee. Needless to say, thanks to a Marian's long and fruitful career in the States, many of the subjects had prior professional encounters with her. So she knew what she was talking about.

Here is my six favorite moments from those shows.

The Real McCoy (1967)

اگر می خواهید ببینید که پیانو چگونه می تواند کوبندگی یک ساز ضربی را داشته باشد، و نوازندۀ آن درست مثل نوازندۀ یک ساز بادی با موسیقی اش «حرف» بزند و بتوانید در هر لحظه صدای او را چنین روشن و آشکار بشنوید، باید به موسیقی مک کوی تاینر نوازندۀ پیانو و آهنگساز فیلادلفیایی گوش کنید و اگر از من می پرسید که کدام یک از 71 آلبوم او که از 1961 شروع شده و تا همین سال پیش ادامه پیدا می کنند، انتخاب من Real McCoy (1967) خواهد بود؛ هفتمین آلبوم تاینر و اولین کار او برای «بلونت» بعد از یک دوره کار برای «ایمپالس» که همزمان آثار متأخر کوارتت جان کولترین (با پیانوی تاینر) را منتشر می کرد.

اما به جز پیانوی پرهیجان و نفس گیر تاینر، وجود ستاره های بزرگی مثل جو هندرسون (ساکسفون تنور)، ران کارتر (بیس) و الوین جونز( درامز) نیز می توانند بهانه های کافی برای گوش سپردن های طولانی به این آلبوم باشند.

قطعۀ آغازین آلبوم، Passion dance، یکی از جانانه ترین قطعات مدرنی است که در این موسیقی جاز ما اجرا شده است. در blues on the corner او خاطرات کودکی اش در فیلادلفیا را به زبان موسیقی باز می گرداند و در search for peace به جستجوی آرامش معنوی می رود که به نظرش جاز برای رسیدن به آن خلق شده است.