McCoy Tyner Trio with Special Guest Joe Lovano

McCoy Tyner (piano), Eric Gravath (drums), Gerald Cannon (bass), Joe Lovano (saxophones)

Pianist McCoy Tyner is a big name in the jazz world. At a very young age he acquired a reputation as pianist in saxophonist John Coltrane’s celebrated quartet. McCoy’s special guest is saxophonist Joe Lovano, one of the masters of the instrument.

Born into a musical family, like Coltrane, Tyner comes from Philadelphia. He started playing piano at thirteen and after two years he had completely fallen under its spell. Besides three years music tuition, McCoy Tyner is for the most part self-taught. He named Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk and Art Tatum as his initial musical influences. Tyner became pianist in saxophonist Benny Golson’s well-known Jazztet. In 1959 he got to know saxophonist John Coltrane who soon told him that he was the man he wanted for his new quartet. Tyner was just 22. That was in 1960.

McCoy Tyner acquired fame with the John Coltrane Quartet that further included bassist Jimmy Garrison and drummer Elvin Jones. Between 1961 and 1965 he basically toured non-stop and worked on a number of classic albums: ‘Live At The Village Vanguard’, ‘Ballads’, ‘A Love Supreme’ and ‘Ascension’. They pushed back frontiers together. The quartet had tremendous drive and emitted incredible power. Sometimes the music seemed ready to explode.

While playing with Coltrane, McCoy Tyner began recording albums under his own name such as ‘Inception’. After leaving Coltrane in 1965, McCoy Tyner made a number of albums for Blue Note, including the classic, ‘The Real McCoy’. He then moved to the Milestone label where he recorded many influential albums such as ‘Sahara’ (1972), ‘Enlightenment’ (1973) and ‘Fly With The Wind’ (1976). These albums are examples of essential, innovative jazz from the seventies.

McCoy Tyner is known as the pianist of the big chords and the rich orchestral sound. He treats the piano as a grand, impressive imposing instrument. His style is ornate, shamelessly romantic, robust, magnificent and straightforward. McCoy Tyner is a master in creating large contrasts. There’s still so much tenderness in his ballads. Tyner is 71 at the moment and an elder statesman of jazz.

Saxophonist Joe Lovano soon immersed himself in the jam sessions of that time in Cleveland. He is the son of an amateur saxophonist in Cleveland, Tony ‘Big T’ Lovano. While studying at the renowned Berklee College of Music in Boston, he came to know musicians such as John Scofield, Bill Frisell and Kenny Werner. He then went on to tour for three years with Woody Herman’s Thundering Herd and joined the Mel Lewis-Thad Jones Orchestra with whom he recorded six albums. He went on to form a fantastic trio with drummer Paul Motian and guitarist Bill Frisell and also formed a masterful quartet with guitarist John Scofield.  He made 21 albums in his own right on the legendary Blue Note label. He has the art of being able to play the saxophone both adventurously or very traditionally and has a wonderful, pliable tone. He recorded the album, ‘Quartet Live’ with McCoy Tyner.