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January 2005:
McCoy
Tyner is one of the most significant pianists to emerge from the
1960’s. I caught him recently at the Hollywood Jazz Festival in
Florida. This was the top performance that I witnessed that year,
followed by Michel J. Stevens (from Conference Call) in Memphis and
Junior Mance in Chicago. Not only was the audience blessed to have
McCoy in the house, it was an extra special event since he was joined by
fellow Philadelphian Stanley Clarke on acoustic bass and one of the
drummers from Wayne Shorter’s Weather Report (of the 1970’s). The
highlight of the evening was McCoy’s interpretation of the old classic
I’ll Take Romance. The day before the concert, Ft.
Lauderdale/West Palm Beach’s newspaper (named the Sun-Sentinel)
had a write up on Tyner by a local journalist who had interviewed him.
The Hollywood Jazz Festival was a tribute to Elvin Jones, so McCoy
talked to the journalist about the relationship he had with Elvin, as
well as with the rest of the Coltrane Quartet. Tyner started playing
with Coltrane at the tender age of 17, and since he was the youngest in
the group, Elvin would always look out for him. If he were at a bar
having a cigarette, Elvin would come up to him, put out his cigarette,
and say to him, “don’t smoke”. He would then go tell the bartender to
only give McCoy orange juice when he would order his signature vodka and
orange juice drink. Tyner is in high demand today, and the proprietor
of the Jazz Showcase in Chicago told our audience (after the Junior
Mance show I was describing previously) that McCoy was coming to town,
yet we were going to have to pay extra money in order to see him. What
amazed me about the Hollywood show was the supernatural ability of his
opening act. This band was the Manuela Valera Quartet featuring Seamus
Blake. Valera is a pianist my age (who I went to school with in New
York) who has remarkable technique. Once a fellow student of mine told
me about Seamus, and I now feel fortunate enough to have caught him
live. I listened to a lot of good jazz in my day, yet Valera and Blake
had the strongest foundation of any of the contemporary musicians I’ve
ever heard before. The second night of the festival was just as strong
in terms of a line-up: Ira Sullivan (who gave me a big pep-talk before I
went off to music school) opened up for the Bobby Hutcherson Quartet
featuring Eric Reed. The highlight of that evening was Ira covering
Body and Soul and Adderley’s Bohemia After Dark. If you want
to check out a great Hutcherson album, go out and buy the Blue Note
album Dialogue (with Sam Rivers and Andrew Hill) or check him out
with Archie Shepp on The New Thing at Newport (he is in top form
on Le Matin Des Noire.) As far as McCoy’s work is concerned,
check out the up-tempo opening track on his Inception 1960’s date
for Impulse! (There is No Greater Love is also remarkable). Yet
McCoy’s best work as a leader (him in full form at least) in on The
Real McCoy, a 1967 Blue Note date. |
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