McCoy Tyner

Pianist McCoy Tyner is one of the working legends of his generation, an artist whose long and diverse career spans the heyday of bop, the emergence of Coltrane, and the evolution of the complex structures that are hallmarks of modern jazz. His percussive attack, orchestral voicings, and modal harmonics have influenced several generations of musicians, and his ongoing work exemplifies the life of a creative artist constantly seeking to grow and respond. As last gig of the year, Tyner brings a star-studded quartet to Yoshi’s in Oakland, featuring Joe Lovano on sax, Christian McBride on bass and Jeff “Tain” Watts on drums.

Alfred McCoy Tyner was born in Philadelphia in 1938. Encouraged by his parents to study music, he started formal lessons at thirteen, practicing on a neighbor’s piano. After his mother bought him his own piano a year later, Tyner began hosting his own jam sessions. At about the same time, he was exposed to global music through his junior high music teacher and involvement in a local dance studio, where he started studying African drumming, an influence that continues to infuse his music 50 years later.

McCoy Tyner

Young Tyner’s interest in bop was galvanized by early encounters with musicians in the neighborhood, including Bud Powell, Lee Morgan, Archie Shepp, Bobby Timmons, and Reggie Workman. "Bud and Richie Powell moved into my neighborhood. Bud was a major influence on me during my early teens. He was very dynamic." Other early influences included classical composers such as Stravinsky and Debussy, as well as Duke Ellington, Art Tatum, and Thelonious Monk, whose percussive style would leave an indelible imprint on Tyner. In addition to studies at the West Philadelphia Music School and later at the Granoff School of Music, teen Tyner played regularly at the Red Rooster, comping for visiting musicians. Here, at age 17, he first worked with fellow Philadelphian John Coltrane, who often used Tyner in his rhythm section whenever he played in town. Said Tyner later, “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."

Although Coltrane was interested in hiring McCoy Tyner as his regular pianist, it was sax virtuoso Benny Golson who first brought the young pianist to New York to join forces with Art Farmer in the first edition of the Jazztet. In 1960, when Coltrane left Miles Davis to form his own band, he hired Tyner and formed what many believe to be one of the greatest quartets in jazz, with Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones. Experimenting with block chords and Eastern musical forms such as pentatonic scales and modal structures, Tyner played and recorded (Africa Brass, A Love Supreme, and My Favorite Things) with the rapidly rising sax star over the next five years. Noted Coltrane, “…McCoy has an exceptionally well developed sense of form, both as a soloist and accompanist. Invariably, in our group, he will take a tune and build his own structure for it. He is always looking for the most personal way of expressing himself.”

Joe Lovano © Andrea Canter

During the his years with Coltrane, Tyner also recorded on his own for Impulse!, releasing Inception, Night of Ballads and Blues, and Live at Newport. Switching to Blue Note, Tyner released widely acclaimed The Real McCoy in 1967, with saxophonist Joe Henderson, bassist Ron Carter, and fellow Coltrane alum Elvin Jones. Despite the focus on rock, which eroded interest in jazz in the late 1960s, Tyner refused to follow the trend toward electronic music. With an increasingly complex approach to harmony, he found a more appreciative audience in the 1970s; his recording Sahara on Milestone received two Grammy nominations and won the Down Beat Critics’ Poll “Album of the Year” for 1972. In 1978, as a member of the Milestone Jazzstars, he toured with Sonny Rollins, Ron Carter, and Al Foster. Through the 1980s and 1990s, Tyner remained productive across a broad range of groupings and styles, from solo and trio to big band, from inventive post bop to compositions embracing African and Latin themes. His primary working group in the late 1980s and through much of the 1990s included bassist Avery Sharpe and drummer Aaron Scott.

Christian McBride

Now in his mid-60s, Tyner tours and records in varying combinations, often in the company of a new generation of musicians such as Charnett Moffett, Ravi Coltrane, and Terell Stafford. His 2005 release, Illuminations, was awarded a Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental album. For the past year, Tyner’s working trio has featured bassist Charnett Moffet and long-time collaborator, drummer Eric Kamau Gravatt.

For several years, Tyner has held a two-week residency at Yoshi’s with a rotating cast of acclaimed musicians. Now Tyner brings together an incomparable ensemble for a five-day run at the Bay Area’s most prestigious venue for jazz.

Joe Lovano has become one of the most celebrated jazz artists of his generation. The Cleveland native attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, made his recording debut with organ master Lonnie Smith, and worked with Jack McDuff before joining Woody Herman’s Thundering Herd. He went on to perform with top big bands and touring artists, winning critics’ polls for performance and releasing a series of acclaimed recordings that garnered many Grammy nominations. He held the first Gary Burton Chair for Jazz Performance at Berklee and currently heads the Caramoor Jazz Festival in upstate New York. His recording and touring involves diverse formats, from duets with Hank Jones to Big Band charts.

Bassist Christian McBride, at only 34, has been topping readers and critics polls for acoustic and electric bass for over decade. And beyond his own music (current band featuring Ron Blake, Geoffrey Keezer and Terreon Gully) and acclaimed recordings, McBride is co-director of the Jazz Museum of Harlem and Creative Chair for the Los Angeles Philharmonic. A native of Philadelphia, McBride enrolled at Julliard but soon left to tour with Bobby Watson’s Horizon, and later worked with Freddie Hubbard, Roy Hargrove, Pat Metheny and Ray Brown, among others.

Jeff 'tain' Watts © Andrea Canter

Columbia Records praises traps master Jeff “Tain” Watts for his “incomparable technique, sweltering sense of swing, and an extraordinary ability to imbue his music with majestic grace and elegant repose.” The Pittsburgh native followed in the footsteps of legendary hometown drummers Kenny Clarke and Art Blakey. Until age 17, he exclusively studied classical drumming, and even through college, he focused on timpani. Enrolling at Berklee, he studied jazz with Branford Marsalis, Greg Osby, and Marvin Smitty Smith. From that point, it was all jazz, and Watts had stints with Wynton Marsalis, McCoy Tyner, Betty Carter, Danilo Perez and many others. His latest recording as leader is MegaWatts (Sunnyside, 2004).

Ring in the New Year with McCoy Tyner and his quartet, at Yoshi’s (at Jack London Square) in Oakland; early show and New Year’s Eve are sold out; tickets available for 10 pm sets at www.yoshis.com