Jazz Police - McCoy Tyner Trio with guest Gary Bartz at Yoshi's in San Francisco, April 6-8

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McCoy Tyner Trio with guest Gary Bartz at Yoshi's in San Francisco, April 6-8

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Sunday, 26 May 2013

McCoy Tyner Trio with guest Gary Bartz at Yoshi's in San Francisco, April 6-8

Written by Ronaldo Oregano

Monday, 02 April 2012

McCoy Tyner © Andea Canter

Jazz piano legend McCoy Tyner rose to fame as an integral part of the John Coltrane Quartet in the early 1960s and influenced countless musicians that followed him. McCoy Tyner's blues-based piano style, replete with sophisticated chords and an explosively percussive left hand has transcended conventional styles to become one of the most identifiable sounds in improvised music. His harmonic contributions and dramatic rhythmic devices form the vocabulary of a majority of jazz pianists. Alto saxophonist and Miles' Davis and Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers alumnus Gary Bartz a began an association with McCoy Tyner in 1968, which included appearing on Tyner's classic Expansions and Extensions albums. Hear the McCoy Tyner Trio featuring Eric Harland on drums and Gerald Cannon on bass plus special guest Gary Bartz on Friday, April 6th through Sunday, April 8th at Yoshi's in San Francisco.

McCoy Tyner with Gary Bartz © Andrea Canter

Growing up in Philadelphia, McCoy Tyner's neighbors were jazz musicians Richie and Bud Powell, who were very influential to his piano playing. Studying music at the West Philadelphia Music School and later at the Granoff School of Music, Tyner began playing gigs in his teens, and first met Coltrane while performing at a local club called the Red Rooster at age 17. His first important professional gig was with the Benny Golson–Art Farmer band Jazztet in 1959, with which he made his recording debut.

Soon he began working with Coltrane, a relationship that produced some of the most influential music in jazz. From 1960-65, Tyner played a major role in the success of the Coltrane quartet (which included Elvin Jones on drums and Jimmy Garrison on bass), using richly textured harmonies as rhythmic devices against Coltrane's "sheets of sound" saxophone playing.

After leaving the quartet, Tyner demonstrated his tremendous melodic and rhythmic flair for composition on such albums as The Real McCoy, which featured "Passion Dance," "Contemplation," and "Blues on the Corner," and Sahara, which featured "Ebony Queen" and the title track. Tyner has continued to experiment with his sound, pushing rhythms and tonalities to the limit, his fluttering right hand creating a cascade of notes. In particular, he has explored the trio form, recording with a series of different bassists and drummers, such as Ron Carter, Art Davis, Stanley Clarke, Elvin Jones, Tony Williams, and Al Foster. In the 1980s, he recorded with a singer for the first time, Phylis Hyman.

In the 1990s, he led a big band in new arrangements of previously recorded songs, used Latin American rhythms and forms, and revealed the romantic side of his playing with a surprising album of Burt Bacharach songs. While experimenting with his sound, Tyner has eschewed the use of electric pianos, preferring the warm sound of an acoustic piano, and earned five Grammy Awards for his recordings. A dynamic performer in live settings, Tyner has continued to tour steadily.

Gary Bartz © Andrea Canter

Grammy Award winning jazz saxophonist Gary Bartz first came to New York In 1958 to attend the Julliard Conservatory of Music. Just 17 years old, Gary couldn't wait to come to the city to play and learn. "It was a very good time for the music in New York, at the end of what had been the be-bop era," says Bartz. "Charlie Parker had passed away three years previously but Miles' group was in its heyday, Monk was down at the Five Spot, and Ornette Coleman was just coming to town. Things were fresh." Back then, Gary could regularly be found drinking Cokes in the all ages "peanut gallery" of Birdland, enjoying a marathon bill of performers. "If I didn't have money to get in. I'd help somebody carry a drum and sneak in," laughs Bartz. "I learned that early on."

Circa mid-'60s, the alto saxophonist - still in his early 20s - began performing throughout the city with the Max Roach/Abbey Lincoln Group and quickly established himself as the most promising alto voice since Cannonball Adderley. "In those days, we used to go by people's lofts and stay for weeks, just working on music," says Gary. "Polks would all chip in and buy food, and one of us would cook. But there was always music, because people were dropping by at all hours. We didn't even think about it; that's just what we did. We were very unselfish about what we were writing because, after all, music doesn't belong to any one person. It belongs to the people, to everybody."

With the splash of his New York debut solidly behind him, Bartz soon joined Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. According to the story, Gary's parents owned a club in Baltimore, the North End Lounge. When his father hired Blakey for a gig, Gary grabbed the opportunity to fill a sax player vacancy in the band. After his performance that night, the young Bartz was officially hired to join the Jazz Messengers; in 1965, he would make his recording debut on Blakey's SOULFINGER album.

From 1962-64, Gary joined Charles Mingus' Workshop and began practicing regularly with fellow members of the horn section, including Eric Dolphy. In 1968, Bartz began an association with McCoy Tyner, which included participating in Tyner's classic EXPANSIONS and EXTENSIONS albums. Work with McCoy proved especially significant for Bartz because of the bandleader's strong connection to John Coltrane — who Gary succinctly cites as a profound influence.