McCoy Tyner
Plays John Coltrane
Impulse!
For a while McCoy Tyner didn't play the tunes made famous
during his stint with the John Coltrane quartet because
he was tired of being associated primarily with Coltrane's
music. Such a break was probably necessary but unfortunate
since Tyner was as important to the quartet's unique sound
as Coltrane himself. He's recorded in both small group and
big band settings, and influenced the generations of pianists
who have followed him. His excellent technique, use of the
entire keyboard, and percussive approach give him a truly
unique sound and have kept his playing sounding completely
fresh even in the absence of trendy gimmicks. On McCoy
Tyner Plays John Coltrane, Tyner revisits some of the
songs the Coltrane quartet made famous with excellent results.
The trio performance on this disc was recorded
live at The Village Vanguard, a room where the Coltrane
quartet had great success, as part of celebrations for Trane's
71st birthday in 1997. Tyner plays a wide range of material,
from the gentle ballad "Naima" first recorded
on Giant Steps, to the swaggering "Crescent" from
the album of the same name, released the year before Tyner
left the quartet. He is ably accompanied here by master
bassist George Mraz and drummer Al Foster. Mraz lends a
lovely bass line to "Naima" and takes a knockout
solo on "Crescent", while Foster swings throughout,
supporting Tyner's keyboard explorations with strength and
taste.
"Crescent" and "Afro Blue"
are the two tracks that bear the greatest resemblance to
the 1960s-era McCoy Tyner, and both renditions are executed
with style, featuring not only Tyner's full-force chordal
work but wonderful solo contributions from Mraz. Most of
the rest of the set is ballads, and though the touch Tyner
brings to these numbers is more refined than that demonstrated
during his tenure with Coltrane, it is clearly the work
of the same pianist. "I Want to Talk About You",
a song Coltrane first recorded in 1957 and continued to
play through his European tours of 1962-1963, gets a lovely
treatment. The set concludes with "Mr. Day", a
nice blues from the underrated Coltrane Plays the Blues
album; another strong performance that both recalls Tyner's
work with the quartet and stands on its own terms.
Ultimately, this set stands up much more as
a latter-day McCoy Tyner recording than as a tribute to
Coltrane. While Tyner has certainly earned the right to
commemorate Trane any way he sees fit, there is little here
that will specifically make you think of Tyner's old boss.
Nonetheless, for anyone who enjoys the particular brand
of piano that Tyner plays, this is as good a performance
as any, and there certainly isn't another pianist who can
play Tyner the way Tyner does.
