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Written by Jonathan Casey
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Tuesday, 06 April 2004 |
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Iridium
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Page 2
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Page 2 of 2 The real reason we
were there, however, was to see the McCoy Tyner trio with Bobby Hutcherson.
McCoy Tyner has been to the Twin Cities many times over the past few years but
I'd never managed to go see him. What a fool I was! Tyner, best known for his
work in Coltrane's famous '60s quartet, really lived up to the title "living
legend." His sound ranged from lightning-fast Tatum-like runs to big, complex
chords in the tradition of Rachmaninoff. It was just stunning. Hutcherson,
meanwhile, is my all-time favorite jazz musician. I'd never had an opporunity to
see him before, so I was both excited and nervous, because you never know how
these old guys are going to sound. Fortunately, he was amazing. I've never seen
a jazz combo improvise so fully and successfully before, and certainly not a
group who looked like they were having so much fun while they were doing it.
I was lucky enough to hear them play "African Village," from Tyner's 1968
Blue Note LP "Time For Tyner," which featured Hutcherson. "African Village" is
one of those great, stretched out, driving modal numbers that grabs hold of you
and doesn't let go. Live it was even better, in part because the bass solo was
significantly improved upon. It was simple but more effective than the off-key
bowed bass solo by Herbie Lewis on the original recording. They also played a
great tune called "Festival in Bahia" which I'd never heard before (available on
Tyner's 1999 Telarc release "McCoy Tyner and the Latin All-Stars"). I would've
loved to have stayed for another set, but they were sold out and our bill was
already skyrocketing. Fortunately we got a concession prize in the form of two
umbrellas left by the father/daughter pair sitting next to us. Protection from
the rain! We really needed it, and crept off into the night like the thieves we
were.
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Friday, 09 January 2009
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