McCoy Tyner

A Love Supreme

John Coltrane · 1965

The Real McCoy

McCoy Tyner · 1967

The four years of the Coltrane Classic Quartet (1961–65) represent one of the most concentrated periods of creation in jazz history. ElvinElvin Jonesエルヴィン・ジョーンズ's polyrhythm and McCoyMcCoy Tynerマッコイ・タイナー's wide-voicing left hand gave Coltrane something to push against.

Speak No Evil

Wayne Shorter · 1966

Night Dreamer

Wayne Shorter · 1964

The 1964–66 Blue Note period was when Wayne ShorterWayne Shorterウェイン・ショーター's compositional voice matured rapidly. On Night DreamerNight DreamerWayne Shorter · 1964 and Speak No EvilSpeak No EvilWayne Shorter · 1966 he established his signature 'mysterious beauty' language. Lee MorganLee Morganリー・モーガン, McCoy TynerMcCoy Tynerマッコイ・タイナー, and Elvin JonesElvin Jonesエルヴィン・ジョーンズ brought it to life.

Page One

Joe Henderson · 1963

Page OnePage OneJoe Henderson · 1963 (1963) was HendersonJoe Hendersonジョー・ヘンダーソン's Blue Note debut. The album introduced 'Recorda Me' and 'Blue Bossa,' two tunes that quickly became standards and thrust Henderson to the center of the scene. McCoy Tyner was simultaneously deep in his Coltrane years.

A Love Supreme

John Coltrane · 1965

July 26, 1965, Antibes, France. The only known live performance of 'A Love SupremeA Love SupremeJohn Coltrane · 1965' in its entirety. Officially archived by INA (the French national audiovisual institute). The classic quartet at its most ferocious, near the end of the era.

— Coltrane — A Love Supreme, Antibes 1965, 1965

In November 1961, John ColtraneJohn Coltraneジョン・コルトレーン recorded a two-week residency at the Village Vanguard with an expanded group including Eric Dolphy and Reggie WorkmanReggie Workmanレジー・ワークマン, stretching out on "Chasin' the Trane." DownBeat called it "anti-jazz" — and it opened the door to free jazz.

— John Coltrane: His Life and Music, Lewis Porter, 1998

A Love Supreme

John Coltrane · 1965

August 1965, Comblain-la-Tour, Belgium. RTBF's color broadcast — a rare and valuable color film of the classic quartet, captured just days after the Antibes 'A Love SupremeA Love SupremeJohn Coltrane · 1965' performance, with the band still riding that intensity.

— Coltrane — Comblain-la-Tour 1965, 1965

JuJu

Wayne Shorter · 1965

JuJuJuJuWayne Shorter · 1965 (1964) borrowed John ColtraneJohn Coltraneジョン・コルトレーン's golden quartet rhythm section (McCoy TynerMcCoy Tynerマッコイ・タイナー, Elvin JonesElvin Jonesエルヴィン・ジョーンズ, Reggie WorkmanReggie Workmanレジー・ワークマン) for Wayne ShorterWayne Shorterウェイン・ショーター. Absorbing Coltrane's gravity, Shorter's distinct compositional voice emerged decisively.

— Footprints: The Life and Work of Wayne Shorter, Michelle Mercer, 2004

A Love Supreme

John Coltrane · 1965

McCoy TynerMcCoy Tynerマッコイ・タイナー anchored John ColtraneJohn Coltraneジョン・コルトレーン's classic quartet from 1960 to 1965. His left-hand quartal voicings and right-hand pentatonic flurries provided the harmonic foundation of A Love SupremeA Love SupremeJohn Coltrane · 1965.

— John Coltrane: His Life and Music, Lewis Porter, 1998

In late 1965 McCoy TynerMcCoy Tynerマッコイ・タイナー left John ColtraneJohn Coltraneジョン・コルトレーン, unable to follow the leader's increasingly free direction. He said he 'couldn't hear what I was playing anymore,' and went on to establish his own leader career on Impulse and Milestone.

— The House That Trane Built: The Story of Impulse Records, Ashley Kahn, 2006

On 1997's Songbook, Kenny GarrettKenny Garrettケニー・ギャレット established himself as a composer carrying on the McCoy TynerMcCoy Tynerマッコイ・タイナー legacy — his most important post-Miles album, completing his own modal direction.

— Kenny Garrett: Songbook, JazzTimes, 1997

Inner Urge

Joe Henderson · 1965

McCoy TynerMcCoy Tynerマッコイ・タイナー recorded Inner UrgeInner UrgeJoe Henderson · 1965 just nine days before A Love Supreme, with the same rhythm section from Coltrane's quartet — but without Coltrane. Tyner's voicings gave Joe HendersonJoe Hendersonジョー・ヘンダーソン a "wall" to play against, producing modal jazz through a distinctly non-Coltrane vision.

A Love Supreme

John Coltrane · 1965

Coltrane's Sound

John Coltrane · 1964

My Favorite Things

John Coltrane · 1961

Olé Coltrane

John Coltrane · 1961

The pianist of Coltrane's celebrated quartet didn't leave over any lack of loyalty — he left over where the music was heading. As Coltrane pushed deeper into free jazz in 1965, Tyner walked, saying he simply didn't want to play that way. The irony is that he's right there on Ascension, the very record marking that turn.

— Statement stmt-mccoy-tyner-on-john-coltrane-3

Page One

Joe Henderson · 1963

Inner Urge

Joe Henderson · 1965

The Real McCoy

McCoy Tyner · 1967

McCoy Tyner said of Joe Henderson, his front line on The Real McCoy (1967), that you could tell whose sound it was in one note. That same instantly identifiable tenor turns up in the credits of an R&B album in 1982, a long way from the Blue Note session.

— Statement stmt-mccoy-tyner-on-joe-henderson

A Love Supreme

John Coltrane · 1965

Coltrane's Sound

John Coltrane · 1964

My Favorite Things

John Coltrane · 1961

Olé Coltrane

John Coltrane · 1961

McCoy Tyner recalled that what Coltrane wanted in a bassist wasn't someone who kept strict time, but someone free enough to hear the music and step away from its form. Jimmy Garrison fit that description, anchoring records like A Love Supreme.

— Statement stmt-mccoy-tyner-on-jimmy-garrison

I never felt intimidated by John Coltrane, because I knew his mother, his cousin Mary, and his family. He used to pat me on the back, "This is my little brother, here."

Tyner recalls that his closeness to Coltrane's family kept him from ever feeling intimidated in the quartet.

I was so immersed in the music when I was with John. The influence was so great, and the roles we all played in that group were so powerful; you couldn't divorce yourself from it just because you weren't physically there.

In a 1997 interview, Tyner describes how the quartet's pull stayed with him long after he left in 1965.

Yeah, because harmonically I think he was going some place else and I didn't want to play like Cecil Taylor or Sun Ra, I didn't want to play like that.

Asked why he left Coltrane's group in 1965, Tyner points to where Coltrane was heading harmonically.

He used to be on an airplane, he would be in the hotel, I would walk past his room and he would be practicing on his horn because he was hearing something and he had to articulate it.

Tyner recalls Coltrane practicing constantly on the road with the quartet.

I think John was looking for a bass player who had the ability to not necessarily get locked into form but could move away from that if he could hear what was going on.

On why Coltrane wanted Jimmy Garrison, who had been playing with Ornette Coleman, in the quartet.

Joe was a great thinker in terms of improvisation and he had a great sound, he had a distinguished sound. I could tell him from any other, like I could with John.

Asked to talk about Henderson's playing, just after discussing their album The Real McCoy.